If you want to see what else we were up to while away, check out the Mission Blue blog - click here.
Fabulous pictures once again taken by Kip Evans.
Thursday 31 May 2012
SEA blog post
If you want to see what else we were up to while away, check out the Mission Blue blog - click here.
Fabulous pictures once again taken by Kip Evans.
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Monday 28 May 2012
Life lessons from a Dolphin
Unbelievable but true. I played with a dolphin. Not just swam beside, but actually engaged in play in the ocean with a wild dolphin.
Here's the story. Grab a coffee because it is a bit of a long one.
On day 6 (May 26th), we arrived at Conception Bay after driving all night from Hawksbill Cay. Our luck finally turned and it was nothing but blue skies. Until now we had two dives in and a few snorkels. Not my usual dive trip. And although we hadn't been diving, the lectures, the storm, blogging for SEA and chatting with everyone kept me more than happy and busy. Our plan for the day was to play on the beach while they lowered the dive boats from the top deck, where they were stored for the 10 hour transfer, then go for two dives.
The first dive was a wall dive. I LOVE WALL DIVES (yes I'm shouting). The wall started at 60 ft and my dive buddy Christine and I planned that she would go over the wall first then take video of me swan diving over the cliff to 100 feet. I LOVE SWAN DIVES. There is nothing greater than the feeling of soaring over the wall pointed toward the navy abyss.
Side note: I need to expand my blue vocabulary because they have every shade here.
One of the really cool parts of this trip is having three photographers who record some of the most beautiful pictures of what we've seen. You can read about all the details on the SEA blogs to come. On the way up my head started to hurt. I've been fighting this cold for a month and in the excitement of the day I forgot to take my decongestants. By the time I hit the surface my head hurt so much my eyes were crossed. It was everything I could do not to throw up. I had a reverse squeeze, where the bubbles get trapped and expand. I crawled off the dive boat, downed some drugs and went to bed. Eventually the bubbles dispersed and I was up and at it in time for the afternoon dive. Kip asked if I was going to dive again and since I was feeling fine I said absolutely. That's when the lesson started. After rounds of discussions about pushing it and people they know going deaf because of pushing it, it became very obvious that I wasn't going diving. I was beyond upset. We had been topside for so long and with two days left I was benched. Since I felt fine it seemed crazy not to be underwater so Kip worked hard at extolling the virtues of snorkeling. I was not convinced but in the spirit of the trip embraced one guest's philosophy of "wherever Sylvia goes, I go" so I donned one of Ann's dive skins (a cool tiger print number) and prepared to snorkel.
It turns out my ears weren't fine and my legs started cramping as well so it was a good thing I stayed up top. Plus with the setting sun, all the colour was at the surface surrounding the huge stands of Elkhorn coral that reached from 35 feet to the surface. So the first part of the lesson learned: when you suffer from a dive incident, best to stay above water for a while. In discussion with some of the more experienced people, they stated that often divers will push through pain and reasonable judgement because their underwater time is so precious and often rare.
The next morning I woke up and although I felt fine I decided we were too far away from help that if I got into trouble I would ruin everyone's day. So on the last day of the trip I decided not to dive. I couldn't even say the words when asked if I was diving today. I just burst into tears giving a very clear indication what the answer was. Once again, Kip tried to assure me that snorkeling would still be fun. They were going back to the wall. I just wanted to crawl back into bed and feel sorry for myself but since Sylvia would be on the boat, I would be on the boat. So I pulled on Ann's tiger print skin again and pasted on a teary smile. At least I would be in the boat with Sylvia and Kip. After everyone dropped over the side and sank into big blue, I put on my gear and slipped over the side of the boat. The plan was to follow the divers since it was easier to spot a tiger in the water than the bubbles of the divers. As I prepared to follow, I turned to Sean, our captain, and said as a joke, "if you could conjure up a pod of dolphins, that would really make my day better." And off I swam to play in the diver's bubbles. I was having fun watching Sylvia at work, taking pictures and moving around like she was born with gills. At 77 years old, she is the picture of zen under water. The divers started to surface and were hanging in the water for their safety stop. After a couple free swims past the crew 20 feet down (I also borrowed Ann's free diver fins which are huge) I decided to head for the boat. My job as a spotter was done. I pulled my head out of the water to yell to Sean that I was coming in when I saw him pointing and yelling at me. It took a few seconds to register. Dolphin! Go!
