In the winter of 2010, Ret was asked to do an interview with David Vosseler for CORAL Magazine. That interview, and a subsequent meeting with David, led to an opportunity for Ret to travel to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for three weeks in March 2010. The PNG trip coincided nicely with an offer from Reaktion Books in the U.K. for a book entitled Coral. This is the story of Ret's trip to PNG.
The trip is over, but the journey continues. Ret shares his PNG experiences in the following articles, books and presentations:
Coral Book (Reaktion Press, London) - 2011
Mountain West Reef Fest Presentation "Wild Papua New Guinea - A Model for a Robust and Sustainable Marine Aquarium Industry?" 6 November 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah
Reef-A-Palooza Presentation "Sustainable Fisheries from Waikiki to Wild Papua New Guinea" - 23-24 October 2010, Costa Mesa, California
MACNA 2010 Presenation "Wild Papua New Guinea - A Model for a Robust and Sustainable Marine Aquarium Industry?" - September 2010, Orlando, Florida
"Papua New Guinea; A New Frontier?" in CORAL Magazine. July / Aug 2010.
Blue Zoo Radio Interview "Papua New Guinea's Emerging Marine Aquarium Trade" - 7 June 2010
SCMAS Presentation "The Role of Wild-Collection in a Sustainable Marine Aquarium Hobby" - 21 May 2010, Santa Ana, California
CORAL Magazine Article "Lightning Strikes as PNG Collectors Land Ultra-Rare Clownfish" - May/June 2010 issue
Sage Hill School Presentation "Globalization and Papua New Guinea; Guns, Germs, Steel, and Fisheries" - April 2010, Newport Coast, California
Blue Zoo Aquatics Newsletter Article "The Story Behind Blue Zoo's Lightning Maroon Clownfish" - March 2010
I have returned to the States, although my head, in many ways, is still in PNG. To catch you up on my last days abroad, I awoke the next morning in Keapara Village to a special treat--diving on the local reef. With all the runoff, the channel along the drop off was a bit milky (kind of made the shoal of 100+ moorish idols look even cooler as they ghosted out of the milk!), but once we got up onto the reef, it was clear and...well, simply wow. The diversity of coral species in PNG is something that is emerging front and center in my manuscript for my upcoming book Coral (shameless self-promotion, eh?). I'm afraid that even a photograph would not do this reef justice, so I'll just say that if you ever have a chance to get to PNG and dive, DON'T MISS IT! There are places in PNG where you may well see more species of coral in a single dive than exist on the entire Great Barrier Reef!
After diving, I had a chance to wander around Keapara Village on my own while taking pictures and chatting with the villagers. As I think I have already said, I was consistently greeted with a smile and welcoming word Even when the language barrier did not allow more conventional dialog, I felt like I was amongst friends.
My explorations came to end with the crowd that was gathering in the center of the village. It was here that 25 newly trained fishers were about to graduate from the SEASMART fisher training program. Throughout my time in PNG, I had a chance to see many aspects of the SEASMART program, and it was most fitting that I would now have a chance to see a graduation before heading Stateside.
These 25 fishers had worked hard for more than two weeks to learn what sustainable collection of marine aquarium animals is really all about. In many cases, these men and women had given up opportunities to make money in exchange for the opportunity to learn a new trade. They now knew how to identify target species, collect those species with nets they could make and repair themselves, and appropriately hold the animals for the SEASMART screeners who would screen the order. They understood that conservation of their reef was essential on many levels, and they had been trained in smart business development, discussing ways in which their work with SEASMART could benefit the village and their own futures.
The one thing they had not quite wrapped their minds around was where these animals they collect eventually end up. "People with saltwater aquaria in the United States," I explained, "purchase these animals for their tanks." I had to go back, of course, and explain what an aquarium is. Then we all had a good laugh as one fisher expressed his disbelief that a person would spend hundreds (thousands?) of dollars on an aquarium to keep alive the animals that naturally thrive on the fishers' own doorstep. I had to admit, from where the fisher was sitting, it was a pretty bizarre concept. Nonetheless, these fishers of Keapara Village are starting to see how they can play a meaningful role in an international market that can bring needed development to their country without compromising traditions, culture or the natural resources which abound in PNG. Much more of this to come in articles...
Speaking of bizarre, I had the opportunity to see two very unusual fish while I was in PNG. One, a wrasse (about which we are still debating the species), is destined for my own aquarium (see the picture in the 21 March entry below), but the other, a maroon clownfish (pictured above), is a fish I certainly couldn't afford. While this fish has yet to officially be offered for sale, it could no doubt fetch thousands of dollars if previous rare color morphs of clownfishes are any indication. Word on the street is that this fish will be called a "lightning maroon clownfish", and while I know where it is at present, I'm not going to get bogged down in the details of who imported this fish, what they paid for it, and the like. I'm not in this story for the politics of the trade, after all. :-)
Instead, I simply want to make a much broader point: here is a truly beautiful fish that will, no doubt, make a splash in the marine aquarium hobby. We will see it in articles, blogs and perhaps even a book or two. To me, the cool thing is that this fish can be an ambassador for PNG animals and the SEASMART program, for it was sustainably collected by a local fisher who directly benefited from the initiative he took to bring this unusual fish to the SEASMART screener. This fisher has, in turn, become part of an international trade that has the potential to benefit him, his village, the local reef, PNG, and the entire marine aquarium hobby. In short, we are all richer (and I'm not talking dollars) because of what this fish will show us is possible. Not that's a story worth telling, no?
