Blog 1: Arwen & Lucy
On Saturday we had another fun dive in the morning. After preparing our kit we decided on a dive site which would be Eel alley! It was a shorter boat ride out and a deep dive again, around 24m. Running low on air before the rest of the group I ascended to complete my safety stop with Jay and a huge marlin came out of the blue swimming around us. I had never really considered how big and fast they actually were! Then after surfacing and handing back weight belts, whales were pointed out being near the boat and just looking back in the water Jay and I managed to see a mother and calf diving into the blue. A surreal experience and an amazing end to the dive. Sunday was a chill day relaxing at the dive centre as Lucy and Ella went paddle boarding with Lena. Kiah and I watched them from shore as they broke past the waves to get to sea. They managed to see several whales whilst out and it was fun to watch as I practiced my drawing skills.
The start of this week was kicked off with two transect dives. The first we still had Lena with us, making sure we understood the methodology, and on the second we completed it by ourselves for the first time. We planned out the roles beforehand and everything went smoothly. We even managed to spot one of my favourite types of fish out here, the thornback cowfish (Lactoria fornasini). On the second launch Lucy joined us on the boat to complete her last dive making her PADI Open Water certified! We met up after the transect was complete and pointed out the whales you could hear underwater. On the way back to shore we dropped Yolanda, LTO’s intern, off to complete her swim test so she could start her scuba course and we cheered her on as she made it back to shore.
Once back to base we started uploading and recording the data from the transects, splitting them so we all recorded something new so we understood all aspects of the transects.
After a peaceful nights rest we split up into new groups for fisheries! Lucy and I went to Guinjata for the day to collect data and Ella and Kiah headed to Paindaine. During the breaks between fishermen bringing in catches, one of the dive centre dogs wandered over and stayed with us till the end of the day. They were a welcome addition to the team! Once back and showered we began logging data when the electricity went out. Just a reminder of how fieldwork can change quickly with weather and different conditions! Luckily it came back on after dinner and we were able to finish logging the data from the day.
An earlier start for Wednesday when both groups swapped locations and completed another day of fisheries. Lucy and I woke at 4:30 to grab a quick breakfast before completing a beautiful sunrise walk along the beach to paindane. It was my first time heading there and the walk along the beach was so tranquil and calm in the early hours of the day. A few hours later and we were stuck right into field work, helping the fishermen pull the boats up the beach before they let us measure their catches. A few kayaks were light work, however Lucy and I definitely got a workout in pushing/pulling in the larger boats. Even though there was a slight language barrier, with our few learnt phrases we were able to help out and collect our data. Some new fish popped up such as a Tomato Rockcod and on the last boat one of the fishermen managed to collect a Salt and Pepper eel. After a long walk back with stunning views we finished logging late in the evening and enjoyed a long nights sleep before another dive day!
Thursday rolled round and we prepared for another transect dive which we would complete solo once again. As we descended we noticed a stronger current than usual, therefore after completing half a transect we decided the current was too strong to collect further data. Through teamwork and understanding our group dynamic well we were able to work well together to complete the dive and return to the boat. After clearing away equipment, Ella and Kiah went up to Jay’s to complete a whale watching survey, whereas remaining in my wetsuit I hopped back on the boat with Lucy to go collect the BRUVs. Chess (LTO’s Founder & MD) briefed us on how the timer-release buoys would surface and the methodology to swim out collect and pull them into the boat. Some strong surface currents made the swim a little difficult but it was especially exciting when I spotted a bruv in the water. After collecting all three and bringing them back to land we headed back to base to go through old fisheries data. Then before dinner we headed over to Chris and Becca’s (two filmmakers spending time with LTO) to watch the sunset and say goodbye.
A long lie in on Friday morning rolled into a morning beach clean on the beach just out front. A nice hour collecting rubbish and listening to some music before coming back and cleaning the bottle caps so they can be used for the plastic machine and turned into key rings and jewellery. Once completed we headed over to the dive centre to learn to fly drones! After being briefed on the equipment we all got an opportunity of launching and flying the drone in the bay and even catching it when landing it back at the centre. After flying it further out to sea we managed to spot a loggerhead turtle swimming! Landing it for a final time we headed up to start whale watching. This was my first time completing this kind of survey so it was a lot to learn at once, however it was so amazing to see how much behaviour and how many whales we managed to see in such a short period of time. Ella and I then joined Madi on the culture tour (a guest on Kaush’s photography course he runs with LTO), heading back to Pascoal’s house. We joined a football match and scored a few goals before grabbing fresh coconuts and making some fiosses to bring back for the rest of the team. A nice ending to a full on week and looking forward to some fun dives and the week ahead!
Blog 2: Kiah & Ella
We had a lovely chilled weekend. On Saturday morning we went on a super cool dive to a dive spot called Eel Ally. There were in fact loads of eels! During that dive I spotted a tiny black spotted boxfish, which is one of my favourite fish. I have lots of favourite fishes and most of which I see whilst diving here. Also saw loads of red fanged triggerfish and caught a cute picture of one peacefully sleeping. In the evening we went to Jay’s bar for some drinks and we performed our incredible re-written performance of ‘Reach’, which we called ‘Breach’. Everyone was impressed. Sunday was another chilled day. I spent most of it catching up with some personal work whilst the others went paddle boarding.
Monday was a dive day – my favourite! I just love diving. We collected our transect data then spent the afternoon logging all the species IDs. We now work a lot faster as a team and identifying species has definitely become much easier with all the practice we’ve been doing.
On Tuesday, we had a super early start. Ella and I left at 5.15am to walk to Paindane fishery. It was a beautiful walk. Beautiful because we got to watch the sunrise and whales. When we arrived at the fishery, we started project blonde (this isn’t an official LTO project; Ella just wants blonder hair using a lemon). Yolanda (the LTO intern), who was also with us sang a song to us. We had quite a few fishermen pass with fish, which we successfully measured. Our Portuguese is definitely improving – posso medir seu peixe por favour? 😉 In the afternoon, lots of boats came in and we had to help pull them up the beach. That was a workout! We finished the survey at 4pm and headed back to log all the data we collected.
On Wednesday morning, Ella and I went on the boat to do our first ever BRUVs deployment! It all went smoothly and it was great experience. We saw loads of whales in between and at the deployment sites. The ocean was nice and calm so there was no seasickness! After BRUVs, we walked to Guinjata fishery and we managed to measure quite a few catches. A boat came in at low tide so we helped pull it in which took us 30 minutes. We managed get all our logging done whilst at the fishery, so treated ourselves to a drink at the bar on the walk back to the lodge.
On Thursday, we started the day with a transect dive but unfortunately due to strong current we weren’t able to collect any data. When we got back to land we did a whale survey for 2 hours and saw some epic breaches and other cool behaviours. In the evening, we all went out for some sunset drinks and the view was just WOW.
On Friday, we did a beach clean in the morning then headed to the dive centre for a drone workshop. We learned how to launch, control and land the drone for aerial surveys. We didn’t spot any megafauna but we did see a turtle! Then we did a whale watching survey, and again saw sooo many breaches. It’s been a lovely week!