I put my face in the water and sure enough, a bottlenose dolphin was rocketing right for me. These are incredibly shy mammals, despite what you might think after seeing them in Sea World. I've been in the water twice with wild dolphins and every time they stay just on the periphery of your vision. I wasn't expecting what happened next. The dolphin did a wide turn, swam up beside me and stopped. He looked me in the eye, just out of reach, inspected me and then started to circle. Game on then little guy. You want to play? I'll play.
We circled and rolled together, him always about 5 to 10 feet away. My lungs and legs burned from the effort and I'd gasp for air at the surface and plunge back down again. It only lasted a minute, maybe less, but Kip got is all on video. Others soon joined me in the water and we had a game of chase going. He would zoom in, play for a bit, then dive down to the sandy bottom, flip onto his back to wave his tale then zoom off to the other dive boat where Sylvia and a couple others had surfaced, about 300 feet away. They had a similar game of chase going on. It took my breath away in all possible ways. To have such a beautiful animal play, inspect, say hello, was true magic. Although I made my pledge to Sylvia about preserving our ocean resources, I also made my pledge to him. Back on board the Sirenuse we were inspecting the photos and noticed deep cuts in his tail where he may have been caught in a net. It is a miracle he even survived.
Sylvia, in her enchanted way of looking at things, is convinced that someone freed him and he came by to say thank-you. Maybe he did. Maybe he sensed I was having a bad day. Or maybe he just wanted some entertainment for a while. Even though I couldn't communicate with him, he taught me that if you embrace the opportunity you have rather than dwell on what you missed, you put yourself in the game to have something truly life-changing happen. On a simpler note, he also taught me there is always magic to be found in the ocean whether it is at 100 feet or on the surface. As Sylvia says, "wet is wet". So thank-you dolphin and thank you Sylvia. I will do everything I can to protect this blue heart of the planet. Because it is now fully and completely a part of my heart.
Here's the story. Grab a coffee because it is a bit of a long one.
On day 6 (May 26th), we arrived at Conception Bay after driving all night from Hawksbill Cay. Our luck finally turned and it was nothing but blue skies. Until now we had two dives in and a few snorkels. Not my usual dive trip. And although we hadn't been diving, the lectures, the storm, blogging for SEA and chatting with everyone kept me more than happy and busy. Our plan for the day was to play on the beach while they lowered the dive boats from the top deck, where they were stored for the 10 hour transfer, then go for two dives.
 |
| headed down the wall photo: Christine Guinness |
Side note: I need to expand my blue vocabulary because they have every shade here.
One of the really cool parts of this trip is having three photographers who record some of the most beautiful pictures of what we've seen. You can read about all the details on the SEA blogs to come. On the way up my head started to hurt. I've been fighting this cold for a month and in the excitement of the day I forgot to take my decongestants. By the time I hit the surface my head hurt so much my eyes were crossed. It was everything I could do not to throw up. I had a reverse squeeze, where the bubbles get trapped and expand. I crawled off the dive boat, downed some drugs and went to bed. Eventually the bubbles dispersed and I was up and at it in time for the afternoon dive. Kip asked if I was going to dive again and since I was feeling fine I said absolutely. That's when the lesson started. After rounds of discussions about pushing it and people they know going deaf because of pushing it, it became very obvious that I wasn't going diving. I was beyond upset. We had been topside for so long and with two days left I was benched. Since I felt fine it seemed crazy not to be underwater so Kip worked hard at extolling the virtues of snorkeling. I was not convinced but in the spirit of the trip embraced one guest's philosophy of "wherever Sylvia goes, I go" so I donned one of Ann's dive skins (a cool tiger print number) and prepared to snorkel.