The trip to Keapara Village was well worth the effort in every regard. Willy got us to the beach on Hood Lagoon in record time, hitting 120 kph on a road on which I would have dared to go 60 kph! Rain, increasingly sketchier bridges over swollen, muddy rivers, potholes the size of a not-so-small car, and wallabies were but a few of hazards we encountered on route. Undaunted, and just after dark, we finally pulled up to the end of the road at a beach on Hood Lagoon. After waiting a short time (during which Dan and I discussed if 100% deet is good for your skin), we heard the sound of an outboard motor chugging through the darkness. Presently, the engine cut out and the sound of the skiff's prow running gently up onto the beach indicated that our ride had arrived. Loading the skiff with our bags, we then waded out into the quiet lap of the bay and then climbed over the gunwales as the outboard was coaxed back to life.
The trip across the placid lagoon in the heavy darkness was a welcome respite from the jarring of the rutted road, and soon the lights of Keapara Village came into focus on the far shore. Fires burning on the beach cast a surreal effervescence across the dark water, and when the engine cut-out again, the sound of traditional met our ears. Kenny, the Councilor of Keapara, was our host, and in short order, dinner was served (assorted reef fish--boiled, smoked and fried--and rice). After dinner, out came the betel nut and then Dan and I ventured out into the sandy walkways of Keapara Village.
Terrence, about whom I have already written, had been living in Keapara Village for the past several days, and he proved an excellent tour guide. The darkness kept only that which was directly in front of us in focus as we strolled between houses. In the village center, we came upon a group of people--largely children--singing and dancing to the accompaniment of drums. A gaggle of school girls were the first to take an active interest in Dan and me, and from that point on, the salutation "Hi, Dan! Hi, Ret!" was omnipresent throughout the village.
Further along, another group of villagers were gathered together practicing for Easter. The traditional singing in celebration of this most important Christian holy day alluded to the complexity of belief and culture in the villages throughout this part of PNG. A deaf young man joined us and became our tour guide, as Terrence, Dan and I wandered through the area where the market occurs and turned down a path toward the shore.
"Hi, Dan! Hi, Ret!" continued to greet us at every turn, and a small group of boys made sure we didn't trip over any of the boat lines as we walked along the beachfront. Pigs scurried out of our way, as we walked beneath the stilts of village homes on our way back to the Councilor's house. The drumming continued in the distance, and choruses of song rose and fell with the gentle breezes.
Later that night, as I drifted to sleep beneath my mosquito net to the sounds of the distant drums and the lap of the tide, I imagined the history of Keapara Village and the space it now occupied on the verge of development. Solar power, outboard motors, toilets, generators, and many other harbingers of development, while not overly abundant, are part of life in Keapara Village now. And yet, as I fell asleep, one traditional canoe after the next slipped its mooring under paddle or sail, as the fishers of Keapara Village headed out under moonlight to fish with spears and lines, as they had for generations.
What is the future of Keapara Village, I wondered. Will this perfect lagoon become of the site of an ecotourism resort, or will the dense mangrove forests continue to ring it in an unbroken wall of impenetrable green? Will dive boats one day anchor off the reef so foreigners can marvel at the remarkable diversity of coral and other reef life on one of the world's last remaining pristine reef systems? Will other industries replace Keapara's traditional role as a gardening village that trades with its two neighboring villages for fish and game respectively? Will traditions and cultures that stretch back more than twenty generations be preserved and be passed down to the younger generation that is the future of Keapara?
These are the questions that will, in large part, determine what this village will look like ten, twenty and fifty years from now. I hope I have the opportunity to return again and again in the coming years, because, as sleep finally takes me, I am filled with the feeling that the spirit of Keapara has become part of who I am.
I am back from Keapara Village, and I have to say the experience ranks amongst the top experiences of my life to date. To place this into context for those of you who don't know me, I have eaten guinea pig in a mountain village of Peru, climbed a new route in Morocco’s Taghia Cirque, "flats fished" for salmon off the west coast of Scotland, "drunk the toe" in Dawson City, and surfed (foolishly, mind you) Mavericks on a (very) small day. The friendliness and kindness of the Keapara villagers is where my outstanding experience began, but the food, the drumming & singing, and their reef all contributed to a never-to-be-forgotten time. I will write more later, but suffice it to say for now that the long trip and flat tire in the rain were more than worth it!
Today Dan and I will be headed to Keapara Village, which is one of three villages on Hood Lagoon (pictured above). The guys are off buying kai kai (food) now for our trip, and we're hoping to leave soon after that. Dan and I have both heard the road can be not so good, especially after rain, but apparently it's in good shape.
There are three villages on Hood Lagoon: Alukuni, Karawa and Keapara. I have been told that Alukuni is known for its fishermen, karawa is known for its hunters and Keapara is known for its gardeners. As such, the three villages trade with one another. The following, which pertains to Hood Province, is from a 1990 Pre-Feasibility Study on Aquaculture development for Central Province.
