Reef Rangers
Guam's National Park Service runs a summer program called Reef Rangers, which I volunteered with last month. The Reef Rangers Conservation Corps teaches high schoolers about the reefs and how to protect them, and these teenagers then lead a younger group of kids on snorkels and hikes to learn about the environment. It's a great leadership experience for the high schoolers and I was lucky that I was able to volunteer with them!
All I did was snorkel and tide pool with them, but it was a fun day!
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| Cool sea cucumber! |
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| It's a baby puffer! |
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| Fireworms from the bottom of rocks! |
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| Itty bitty baby fishies! |
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| And two tiny eels! So cute! |
Concerts
Back in late June I went to the Electric Island Festival, which was basically a large (by Guam standards, maybe 400 people?) drunken party in a parking lot. I haven't been to any electronic music festivals before but it seemed pretty legit. The DJ's were great, the crowd was super nice and friendly, and most of the port-a-pots were clean and had toilet paper. What more could you ask for at a concert?
I also went to a free Taking Back Sunday concert on the Naval Base! I'm pretty sure I saw them as part of a festival around 2007 and I'm pretty sure they played all the same songs. At one point they let a guy from the audience come up on stage and sing with them, and--I hate to say this--he blew the band's singer out of the water. Seriously, this random dude was amazing.
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| Me, my roomie, and my neighbor! |
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| It was a pretty small show! |
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| This was basically the entire crowd. But it was a good show! |
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| Marine labbers! I'm apparently the only one who didn't get the "cool sunglasses" memo. |
I might be cursed?
I've had a string of bad luck lately, work-wise. It started on a Monday, when I went work-diving with my roommate to help with her thesis project. She is starting a coral nursery and is testing different methods of growing baby corals. My job was to carry the netting on which all the coral babies would be growing. We got out to the site, cleaned everything off, and then went to install the netting... but it was gone. Absolutely disappeared, no idea where it went. Obviously it got loose and floated away because I didn't secure it properly. It was 100% my fault and I felt really bad, but we had a solution: we could go to Home Depot (yes, there's a HD here and it's a godsend) and get some more.
Once back on dry land, we quickly got out of our scuba gear, packed it up in the lab truck, and hopped in the truck to race to Home Depot... but the truck wouldn't start. It sounded like it was turning over fine so I suspected a security system issue, since my old Jeep used to have problems like this. An hour later, one of the lab techs showed up and tried another key--sure enough, the truck started. The car wouldn't start because the transponder key wasn't working.
For those who aren't aware--which seems to be most people, surprisingly--most car keys made since 1995-ish come with built-in magnetic transponders that deactivate the car's security. The car is basically immobilized until the transponder is within range. This is why car keys cost so much to replace, and why some newer cars don't need keys at all. As it turns out, everyone in the lab has been taking the keys diving with them, which is why they don't work. You really aren't supposed to get those wet!
The second bout of bad luck occurred just two days later. Six researchers, including myself, packed up our dive gear and hopped onto a zodiac for a single dive. For those who don't know what a zodiac is, it's one of those small inflatable boats. Ours was a six-seater, but with all our dive gear it was very cramped.
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| Ours was grey, not this lovely shade of orange. I just found this photo on the internet. |
Our dive site was about 150m (500ft) offshore a cemetery Agat, a central-southern village on Guam. We finished the dive and climbed back on to the boat... but the motor wouldn't start. The battery had died! The current and wind began to blow us away into open water, but fortunately we had two paddles. And using those two paddles, the six of us took turns furiously paddling against the wind and current. It took us about forty long, hard, sweaty minutes to reach an area we could stand in.
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| At least the view from the boat was nice! |
Because the motor was dead and somehow locked (I don't know much about boats) we couldn't swing the motor out of the water. This made it dangerous to bring it into shallow water because it could hit coral heads or rocks. So our captain, a lovely lady, waded back to shore to get us a battery a colleague had brought for us. She then put that battery over her head--those are pretty heavy, mind you--and waded back out to the boat. And you know what? That battery was dead too!