It turns out my ears weren't fine and my legs started cramping as well so it was a good thing I stayed up top. Plus with the setting sun, all the colour was at the surface surrounding the huge stands of Elkhorn coral that reached from 35 feet to the surface. So the first part of the lesson learned: when you suffer from a dive incident, best to stay above water for a while. In discussion with some of the more experienced people, they stated that often divers will push through pain and reasonable judgement because their underwater time is so precious and often rare.The next morning I woke up and although I felt fine I decided we were too far away from help that if I got into trouble I would ruin everyone's day. So on the last day of the trip I decided not to dive. I couldn't even say the words when asked if I was diving today. I just burst into tears giving a very clear indication what the answer was. Once again, Kip tried to assure me that snorkeling would still be fun. They were going back to the wall. I just wanted to crawl back into bed and feel sorry for myself but since Sylvia would be on the boat, I would be on the boat. So I pulled on Ann's tiger print skin again and pasted on a teary smile. At least I would be in the boat with Sylvia and Kip. After everyone dropped over the side and sank into big blue, I put on my gear and slipped over the side of the boat. The plan was to follow the divers since it was easier to spot a tiger in the water than the bubbles of the divers. As I prepared to follow, I turned to Sean, our captain, and said as a joke, "if you could conjure up a pod of dolphins, that would really make my day better." And off I swam to play in the diver's bubbles. I was having fun watching Sylvia at work, taking pictures and moving around like she was born with gills. At 77 years old, she is the picture of zen under water. The divers started to surface and were hanging in the water for their safety stop. After a couple free swims past the crew 20 feet down (I also borrowed Ann's free diver fins which are huge) I decided to head for the boat. My job as a spotter was done. I pulled my head out of the water to yell to Sean that I was coming in when I saw him pointing and yelling at me. It took a few seconds to register. Dolphin! Go!
I put my face in the water and sure enough, a bottlenose dolphin was rocketing right for me. These are incredibly shy mammals, despite what you might think after seeing them in Sea World. I've been in the water twice with wild dolphins and every time they stay just on the periphery of your vision. I wasn't expecting what happened next. The dolphin did a wide turn, swam up beside me and stopped. He looked me in the eye, just out of reach, inspected me and then started to circle. Game on then little guy. You want to play? I'll play.
 |
| what a face! Photo by: Dr. Sylvia Earle |
 |
| Damaged tail Photo: Dr. Sylvia Earle |
Saturday 26 May 2012
Stormy Seas
Holy hell that was quite the storm yesterday. We watched funnel clouds form from the top deck. There were light coloured clouds in front of the black giving us a detailed demonstration on how the air gets sucked up and swirled around. Using binoculars you could watch the water below explode as the swirl touched down. It was all fun and games until it started to swirl closer to the boat. A mad scramble broke out to secure deck chairs and umbrellas. I was assured that the boat was a lot heavier than the water spout could handle so no point heading for the bottom deck. This crazy, wonderful group all grabbed cameras to capture the moment.
Since we couldn't dive, it was presentation time. We gathered in the lounge to learn about Hope Spots and Mission Blue. In 2009, Dr. Earle won the Ted Talks prize of $100,000 and a wish. If you haven't seen her talk, you can find it here. Ted Talks
I have watched this video about half a dozen times by now so to watch her talk to us in person about it was surreal. She showed a heart breaking picture of an ocean trawler that dragged tonnes of Orange Roughy from their homes well below 200 meters. These fish can live up to 150 years and don't reach breeding age until 20 or 30 years old. To eat one of these is to eat a piece of ocean history. It just isn't sustainable. I don't know how Sylvia has been able to see this over and over again and not lose hope. She mentioned that she sat on a whaling commission for 4 years and discussed the "humane killing"of whales - not because she wanted to but because someone needed to be their as an advocate for the whales. I think I would have had a breakdown. It was an honour to have her share her vision of hope and what needs to be done. I'm 150% on board.