The Hood Lagoon is a round bay fringed with thick mangrove forests (Fig.2 and Photo.9). Its area is about 26 km2. Water salinity seems slightly lower than that of sea water because of several small rivers flowing into the lagoon. Depth of the lagoon is unknown but it is said about 7–8 meters in average according to the village fishermen.
There are three villages engaging fishing in the lagoon. A total population of three villages is said about 4,000. Main catch in and around the lagoon are mullets, milkfish, snapper, emperor, gar fish, catfish, barramundi, eel, sea-cucumber, shrimp, mangrove crab, etc. Mullets are usually caught out of the lagoon. Between April to August, milkfish, particularly of 20–40 cm in size, are well caught by seining gill-nets. Most of fish caught are being transported to Port Moresby every two days. A trawling trial was once carried out inside the lagoon in the past by a foreign vessel, but detail of results was unknown.
Apparently there was a death in the village recently, so there will be no fishing this week. Because next week is a holy week (Easter), there will be no fishing next week either.
I have heard the coastal scenery on the way to Hood Lagoon is beautiful, and I am really looking forward to it. In terms of basic stats, Keapara is located in Central Province and has a population of 183,983 (2000 census) people spread throughout roughly 29,500 km square. Port Moresby is the provincial capital, but this may change, as Port Moresby is also the capital of the PNG. The new provincial capital is supposed to be at Bautama. In terms of languages, in this part of PNG, Hiri Motu is more commonly spoken than Tok Pisin. Keapara is in Rigo District, one of Central Province's four districts. The district capital is on Kwikila.
I always say that a day that starts with eating blowfish is going to be a good day. Today was no exception. Actually it was my first time eating blowfish, but I quite liked it. If, however, you are a "texture" person, you may want to stay away.
How do you follow-up blowfish for breakfast? Lunch at the Royal Papua Yacht Club, of course. Founded in 1921, the RPYC claims to be " one of the world's friendliest yacht clubs." SEASMARTS' boats are kept here, and SEASMART employees are members.
We've had some weather the past few days, which has made for some stunning sunsets. It has also made the water murky as muddy rivers and other terrestrial run-off floods the bays. Nonetheless, life in PNG remains excellent, despite no power at the Badili house. Tomorrow we are off to Keapara Village, which is where the newest SEASMART fishers have been trained. I'm very excited for the trip, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain won't make the road impassable. More later if I can connect to the Internet...
My trip to Pari Village to look at the Species Expansion Survey work looks like it's scrapped due to a death in the village. Apparently this is a very real challenge of doing business here. A death of an important person in a village may mean, I have been told, no fishing for a period of weeks. This is another reason that having multiple FMAs is critical to this operation, but more on that later.
Anyway,to finish the story of the shipment. Yesterday morning we took the shipment to the airport, where we loaded it into a small Qantas shipping container. The shipping container was then taken into the warehouse, and we waited for Alice, the airline representative, to finish all the paperwork. The container was situated on a pallet or skid that would be loaded into the Air Niugini 767 here in Port Moresby. It is then my understanding that the container will be taken off the skid in Brisbane and fit into the Qantas jet's hold for the trip to LAX.
The shipment has now arrived at LAX, and here are the stats: this shipment was in transit for 27 hours, and the total bag time was, on average, 34 hours for most of the fishes (depending upon what time the importer unpacked the boxes and started acclimation). I did ask for one of the golden nugget wrasses to be held for me in LAX, so I'll be following up with a pretty good reef to reef tank story.
Today I'm at the Facility going through documents on Fisherman's Island (where I did the screening last week). It's all quite interesting, and it's helping me to wrap my mind around the idea of how the marine aquarium industry can truly be a sustainable alternative to other sources of income.
Box thirty-one--the last--is packed. Documentation is underway and then to the airport.
Box number twenty-eight is currently being taped, weighed and labeled. The race is on to make the flight.
Thirteen boxes packed and still going strong! They have moved from packing inverts (e.g., sea stars) to packing fishes. Meme is the gatekeeper again (like he was on the boat during screening at Fishermans Island), and I must say his criteria are very stringent. I'm quite impressed. These beautiful golden nugget wrasses (picture below) will be packed in this shipment, and I have already reserved one for myself when it reaches LAX.
Dan and I arrived at the facility at a little after seven for tonight's packing of an order of marine aquarium animals bound for LAX. The first box was loaded taped and weighed by 19.45. It's going to be a long night, but it brings me even closer to my dream of seeing a fish from reef to reef tank. Here are pictures of the first box being packed:
I received a question via email from someone who has been reading the blog regarding the picture I posted on 16 March (by the way, if you have a question, please feel free to email me). The picture was taken from the plane while flying in to Port Moresby, and it isn't the mountainous rainforest the writer of the email expected to see. "What is the topography around Port Moresby like?"