She hauled that battery back to shore, took the battery out of her colleague's truck, and made the long hard trek back to the zodiac. That battery had enough juice to raise the motor, but not start it. She brought the truck battery back to shore, put it back in the truck, and finally the driver came back with a brand-spanking-new boat battery. After a three-hour ordeal, we finally got the motor running and could take the boat back to the marina. I did not pack nearly enough sunblock for that trip and looked a bit lobstery for the next few days.
If you're wondering why we didn't just call the Coast Guard to come rescue us, we actually had a good reason: the Coast Guard won't tow your boat. They'll pick you up, but they make you leave your boat and gear behind! That's an awful idea because your boat could be stolen, burgled, or just get loose and float away into the open ocean, never to be seen again. A few years ago a National Park Service boat got stranded, and the poor NPS folks had to watch from the Coast Guard vessel as their little boat drifted into a reef, broke apart, and then all their gear floated to shore and was snatched up by local fishermen before they could do anything about it. So sad!
And finally, a few days after that stranding incident, I lost a $700 camera while diving. It was a work camera, not a personal one--thank goodness--so it will be replaced, but I still felt awful. One minute it was there, secured to my BCD with a carabiner, and the next minute it was gone! My roommate and I went back and combed over a mile of beach looking for it, but I suspect it washed up and someone took it home. This happened at the same site where I lost the netting. Nobody lets me touch important stuff at that site anymore! :(
Other Updates
My car is STILL in the shop! Everything on Guam is a little bit slower but car service seems to be extreeeemely slow. My car hasn't been running for two months! Thank goodness I have friends I can borrow cars from. Despite my car troubles, I'm still a very lucky lady!
We survived another typhoon over the 4th of July weekend, which put a bit of a damper on our plans to barbecue on the beach. But it was really just a few days of rainy weather, nothing bad.
A friend from high school and former neighbor showed up here unexpectedly (as sometimes happens with Navy folks on submarines) and I got to show him around the island! We drove around the entire island and stopped a few times for touristy stuff, which took all of about four hours. Guam is really small!
One last exciting thing: I got an ice cream maker! I found it at the only Salvation Army on Guam for $10 and it was easily the best item there. I've already got three mixes sitting in my fridge. I can't fit the freezer bowl in my own freezer so I'm keeping it at the marine lab. Looks like I'll be getting my ice cream fix in at work from now on!
Diving
I went on a boat dive a few weeks ago, but I haven't finished going through the underwater photos. I've been busy! Fortunately I've finished with the above-water photos.
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| Dive Team! |
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| Upper Tumon is prettier from sea! |
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| That's Tanguisson beach and the power plant in the center. |
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| That's Two Lovers' Point on the right. |
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| Waaaay up there, that's Two Lovers' Point. |
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| We saw dolphins at Gun Beach!!! |
I also got some nice pictures a few weeks ago down in Merizo, the southernmost village of Guam. We had to be there at 7am to beat the low tide for some research work. Fortunately we got a nice view of the sun coming up over the island, and a quick squall brought us a nice double rainbow!
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| Too early! |
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| Sun just coming up on the southern tip of the island! |
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| Seriously, doesn't this remind you of Jurassic Park? |
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| Guam is so pretty! |
I couldn't capture it on camera, but there were TWO rainbows at one point! In this picture there's just one.
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| The sun is finally up! |
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| The sun is SO BRIGHT here. Seriously, it's why I spend so much money on sunblock. |
And here's a a neat flower I found on a run recently. (Confession: I don't normally paint my nails. I'm too lazy and the saltwater makes it peel off.)
Ok, last one: this is a mangrove monitor I spotted crossing the road a few days ago. Isn't it cute? (Yes, I stopped the car to take this picture. I promise.)
That's all for now! I'll try to post photos of my trip to Cocos Island (which isn't far... it's literally a mile off the southern tip of Guam) as soon as I can. Cheers!
-Ashton