At lunch a discussion took place about what Mission Blue as an organization needs to accomplish its goals. Clearly I do not run in the same circles as some of the other participants but it is great to see the ability of everyone to pull their resources, contacts and minds together to make sure the call to action is answered.
Our day ended with a trip to the mangroves. The plan was to snorkel down the cut to this spectacular beach. Everyone has been suiting up in wet suits for our snorkel trips and I've been scoffing at them. But this time they were spot on. The water was cold and murky from the rain so I chose a spot in the sun to catch up on some sleep. When I woke up we were on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. With the dark clouds in the distance (yet another storm) and the light behind us, we had landed in paradise.
The evening ended in yet another spectacular meal followed by some amazing video and pictures taken by Kip on previous Hope Spots expeditions. I have now taken to crying everytime they launch a video so if we don't get back in the water soon I will be severely dehydrated. I'm sad that this is coming to an end. My personal hope is this isn't the last time I will see everyone but the reality is that everyone will get back to this very important mission. Time will be precious. But at least I got a chance to take part in something that I care deeply about with people who have an endless source of dedication to making a difference.
This morning's insomnia treated my to a spectacular sunrise off the bow of the boat as we motored to Conception Island. Fingers are crossed for a dive filled day.
Since we couldn't dive, it was presentation time. We gathered in the lounge to learn about Hope Spots and Mission Blue. In 2009, Dr. Earle won the Ted Talks prize of $100,000 and a wish. If you haven't seen her talk, you can find it here. Ted Talks
I have watched this video about half a dozen times by now so to watch her talk to us in person about it was surreal. She showed a heart breaking picture of an ocean trawler that dragged tonnes of Orange Roughy from their homes well below 200 meters. These fish can live up to 150 years and don't reach breeding age until 20 or 30 years old. To eat one of these is to eat a piece of ocean history. It just isn't sustainable. I don't know how Sylvia has been able to see this over and over again and not lose hope. She mentioned that she sat on a whaling commission for 4 years and discussed the "humane killing"of whales - not because she wanted to but because someone needed to be their as an advocate for the whales. I think I would have had a breakdown. It was an honour to have her share her vision of hope and what needs to be done. I'm 150% on board.
At lunch a discussion took place about what Mission Blue as an organization needs to accomplish its goals. Clearly I do not run in the same circles as some of the other participants but it is great to see the ability of everyone to pull their resources, contacts and minds together to make sure the call to action is answered.
Our day ended with a trip to the mangroves. The plan was to snorkel down the cut to this spectacular beach. Everyone has been suiting up in wet suits for our snorkel trips and I've been scoffing at them. But this time they were spot on. The water was cold and murky from the rain so I chose a spot in the sun to catch up on some sleep. When I woke up we were on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. With the dark clouds in the distance (yet another storm) and the light behind us, we had landed in paradise.
The evening ended in yet another spectacular meal followed by some amazing video and pictures taken by Kip on previous Hope Spots expeditions. I have now taken to crying everytime they launch a video so if we don't get back in the water soon I will be severely dehydrated. I'm sad that this is coming to an end. My personal hope is this isn't the last time I will see everyone but the reality is that everyone will get back to this very important mission. Time will be precious. But at least I got a chance to take part in something that I care deeply about with people who have an endless source of dedication to making a difference.
This morning's insomnia treated my to a spectacular sunrise off the bow of the boat as we motored to Conception Island. Fingers are crossed for a dive filled day.
Friday 25 May 2012
Picture update
It's been busy. If we aren't diving, we are touring above water or talking or learning. Definitely no sleeping though. Also I've been helping write the SEA blog. We were published again here. Actually this time I wrote the whole thing with Kip's photos.
Right now I am looking at a wicked thunderstorm which would be fun if it didn't prevent us from diving. Looks like we will be enganging in some lectures this morning instead - which truthfully is also pretty cool.
So here's an overview of the last few days.