Good question. The topography of PNG is actually quite varied (above is another picture I snapped while flying into Port Moresby), and many parts of the country are dominated by rainforests and steep mountains rising to over 4,500 meters. Port Moresby, however, is located in the lowlands on the Coral Sea. The immediate landscape is dominated by grasslands with rivers and their attendant floodplains, and large tidal flats. This part of Papua New Guinea is not unlike northern Australia, as I learned yesterday while walking around Taurama Village. Apparently there are many biological and cultural ties between this part of Papua New Guinea and northern Australia, as evidenced by many of the tree species. Having said this, Port Moresby is also quite hilly, and it does not take long to reach a completely different ecosystem such as that found in the Varirata National Park along the Sogeri Road not at all far from Port Moresby. Here the visitor may well catch a glimpse of the famed birds of paradise. In short, although I have only seen a very limited part of PNG, I trust from the little bit that I have seen here in Central Province that this is one of the more diverse and stunning places on the face of the Earth. Thanks for the question!
Lazy Saturday (sort of). I headed over to the Davetari house at 9.00 hrs to meet with David before he left for the States. I had a chance to follow-up on a bunch of questions I had regarding the SEASMART and the future of the PNG brand of marine aquarium animals. It was a good meeting. At noon, we headed back to Badili and then to the airport. Returning to Badili in the early afternoon, I got some work done before being once again becoming the guest for a fabulous Filipino meal of fish and rice. Delicious!
Now it's back to writing before heading over to the facility at 19.00 hrs for the packing a shipment of animals bound for the United States. It should be a late night but with the promise of diving the coral farm in the morning. I'm excited to document the packing process, as I've seen the unpacking in Los Angeles but never the packing at the point of origin. I'm getting close to my dream of seeing a fish from reef to reef tank.
This afternoon, I'm putting together some notes for David based on our meeting and then focusing a bit on the research for the Coral manuscript. It seems that most of this coast of Papua New Guinea is coral limestone, and I'm interested in learning more about the geology. Terence told me yesterday while we were out at Taurama that the people in Milne Bay use only coral lime paint for body painting.
I have not mentioned betel nut yet, I don't think, but, in many ways, it is synonymous with life in PNG. Betel nut is the seed of Areca catechu, and it is chewed throughout PNG as a stimulant that some say is no different than a cup 'o joe and others say is an insidious drug. The tell-tale signs of betel nut chewing are reddish-orange teeth and a proclivity to relieving oneself frequently of a like-colored sputum. My interest in betel nut (beyond the novelty of it) is linked to coral. Huh? you say. Yep. There is a coral connection.
When one chews betel nut, the procedure is as follows: 1) crack the husk with your teeth and remove the kernel, 2) chew this kernel with your molars on one side of your mouth, 3) moisten the end of a mustard stick (called the daka) and dip it in cumbung (or lime powder--sometimes coral lime!), 4) bite off the frosted tip of the daka, and chew it in the back of your mouth with the nut. It is the combination of the betel nut, mustard stick and coral lime that turns one's saliva the reddish-orange color and which gives the kick.
Dan told me that Philip (one of the SEASMART guys) told him that in Philip's home province, entire reefs have been harvested of Acropora sp. for the sole purpose of producing cumbung. Apparently they stack up piles of coral skeletons and burn them to a fine powder in the open (it doesn't sound like they use pits or kilns). I will find out where Philip is from and see if I can learn more.
Today we loaded up the trucks at 8.00 hours and headed to the office in downtown Port Moresby. I don't think I've said much about the capital city yet, but it deserves some comment. It is, after all, the South Pacific's largest city according to the LP guide. It is also, according to some sources, one of the world's most dangerous and least livable cities. Overall, I like it, and I find it less intimidating than cities such as Lima, Peru (and I like Lima, mind you). Granted, I have been the guest of people who live here, so my experience is certainly not the experience of the average gringo tourist. Nonetheless, Port Moresby reaffirms my belief that people are people wherever you go. They have the same needs and wants, the same emotional responses to life, and the same desire to connect across barriers of language, race and socio-economics. This is not to say that circumstances like poverty can't bring out the worst, but you can get carjacked in Los Angels and mugged in Edinburgh, places that are considered "far safer" than PNG's capital city. Enough philosophizing...
Port Moresby is named for John Moresby, a European who explored the coastline here in 1873. It's interesting that Moresby, after interacting with some of the locals he encountered, asked the the following question in his diary:
"What have these people to gain from civilization?"
More on that in a bit, but think back to some of what Paige West says about differing perspectives on development. So who were these people to whom Moresby refers? Originally, Port Moresby was home to two groups of people: the Motu and the Koitabu. Interestingly, these people are descendents of Polynesians (not Melanesians), and their houses were traditionally built on stilts. Some stilt villages, such as Koki Village (shown here) and Hanuabada still exist in the Port Moresby area. Obviously theses people's connection to the sea is strong, and it is the sea which, in many ways, has brought me to Papua New Guinea.
Soon after Moresby's visit, the territory became British New Guinea, and Port Moresby became the capital. Handed over to the Australians in 1906, the territory began to change. Port Moresby took a back seat to Lae and Rabaul (I've heard mention of a gold rush that may have driven this), but, following devastating Allied bombing in those two areas during WWII, Port Moresby once again became the industrial and political center of Papua New Guinea.
Today, the downtown part of town, simply called "Town," is a street fronted by large buildings, and it is where the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) is located. The EcoEZ SEASMART offices are located within one of the NFA buildings. I have only been to the offices there once, and it was today when we picked up the team to drive out to Taurama for "classroom" training.
