June 12th, 10:30pm
After breakfast this morning, we flew from Yap to the Ulithi
Atoll (specifically, Falalop island) in the seven-seater Pacific Missionary Air
plane “from the sixties” (there were two flights out to get us all over
there). I got to sit up front in the
co-pilot seat with PMA pilot Amos, who has been at this for ten years, running
supplies, mail, and other necessities.
The visuals from the windshield of this tiny aircraft were
excellent.
When we landed on the Falalop airstrip and pulled up to the
airport-slash-post office, the small crowd of locals applauded. It felt significant, though I’m sure it was
really just for the fun of it. Nicole
and Giacomo met us there, and we walked to the lodge that would serve as our
homebase here. The coconut trees have
been reduced to sparse toothpick-status since Typhoon Maysak back at the very
end of March. This was visible from the
plane coming in, and very jarring to see.
There is still a great deal of damage and debris, though much cleanup
has been done already. There are hens
with chicks and tethered pigs here and there, in the vicinity of modest
homesteads. The larger buildings that
remain standing seem all the more regal for it.
Our lodge, I think, is beautiful.
It’s missing some roof and some beams, but it is grand and there is
still plenty of space for us all.
Some of us go snorkeling at the beach just beyond the
lodge. The reefs begin so near to the
shore, so wonderful and teal glassy blue.
The blue of the water here is unreal. It is warm, with cooler pockets here and there. There are black sea cucumbers all over. And the fish!!! Such an incredible array (though nothing like they say it used to be). And there are great coral rings and mounds and
clusters and shelves! These are what we
will be focusing on when data collection begins soon. The water is shallow at first, then rocky and
dynamic, with sudden deep drop-offs into cerulean blue depths. The final dropoff into the atoll’s lagoon has
no visible bottom. It is intimidatingly
beautiful. We return for lunch and then
have a study sesh, reviewing the papers and materials that describe the ecology
here and what our transecting procedures are, just to jog the memory.
There is a group of young locals – high school and early
college aged – hanging out on the lawn next to the lodge, and at Nicole’s
suggestion, we went and introduced ourselves.
I didn’t realize it at first, but this is our youth group, with whom we
will be working during our time here.
Skyla, Tiffany, Miles, Austin, Keenan, Lexina, Bertha, Alexia, and interns Sam,
Shanthi, Cole, Kelsey, Lucas, Alessio, Amalia, and I all sit in a wide
circle. We chatted, sparsely at first
and then more warmly. Sam got her
ukulele and Austin played it beautifully and sang. They both did. They left with promises to return
tomorrow. The rest of us newcomers had
dinner at the lodge and then science team storytime. A fat cane toad hopped across the lawn in the
dark, heavy dull thumps. Time for
bed.
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