beginnings, and laysan island

Okay. The voyage began on the 18th of July; I should be back in Honolulu mid August. Until then, I suppose it goes without saying that this blog is my passion, my life-blood, my veritable soul. It is also an homage to Where's Waldo; I do hope you have the stamina to find him.

Oh, and I think you can click on the photos to view them larger-- do it, it's worth it! Plus, it'll be easier to spot Waldo that way.

a motley crew

Our trusty steed, the Oscar Elton Sette

This is the hallway; on any given day, you might find someone walking in here.

The galley is a place of repose.

The heavily-utilized gym sits as far forward and down in the ship as is humanly possible; as such, the rocking motion felt everywhere else on board is exacerbated, which makes for some really exciting elliptical, treadmill, bike and erg training. Anything with moving parts will, at some point, catapult you into the corner.

This is where I learn about humans.

The flybridge is the highest deck on the Sette; it was constructed for marine mammal surveys.


Legend says: at sea, pirate leprechauns regularly maraud, rape, and pillage regular-type leprechauns who guard the gold at the end of the deep-sea rainbows.

We collected over 2 metric tons of debris from Laysan Island; the few researchers who live there (in 4-month stints) make piles of the nets and line they find, then wait for rubbish-people like us to come and get it, like pigs to a trough. Like pigs to a trough. Like pigs to a trough.

lunch break.

What we leave behind-- glass bottles, plastic, and fishing floats litter the entire perimeter of Laysan, with the exception of the beach directly in front of the research tents. There is no project in place to remove this debris.

Derek vs. The Sette

This patch of palms is reported to have a bloody history; I must solicit details from the ship's crew.

One of these graves is filled by a Japanese fisherman; the other, a guano miner. I don't know how they died, but I suspect it had something to do with entanglement in marine debris.





Dubious.

These Laysan Finch chicks weren't big on the whole sit-up-straight thing and are quite possibly inbred or in some other way suffering from developmental impairment.

You can't see it in the photo, but I am hastily gobbling this bird's eggs.

Mom, the jug is a present for you. It might be Carlo Rossi.





Not only was this monk seal wrapped in plastic, but that dark cloud was following him everywhere.

Max

There are some excellent skipping corals at Laysan; this is within my first minute on-shore, and I thought I was going to cry. Don't think I've ever felt such a, I don't know, strange spirituality. It kinda bubbled up inside me. Chicken skin, Dr. Dra.

and... we're off to Kure Atoll; today we transit, and tomorrow morning we begin our first day of tow-boarding. The winds are supposed to be bad, but high levels of momentousness are predicted, as well.