To get to Taurama, one heads southeast out of Port Moresby on the Taurama Road toward Bootless Bay. Bootless Bay is in Central Province and it is home to two islands that are known to a larger audience. The first is Loloata Island, which is know because of its dive resort (Loloata Dive Resort), and the other is Motupore Island, which is home to the Motupore Island Research Centre (MIRC). MIRC is the University of Papua New Guinea's dedicated marine and coastal research unit.
Taurama is situated on a calm bay on the west side of Bootless Bay. It is a village of two hundred people living mostly along the coast. There are currently 15 fishers in Taurama, but, I'm told, only seven or eight are active. The others may have "lost interest". Two of the fishers at Taurama are women. Taurama is either the 5th or 6th village to become part of the SEASMART program. They are still officially in training mode (since December '09),, but they have completed five orders.
The training (which Terence Kedemwana, FFD trainer, conducted in Pidgin) consisted of a refresher on equipment making, and some practical time spent making nets. After the training, I had the opportunity to speak with eight of the villagers about their experience with the EcoEZ SEASMART Program. They were also very interested in learning about where the animals they catch end up. It must be mind-boggling to think that these animals that thrive in the shallows of Bootless Bay require thousands of dollars of equipment to sustain in an aquarium in the United States. I really liked these people. They have an inquisitive nature and an easy smile. Laughing together on the beach with the lap of the surf on shell rubble in the background will be one of the lasting memories of this trip for sure.
After talking for a while, one of the fishers by the name of Jubilee Moses (sp?) took me for a tour of the village. There are a number of houses situated along rutted lanes amidst nimb (sp?) trees, breadfruit, papaya, banana, and scattered patches of sugar cane. I saw no pigs in the village, which seemed strange to me, but, as expected, there were many, many dogs. I was told that this part of the village is an expansion of the original village and is only about ten years old.
Most of the villagers here make their living fishing for the food fish industry, which, in all honesty, seems an easier way to make a living than fishing for marine aquarium animals. Whether in boats or spearing, the food fishers don't have to be as selective in their catch, and it is far less complicated. Nonetheless, the fishers at Taurama with whom I spoke were excited about fishing for marine aquarium animals and being part of the SEASMART program, although they all agreed that percula clownfish are their favorite fish to collect. Why? "The easiest!"
Down the beach is a home owned, apparently by a politician. She is apparently Australian by birth, and she has brought many community development projects to Taurama, including SEASMART. There is an island out in Bootless Bay, where the University has a research facility, and, according to Terence , there is a lot of mangrove research going on there. Terence tells me that the mangroves around in this part of Papua New Guinea have been cut down for development, especially for building materials. He told me that you could build an entire house using different species of mangroves. Apparently now, however, there is a push to get community-based mangrove reforestation programs in place, and a small study area with young mangrove trees is located just off the beach at Taurama.
After my walkabout around the village, I was invited to share lunch, which was, not surprisingly, rice and noodles with chicken pieces and a broth-like sauce. Tasted great to me.
The drive back to Port Moresby was quick, and after short stops at Bidili and the office, Willie dropped me off at the Facility for some Internet time.
Fishermans Island, also known as Daugo Island, is the site of the first village where fishers were trained by the SEASMART program. The island also is home to a WWII airfield that was built be RAAF in 1944 as an emergency airfield. The airfield is no longer in use, but there are two villages on the island. On the western tip of the island is the village of Dag, while Ugo is at the opposite extreme (hence the name Daugo Island).
Our destination today was Ugo, where a tight collection of houses front the beach amongst fishing nets, skiffs and pig pens. We left from Ela pier and took the trip out across the bay toward a distant, low lying island--Fishermans Island. The first stop was a mooring in close to the beach at Ugo, where we were greeted by two skiffs with women fishers. Over the past three days, these women have been collecting inverts (and a few fishes) for the order which we were there to pick up. Making fast to the mooring, the screening process began with Meme taking the lead as the gatekeeper of which animals would be kept and which would be rejected.
The fishers keep their catches in plastic buckets tied off underwater until the screeners arrive. Each bucket is then brought alongside and hoisted into the skiff, where each fisher's unique number is recorded and the screening begins. Animals are rejected for a number of reasons--abnormalities, damage, deformities, inappropriate size, etc.--and they go immediately back into the water. The animals that are to be kept are placed in barrels, cups or bags. Every animal, whether rejected or kept, is recorded for the purposes of paying the fisher and continued monitoring.
After screening all the animals at this mooring, we headed further out into the bay to a second mooring, where we collected fishes collected by the male fishers. During this second screening, I had a chance to don mask and snorkel and get beneath the water. The water was a little a murky, due to the rain, I assume, but the visibility was still outstanding compared to a good day in SoCal. Bubble coral, urchins, acropora all stand out.
The trip back was a little rough given the fully-loaded skiff and the wind swell which had picked up. A couple of deep troughs made one think of swamping, but Iga Ware, the boatman and an FFD trainer, did an outstanding job (although staying dry was NOT a reality). Once back at Ela pier, we loaded the livestock onto a flatbed truck for the short trip to the facility, where acclimatization began.
All and all, it was a good day seeing the operation in action on the groud. Some pictures are posted at www.Facebook.com/rettalbot.