Everyone has been so great. Kip's photos are amazing and it has been fun watching him work and prepare photos for publication while patiently answering a hundred questions from all of us about photography. He's a self taught photographer. The extensive equipment for above and below the water is mind boggling. And he willingly shares any of the photos when we ask, which is typically any time we are looking through them
Eleanor's knowledge of the area is so extensive it is a wonder anyone can keep that much information in their head. Her Caribbean lilt adds a special touch to all the scientific and historical insights she passes along throughout the day. She is a true champion of this area and a funny, funny lady.
But the true star of this trip really is Dr. Earle. Sylvia is a brilliant and focused scientist with the heart and enthusiasm of a kid. She dances her way across the ocean, photographing and exploring every inch of the ocean as if it was the first time she's seen it, despite studying everything about it throughout her 7000 hours underwater. She is the last one out of the water everytime. She always emerges with a smile on her face and her signature "Woot".
We've had some amazing conversations. There are times that I give my head a shake that I'm hearing her voice and it is coming from across the room and not my computer. And then there are other times that it is so natural it's like she just another member of the guests; especially when the two of us are attempting how to figure out how to add coffee to the fancy-schmancy coffee maker in the galley.
She is a very special lady. I have no words that even come close to describing how very happy I am to be a part of this whole group.
One story Sylvia shared with us was a time she hung out with a spiny lobster and discovered that they are as curious about us as we are of them. She sat in front of its little lair, patiently waiting for the lobster to feel comfortable. After a few minutes, the lobster couldn't stand it anymore emerged to explore Sylvia's face like a child exploring a new creature. I tried it, and had the lobster to a point where it was reachin gout but the current was so strong that it was impossible for me to hold my position without bashing into the coral. Next time my spiny little friend. Lobster is now definitely off my menu. In fact, I made a promise to Sylvia that seafood is now off my plate for good. We aren't fishing sustainably and until that happens, I will not contribute to their elimination.
Day 3 was a land day of our Exuma Land and Sea Park tour. After a 3 hour transfer to Hawksbill Cay sitting on the top deck taking in the scenery and talking with a couple of the other wonderful guests (honestly everyone is so nice and really interesting), we headed out for a walk. That's right - a giant sandbar in the middle of bluest of blue water.
I'll take a moment to note that from this point on I had an insightful description of the creatures we saw and the type of sand but then a water spout/thunderstorm happened and we lost the signal and with it my commentary so you"ll have to head over to the SEA blog for more details tomorrow.
Gotta run. A snorkel boat is about to go out. We've been under cover all morning. It is time to get out there and explore.
Right now I am looking at a wicked thunderstorm which would be fun if it didn't prevent us from diving. Looks like we will be enganging in some lectures this morning instead - which truthfully is also pretty cool.
So here's an overview of the last few days.
Everyone has been so great. Kip's photos are amazing and it has been fun watching him work and prepare photos for publication while patiently answering a hundred questions from all of us about photography. He's a self taught photographer. The extensive equipment for above and below the water is mind boggling. And he willingly shares any of the photos when we ask, which is typically any time we are looking through them
Eleanor's knowledge of the area is so extensive it is a wonder anyone can keep that much information in their head. Her Caribbean lilt adds a special touch to all the scientific and historical insights she passes along throughout the day. She is a true champion of this area and a funny, funny lady.
 |
| Kip Evans, Sylvia and Eleanor Phillips - our scientists |
We've had some amazing conversations. There are times that I give my head a shake that I'm hearing her voice and it is coming from across the room and not my computer. And then there are other times that it is so natural it's like she just another member of the guests; especially when the two of us are attempting how to figure out how to add coffee to the fancy-schmancy coffee maker in the galley.
 |
| Sylvia's Ruby Flippers |
 |
| Sylvia capturing our underwater adventures (photo: Lisa Robertson) |
 |
| Huge lobster |
 |
| I swam a foot above this ray, watching it skim the ocean floor |
Day 3 was a land day of our Exuma Land and Sea Park tour. After a 3 hour transfer to Hawksbill Cay sitting on the top deck taking in the scenery and talking with a couple of the other wonderful guests (honestly everyone is so nice and really interesting), we headed out for a walk. That's right - a giant sandbar in the middle of bluest of blue water.
