Sam Snaaps

As one week ceases its melody, confining it to memory, a new one proceeds to play a new beat on the soundtrack which is my life. Sound is constantly center-stage in my daily routine here, and whilst the area is visually breath-taking, I am becoming acutely aware of the complexity of the soundscape in Savusavu. The sound of the weather, waves, and wildlife have such a big impact on my state of mind, often being able to calm me when I get the opportunity to sit and listen.

Birds

A highlight of my day is always waking up to the sound of birdsong from my feathery neighbors. There are so many different birds to learn about; the seabirds like terns, frigate-birds, boobies, and petrels, and the terrestrial birds of which I’m discovering a new one every day! But the composers of my personal breakfast concert are the two most commonly seen around my place- the red-vented bulbul, and the common mynah.

Left- A pair of mynahs taking position to eat my papayas from the tree before I get my hands on them. I notice they are more commonly seen in pairs than solitary. Right- Red-vented bulbul.

The bulbul is the local equivalent of a British blackbird, fairly common, vocalising in short, sharp, bursts of complicated rhythm and pitch. On the other hand is the mynah; a fascinating bird. Visually they are not particularly striking other than a bright white spot on each wing which flashes as it flies, but their vocals are truly stunning. I had spent some time photographing my favorite birds here- the pacific kingfisher, and as I put down the camera, I heard the shutter continuing to fire. I was questioning how the camera kept taking photos after I put it down, when, suddenly I realised that the pair of papaya protectors (as seen above) were imitating, with startling accuracy, the shutter of my camera! I could not believe how they could copy such a specific sound, or why they needed to sound like cameras!

I am so drawn to these kingfishers, I absolutely love them! These were my subjects when the mynahs overheard my camera clicking and decided to copy me!

This weeks water report…

This week I have been in the water almost non-stop, my gills have not started to show just yet but I’m still hopeful, maybe in a few months I’ll have some good news to report regarding that.

The weather has been pretty pants. Fiji has been on the horizon of an ‘anti-cyclone’ which passed to our East (albeit hundreds of kilometers away), yet we have been brushed by its strong winds and rain. An anti-cyclone seems like a double negative, so should be a good thing right? Well a cyclone is a weather system rotating about a low pressure ‘eye’ which is associated with bad weather towards it’s center. However an anti-cyclone is a rotation around a high pressure ‘eye’, and takes its prefix ‘anti’ from its direction of rotation, clockwise in the northers hemisphere, and anticlockwise in the south- opposite to a cyclone. This one passed far enough away so that Fiji was left with the wet and windy weather thrown to the outskirts of the anticyclone.

My view this week can be summarised as rather somber and sinister.

Due to the wind, we have been confined to diving in the sheltered bay, as the exposed site are too, well… exposed. I had never dived the bay before so this was a new experience which I am grateful for! Bay diving also came at a perfect time for my new friend, a marine biologist who is working on a study of parrot fish population connectivity throughout the south pacific! I was so excited to help out with data collection, because this is the kind of project I am laying the foundations to build!

During three days of diving, I helped Luisa and her team take survey transects on our reef, which aimed to record fish biomass- abundance and diversity, and link it to coral coverage on the benthos (seafloor). They used simple equipment, 50m measuring tape and two GoPros, spaced 1m apart, which can be plugged into software that measures the size of the fish using trigonometry, and can create detailed 3D maps of the coral! We completed 12-15 transects, and they left extremely happy with the data which I helped them collect!

A still from the GoPro survey footage, I had to move my fingers into a central point so that the 2 cameras could be perfectly synchronised to allow the software to work its magic!

I had such a memorable time helping the biologists, I considered myself a part of their team which was really inspiring, because I felt as though they valued my input, listened to my suggestions, and sought my advice. I now feel really inspired to kickstart my idea for a marine conservation and coral monitoring project that can permanently support projects like theirs. Now I truly feel like a scientist.

Otherwise, towards the tail end of this week, a slight drop in the wind has allowed us to punch through the swell and hit our big sites. One visit to dreamhouse was all we could manage, and sadly no sign of the hammerheads. It was a shame, but could be useful knowledge of when they are most illusive, as I start to record informal data about their sightings and the conditions of their habitat. Other reef health has been fantastic, lots of reef sharks, turtles, fish biomass, and at a sight I had very little experience diving on my last trip here – ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ boasted some of the best hard corals I can remember seeing! I am determined to take a camera there soon and document the glorious coral there.

The falls!

I had one day off this week, my first ‘real’ day off. I wanted to use it to do some exploration, and so I took the van – for which I am still searching for a name – to a nearby village called Vuadomo, to spend some time at their waterfall!

As the area is part of their village, it is respectful to the locals to visit the village and ask the chief for permission to use their space. This induction into the village is called a Sevu sevu (no relation to Savusavu), and can come in different forms, from a simple conversation with the village elders, to a full on Kava ceremony. In this case a simple conversation was sufficient, and they allowed me to visit their beautiful waterfall!

Down a dirt road, and through the jungle path, I went for a swim in this gorgeous waterfall! I had the place all to myself for over an hour. The sound of the water and the birds/insects was very theraputic.

On the way back I stopped at the hilltop café for lunch and a smoothie, with two guys I had just met at the waterfall after my hour of peace. The view overlooking the town was worth spending some time staring at.

Not a bad view – Savusavu can just be seen on the other side of the bay, roughly where you see the dip between the two hills in the center of the image.

I have had a good week, learning, writing, creating, and collaborating, all of which are keeping me busy. I am hopefully moving into my new place in the next day or two, so I hope that I will finally get to be able to say that I am settled, but for now I still have home on my mind, and I am cherishing the moments I get to contact my close ones, as their supportive words, familiar voices, and soothing presence are really helping me stay strong and positive at the beginning of this journey. Love to you all, and I am thinking about everyone!