Note: I would be remiss if I didn't mention our assorted reef fish dinner. :-)
Today I awoke in the house at Badili to a nice breeze and sunshine with heaped bunches of cumulus clouds stacked up on the horizon. We had a pretty good rain last night, which accentuated the stories from the Filipino fishers over a few beers after an outstanding dinner. I wonder how the rain will affect visibility tomorrow, as the plan is to head out to Fishermans Island to screen some fishes and inverts...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
After a meeting with the SEASMART managers at the house in Davetari yesterday morning, we headed over to "the facility." The facility is about 10 minutes from downtown Port Moresby, and it is where all the marine livestock collected by the local fishers is brought after screening (more on screening later today, as that is how I will be spending my day). The facility is not unlike many export and import facilities, except that it is brand spanking new with plenty of creative plumbing owing to a less than ready supply of PVC components. Basically the ground floor is all holding tanks, acclimatization tanks and work space. An adjacent plumbing room sports some impressive skimmers, pumps, UV sterilizers et a. Upstairs is a small (air conditioned) office. After a tour, Mark, Judy, Dan, and I headed out for lunch (nice tuna steak with a soy-ginger, brown sauce and rice at the Point), where I had an opportunity, aided by Mark, to further wrap my mind around SEASMART.
So what is SEASMART? Here's the company line: "The SEASMART PROGRAM was created in 2008 by EcoEZ Inc. and the National Fisheries Authority of Papua New Guinea to establish technical, environmental, and management best practice guidance for the development of a sustainable, equitable and profitable marine aquarium trade in PNG."
Is that the reality on the ground? In part, that's why I'm here: to see how this all pans out where the rubber meets the road. Some of you with an interest in the marine aquarium world will be interested to know what I'm learning. Most of you may think you care not, but I actually think you might be interested. Why? Because, in many ways this is a much bigger story about how a developed world industry such as the marine aquarium industry impacts a developing island nation like PNG. How so?
The marine aquarium world is largely a product of the developed world, but, at least at present, it is primarily based on resources that originate in the developing world. How will that interaction pan out? How will local communities benefit or not benefit from the trade of the resource that they, in many cases, own? And how will "development", admittedly a far too imprecise word, impact natural resources like the reefs of PNG. These are heady questions, but they are at the heart of what I came to PNG to research.
Okay...back to terra firma. Shortly I'll grab some breakfast and head for Ela beach, where we will board a skiff for Fishermans Island (aka Daugo Island), a small island with a population of somewhere around 500 people (or so I was told). The order of the day: pick up non-coral inverts and fishes collected by the fishers of Fishermans Island and return them to the facility for acclimatization and preparation for export.
We are bringing snorkeling gear too :-).
I made it, and almost without any hitches. At least there was nothing out of which I couldn't talk my way (like avoiding huge penalties for the weight of my luggage). I met Dan, SEASMARTS' new coral guy at the gate in Brisbane. Eager, knowledgeable and with an easy smile, I suspect I am going to get along quite well with him. The flight was excellent, and we arrived in Port Moresby in just under three hours. Unfortunately, I was near the back of the aircraft, so I was one of the last to get my business visa and clear customs. When I finally exited the airport, Judy, Dan and a whole gang of Seasmart folks were waiting on the sidewalk. Man, it was good to see those guys (and finally!).
We headed back to Dave and Judy's house, which is up on a hill with a great view. Unfortunately Dave has been dealing with the tummy crummies, but it was fantastic to see him, and he was a trooper given his less than 100% health. After catching up some in the house, we headed for dinner at a restaurant called the Roundhouse, which was quite good, and then it was back to the house where Judy and I stayed up talking about the coming days, saving the world, et al.
Needless to say, it is a relief to finally be here, and I'm rearing to get going. More to come very soon.
I received my visa at 9.30 as promised, and the shuttle is picking me up for the airport at 10.41 (seriously, that's what my reservation says). While I am pleasantly feeling like I could do days more worthwhile research in Brisbane, I am indeed ready to hop a flight to PNG. I fully trust that next time I write, I will be writing from Port Moresby! I have been reading Paige West's Conservation is our Government Now; The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea, and I am intrigued by one of her self-proclaimed goals as stated in the book's preface. To wit:
My goal is...perhaps to persuade conservation practitioners, activists, scientists, and others to question the assumptions about nature, culture, and development that underlie many of today's biodiversity conservation efforts. (xviii)
To be clear, this is not her central tact in the book, Conservation is our Government Now is an ethnographic examination of the history and social effects of conservation and development efforts in PNG. But given my interest in conservation and someone who is interested in the intersection of conservation, science and culture, I find her statement interesting and good fodder for discussion and debate in the weeks ahead.
Hmmmm. Wonder how cyclones Ului and Tomas will impact my plans. The cyclone season here in Australia is between November and April, and these are two big storms, but both should head south and away from PNG (although there has been some talk of Ului hitting Queensland). I mostly curious on how swell from these storms may or may not affect PNG. Time will tell.
Today was a good day. Not only have I received the news for which I was hoping regarding my PNG visa, but I also feel as if I have made significant progress in terms of the research on the architectural section of Coral, as evidenced by this picture (which, admittedly, doesn't look like much, but it could be the basis for a compelling narrative for this section of the book).