I'll take a moment to note that from this point on I had an insightful description of the creatures we saw and the type of sand but then a water spout/thunderstorm happened and we lost the signal and with it my commentary so you"ll have to head over to the SEA blog for more details tomorrow.
Gotta run. A snorkel boat is about to go out. We've been under cover all morning. It is time to get out there and explore.
Thursday 24 May 2012
Published
It is 4:30 am and I can't sleep. No time to sleep. Too excited to sleep.
Check out the news that hit yesterday for all the non-facebook people out there. This trip has really shown the power of Facebook and Twitter to get the word out.
There was this article in the Huffington Post about the trip:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/bahamas-wild-pigs-mission-blue_n_1540270.html
And for those who didn't see the Metro or Sou'Wester (Canstar Media):
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/metro/Diving-to-help-save-the-oceans-152680285.html
Kip, Eleanor and I stayed up until about midnight writing today's blog - hoping to hit Huffington Post again. Stay tuned for that one. I may even have my picture in the Huff showing off my free water snorkel form. Kip truly is a magician when it comes to photos.
More on this blog to come.
Check out the news that hit yesterday for all the non-facebook people out there. This trip has really shown the power of Facebook and Twitter to get the word out.
There was this article in the Huffington Post about the trip:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/bahamas-wild-pigs-mission-blue_n_1540270.html
And for those who didn't see the Metro or Sou'Wester (Canstar Media):
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/metro/Diving-to-help-save-the-oceans-152680285.html
Kip, Eleanor and I stayed up until about midnight writing today's blog - hoping to hit Huffington Post again. Stay tuned for that one. I may even have my picture in the Huff showing off my free water snorkel form. Kip truly is a magician when it comes to photos.
More on this blog to come.
Tuesday 22 May 2012
am I dreaming?
I made it to the boat as you can see and have been busy
taking this whole experience in. The
boat is amazing. See for yourself.
The plane ride here was interesting. Nine people crammed into a little plane, the ninth seat being in the cockpit. My seat mate and I vied for the crack between the seats in front of us to stuff our knees into. For the age and the shape of the plane, we had an incredibly smooth ride.
I LOVE my new sea family. Everyone is so nice. Throughout the day people filtered in. Finally at about 4:00, the star of the show pulled up. Since we had the “good” day boat for our snorkeling trip, which has a cover, the last of the visitors, Kip, Eleanor and Sylvia showed up in the zodiac, in the rain. I immediately felt guilty for some reason but it was clear everyone in the boat was used to getting wet so no need to worry. We don’t have any princesses on this cruise.
 |
| my bed in the bunkhouse |
 |
| Sylvia's Room |
The plane ride here was interesting. Nine people crammed into a little plane, the ninth seat being in the cockpit. My seat mate and I vied for the crack between the seats in front of us to stuff our knees into. For the age and the shape of the plane, we had an incredibly smooth ride.
 |
| from the back of the plane |
 |
| Staniel Cay Airport Terminal |
I LOVE my new sea family. Everyone is so nice. Throughout the day people filtered in. Finally at about 4:00, the star of the show pulled up. Since we had the “good” day boat for our snorkeling trip, which has a cover, the last of the visitors, Kip, Eleanor and Sylvia showed up in the zodiac, in the rain. I immediately felt guilty for some reason but it was clear everyone in the boat was used to getting wet so no need to worry. We don’t have any princesses on this cruise.
I have so much to tell you but so much great conversation
going on all the time that it is hard to update everyone. I was up until 1am last night and back up again
at 6:30am. Just don’t want to miss a
minute which means a crash is imminent.
Dinner was amazing. I managed to sit across from Sylvia and Eleanor
(from the Bahamian Nature Conservatory).
Unbelievable conversation. I’ve
watched so many videos of Sylvia that her voice is immediately recognizable to
me. To be sitting across the table from
her feels like an out of body experience.
Everyone once in a while I just have to give my head a shake.