To clarify, Coral is the book I am currently under contract to write for Reaktion Press in the U.K. If you have not seen the fine books produced by Reaktion Press, I suggest you do so. Coral will be part of Reaktion Press' Animal Series, and I am really looking forward to writing a book which hopefully gives readers a new lens through which to view these magnificent animals.
Back to today, though. I went in search of tangible evidence of the 19th century lime-burning trade in Brisbane. Why? Here's why:
CaCO3 --> Heat -->CaO + CO2 --> Water --> Ca[OH]2 --> CaO + CO2 --> CaCO3
In other words, take a calcium-rich substance like limestone, shells or coral and heat it in a kiln or in a pit. Add water to the calcium oxide (aka lime) that results to form calcium hydroxide. Mix this with sand to form mortar and use it as a building material. As the mortar dries, it reverts to calcium oxide and, after absorbing CO2 from the air, it becomes calcium carbonate (CaCO3). In short, a ready supply of shells, coral and limestone (which is sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate usually of marine origin) greatly influenced the way Australian settlements such as Brisbane were constructed.
Today, vestiges of the limestone-burning industry in Brisbane can be seen in many places. Perhaps the most obvious examples are the remains of kilns such as the Langshaw Marble Lime Works (c. 1878) I visited today (pictured above) and the Commissariat Store (c. 1829), which I also visited. The former is a reminder of how important the lime-burning industry was as an economic force, and the latter (pictured here) is a building built with mortar using lime.
I've been green lighted for PNG! If all goes according to plan, I will be emailed a letter from immigration by 10.00 hrs tomorrow morning, and I will board a flight leaving Brisbane for Port Moresby at 13.45 hrs. I'm not counting the proverbial unhatched chickens, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic.
I had a good today with some serious progress made in the research department for Coral. I'll post more details shortly, but I am pleased to say I have a much firmer grasp on the nineteenth century lime-burning industry in Australia. What does that have to do with coral? You'll see shortly, but first I need to run a few errands.
When I embarked on this trip to the South Pacific, I knew I wanted to try to work as many angles as possible for potential articles--that's what we freelance writers have to do to pay the bills after all. I always had in the back of my mind that a WWII story might emerge from this trip. Why? Those of you who know me may recall that I am the great-grandson of Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., and, perhaps as a result, the war in the Pacific has always been of great interest to me. As such, I was excited to learn that General Douglas MacArthur's office in Brisbane, Australia is not only still standing, but it is now the MacArthur Museum Brisbane, and it is open on Sundays. SO off I went...
I arrived at 201 Edward Street a little after 13.00 hrs and took the lift to the 8th floor, where I was greeted by a very helpful volunteer docent. After hearing her introductory talk, I asked if she happened to know if Admiral Halsey had ever been to General MacArthur's office in this very building. She allowed as how she didn't know, but she offered to ask one of the other docents. I thanked her and started to tour the museum.
The museum itself costs AU$5 and is well worth it (at least for a sucker for WWII history like me). The exhibits trace the life of the General and then blend them with the story of Brisbane during the war. Apparently MacArthur was ordered by Roosevelt to evacuate the Philippines on 22 February 1942. For whatever reason, it took MacArthur until 11 March to skidaddle (sp?), but on the 11th, MacArthur, his wife, his son and their Chinese nursemaid boarded a PT boat (this all according to the museum) and made their way to Del Monte Airfield, where they arrived on 13 March. From Del Monte Airfield, they boarded a B 17 from Batchelor Airfield and flew to Australia, where they then flew to Alice Springs and continued south via train. It is "one of the great escapes of the Second World War" states the display at the museum, and it is why MacArthur's headquarters ended up in Brisbane.
As I was making my way through the museum, another docent approached me to tell me that he could not not find any evidence that Halsey had been in this very building, but, he added, he very much expected Halsey was here. I smiled and thanked him and then turned to the touch screen displays which allow the visitor to look at every page of the Courier Mail from the war years.
And there it was on the front page of the 14 May 1943 (Friday) Courier Mail:
"Halsey Confers with MacArthur"
Pretty cool, eh?
Of course the fact that my great-grandfather was here in Brisbane is not a story in and of itself, but a little further into the newspaper article, I read something I did not expect. To wit: "General MacArthur and Admiral Halsey are kindred souls." Or so said the spokesperson for the General. Now here is the shred of a story, I thought to myself. Anyone who knows the story of the War in the Pacific knows Halsey and MacArthur were NOT kindred spirits. Is there a story here? Time will tell, but, regardless, the Macarthur Museum Brisbane was a good way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Note: The above picture of Halsey and MacArthur is a detail from a portrait of Nimitz at the Japanese surrender ceremonies on board USS Missouri by Commander Albert Murray, USNR.
I also visited the Roma Street Parkland today (pictured here). Wow! This is a place that lives up to its tagline: "Brisbane's oasis...paradise in the heart of the city." Check out more pictures of the Roma Street Parkland on my Facebook Page.
Finally, I should add that my Suite 101 article on the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens won an editor's choice award today. Kind of cool, eh?
Enjoyed another fine day in Brisbane. This city never fails to deliver. On the coral front, I found curbs of city streets made of coral blocks and coral walls built by convicts (or so I was told) in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. I heard a story about ships unloading coral rubble ballast in Brisbane back in the day. Sort of like the stories I heard about brick ballast in the Mid-Atlantic when I was researching the story of the Gunpowder River. I need to track this one down.
I looked for a dive shop today in Brisbane (to replace my missing dive knife), but it appears a Barnes & Noble has taken over the dive shop. It could have been disappointing save the fact that I found three of my books on the shelf (actually, perhaps that should be dissapointing...alas). I also saw several books from Reaktion Press--the publisher with which I am currently working on Coral.
I spent some quality time researching at the State Library today. Oh...and I had a fantastic doner kebab! Man do I miss those from my days living in Scotland.
Well I'm still in Brisbane. Huge efforts have been made on my behalf by folks in PNG to get my visa straightened out (thanks Mabel, Judy and David!), but a combination of things has me still in Brisbane. The earliest chance to hop a plane to PNG? Tuesday at 13.45 on an Air Niugini flight. Keep your fingers crossed.
In the interim, I have contacted David Bellwood, who some of you may remember from several of my articles on the importance of herbivorous marine fishes. David is a chief investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (James Cook University here in Australia), and I asked him if he could put me in touch with anyone here in Brisbane who may be a good contact for my current book Coral. He suggested two people: Professor Ian (Ove) Hoegh-Guldberg and John Pandolfi. Ove is a global climate change expert, and John is a broad based paleontology of corals expert. I have contacted both and am trying to set-up meetings.
In other news, I have found that the Queensland Museum has a nice natural history display with a fairly large specimen collection. The botanical gardens are a beautiful spot as well, and there are always errands to run. I am contemplating a trip over to Moreton Bay to check out the coral (see this article) either tomorrow or Monday. Have any ideas on must-see spots in Brisbane? Email me!
For more pictures from Brisbane, you can visit my Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/rettalbot.
Here I am in Brisbane, which, if you have been following along, you know was not part of the plan. If all had gone according to plan, I would have landed in Brisbane yesterday morning and then boarded a flight for PNG yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I was stopped from embarking due to a visa issue, and while heroics were performed to get the required documentation from PNG to the appropriate Qantas agent in Brisbane, I nonetheless had to watch the plane taxi onto the runway without me.
As a result, here I sit in the Econo Lodge City Star in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane (after a wee walk this morning during which I took the above photograph of Brisbane) waiting for the requisite documents to come through. At this point, it looks like the best case scenario is that I will board an aircraft bound for PNG at 10.00 tomorrow morning. As soon as I have confirmation on that, I will be planning to explore the surrounding area a bit more, while giving the camera provided by Olympus a spin. Travel is full of unexpected surprises, is it not? Being stranded in Brisbane is an "inconvenience" I will embrace with enthusiasm!
Bags are packed (big one just at 50 lbs on the nose if the scale is zeroed slightly in my favor), Karen's making some dinner, and I'm tying up some odds and ends before we leave for the airport. Hopefully I will be on the other side of the planet next time I type (FYI: I do not expect to have Internet access until the weekend). Until then...
Eighteen boxes on the front porch this morning from supporters of this PNG trip! A big thanks to everyone but especially to Rick Meder at SpearoTek. Thanks to Rick, I will be field testing some beautiful new Beuchat gear...more to come on that front. Also news from my in-country host that, instead of sticking to the original plan (I get a soft bed upon arrival in PNG), I will be headed straight into the field for two days based out of the village of Keapara, Hood Lagoon, Central Province. While the soft bed would have been nice after about 24 hours of travel, I am jazzed to get into the field ASAP. Okay...last minute errands (and some quality time with Crombie, our nearly 22-year old cat!).
Today is Karen's birthday! For those of you who don't know, Karen, an educator and conservation artist, is my wife, and she is particularly excited about my trip to PNG because she is currently teaching a world history course through the lens of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (buy a copy from Amazon by clicking on the picture, and part of your proceeds will go to supporting this assignment). In the beginning of the book, which, in large part is influenced by Diamond's time in PNG, the author recounts a conversation with a politician in PNG named Yali. Yali asks Diamond "Why do white people have so much cargo [inventions and manufactured goods] but we New Guineans have so little?" This question, or rather a lack of an obvious answer, was the impetus for Diamond's investigations into the root causes of Eurasian dominance. During my time in PNG, I am looking forward to finding the time to interact with Karen's students about the book and their perceptions of PNG and Diamond's theory.
When I tell people I'm going to Papua New Guinea, they often wonder exactly where Papua New Guinea (or PNG, as it is frequently called) is. PNG, as can be seen on the image below, is located directly to the north of Australia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
PNG includes the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and many islands in the Solomon Sea. The other half of New Guinea belongs to Indonesia. From 1884 to 1975, PNG was ruled by external forces including, most recently, Australia. Today the Independent State of Papua New Guinea is a Federal Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy with its capital in Port Moresby (see above map).
On Monday night (8 March), I will fly from Los Angeles to Brisbane (about a 14 hour flight). Once in Brisbane (it will be Wednesday there!), I will continue on to Port Moresby (about a three hour flight) where I will meet David.