We did get to see the wild pigs of Staniel Cay, which have
become quite an attraction. We went in
search of the infamous wild pigs in the early evening, assured that as we
pulled up with a bucket of vegetable scraps, they would come running. After a 20 minute wait we were shut out so we
cruised the shoreline for signs. We
found goats and chickens, the finally three large sows came running through the
scrub following us to the beach. The
boat stopped just off shore to encourage the pigs to swim out. And swim they
did. Kip was brave enough to get in the
water for some fabulous shots.
Eventually Sylvia and I joined him.
 |
| Kip and Sylvia |
Once all of the pictures were captured, Sean our ship
captain, handed me the bucket with instructions to dump the rest on shore. Dutifully I took the bucket without a thought
of what would happen next. Anyone want
to take a stab at what happened next?
Yep, 300 lbs of hog came swimming at me because I now had their food in
my hands. There is some fabulous video
footage of the next terrifying 30 seconds as I was chased down the beach with
yells of “dump the bucket” from the boat.
I am now fully prepared for the sharks.
Monday 21 May 2012
WOW!
Not much time because guests are arriving including you know who but just to keep you posted check out my home for the week.
I think I'm going to like it here.
 |
| My home for the week |
 |
| The lounge - oh ya. |
Big Day
I am hours away from meeting Dr.
Earle. I can’t even begin to describe
how excited I am without a prolific and annoying use of exclamation
points. The Bahamian Reefs Hope Spots
expedition is about to begin. Stay tuned
and you will be treated to some photos from my new GoPro camera. I’ll be testing this little gem out on the
swimming pigs of Staniel Cay. I kid you
not. Wild pigs. Swimming. In the ocean.
But if you head over to the Sylvia Earle
Alliance blog (http://blog.sylviaearlealliance.org/)
and you will be treated to even better
photos by Kip Evans, professional
photographer, underwater explorer, and award-winning cinematographer (http://kipevansphotography.com/). This man deserves a medal just for putting up with my incessant
emails requiring reassurance that I had a place on this trip. In my defense, it
really was too unbelievable to believe him the first three times he told me he
had a spot. I’m sorry Kip. Thank-you for being a patient and understanding
expedition organizer. You’ve put
together an amazing itinerary.
here i go...
Sunday 20 May 2012
Trip of a lifetime
I know, I know – I just came off an month long trip through
SE Asia. And don’t get me wrong, that
was a spectacular trip. Angkor Wat, biking through the Mekong, Cao Dia temple –
it was all amazing. Which just goes to show how much this next trip means to
me. I would even venture to say possibly
life changing.
For those who haven’t been subjected to my endless chatter
about this trip, I have secured one of nine spots on a 126’yacht in the Bahamas
with my hero and ocean super hero Dr. Sylvia Earle. For the full details of how this happened you
can read about it here: http://seasister.wordpress.com/.
I started a second strictly ocean related blog, Sea Sister,
on the off chance that this trip is the start of something new for me. It could be my opportunity to have a bigger
impact in the efforts to protect the oceans, my favourite playground. I will maintain this blog as well because
this content is geared to friends and family. That means I can tell you that I
almost had a meltdown yesterday when Air Canada put me on hold when I asked
them to confirm my ticket because I couldn’t check in on line. Or how I
selected my one and only long pair of pants for the trip only to find out once
I reached the airport that I must have been a bit chubbier last summer because
my pants won’t stay up. Or how I am so
nervous and excited that I’m hitting the point of nausea. No I will save all of those little details
for you my friends because you know me and hang out with me despite those
quirks. I don’t need to share that with
the rest of the world.
I'm now in Nassau. It just started raining which is great because I'm off to find out if Flamingo Air actually exists. I booked a flight with them but when I looked in the hotel directory, the airline wasn't listed. That, of course, raises a couple concerns. Will there be a plane to get me to Staniel Cay and if so, will said plane actually make it to Staniel Cay. Oh the joys of travel.
Speaking of joy, this is the view from my balcony. Once I confirm my flight I will be taking part in some water type activity.
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