Fakarava Field Day!

MFT: A Truck & Helpers!
LFP: Missed the bakery & still no Internet

Hallo, I just want to let people know that there is a blog run by SEA (written by students) on the website (www.sea.edu). My blog gets updated less frequently due to internet connection (very very difficult to get access to internet around here).

Anyways, today I got a truck for my use and two wonderful field assistants. Honestly today was the best day so far. I got lots of data and didn’t feel utterly exhausted at the end of the day. Jan went over early this morning to borrow a truck from the local head of the UN biosphere (Fakarava is denoted as a UN biosphere because of its unique ecosystem and biome). We then attached all the equipment to the truck and took off down the motu. Most of the equipment worked for most of the day. There were various things that broke but it was all fixable with enough effort. The GPS is still not working great…the satellite connection is NOT as good here annoyingly.

We got a number of lines done in the morning and then we pulled over to investigate a local trash pile/clam shell pile. Best part? The pre-dug trench! So I started digging out the trench and getting really excited by all the visible stratigraphy. We ended up digging to almost 2.5 meters and then stopped before reaching the water table (it would have taken another 3 hours of work and I needed to prioritize things). Anyways, it was great all taking turns digging. Just as I started drawing the stratigraphy it started to rain. So not my best stratigraphic column but it was all good. I ended up with 13 different layers (lots of shell layers and coral rubble, possible storm events?). I sampled most of them and then we left to join up with the students.

The students had spent the morning at a local pearl farm (LUCKY ducks) and agriculture center. We met up with them at a small archeological site. We did some GPR around the archeological site (that hopefully Mahoono can use later) and I took some coral samples. Then we drove the rest of the way to the Northern Ava (where we sailed/motored through). We GPRed all the way back to Rotoava with varying success. In some places the GPR went nice and deep but in others it was distinctly shallow.

All in all it was a very successful day. I collected lots of data (now I just have to figure out how to get all the sediment samples home). I had some great helpers and it was nice and low key day. Tomorrow we have a boat tour of the lagoon (finally) and I get to visit some small motu at the Southern end of the island. It’ll mean a lot of lugging equipment on/off boats plus dragging things around but it should be a good day. Fingers crossed all goes well. Hopefully these blogs will get posted soon.

Oh yea, the day ended with me giving a talk about myself and my research to everyone on board. It actually went really well. I mean considering I put together the talk during a dawn watch (0300-0700) in about 30 minutes and then only briefly worked on it again (maybe another 30 minutes) it went great! People seemed genuinely interested in my past and current research. It’s a huge range of knowledge among the students and the staff/crew, so I tried my best to tailor it to fit everyone in. I think it worked pretty well. I must say its moments like that and one-on-one with students that make me interested in teaching. I really enjoy imparting knowledge. The talk itself was interesting because it’s the first time I’ve really given a talk about all of my past work (albeit very briefly) and a summation of who/what I do. It was actually rather empowering and interesting. I feel like I have done things worthwhile and not been wasting my time or slacking off the last couple of years! Anyways, I had a lot of fun and pretty much everyone stayed awake so can’t ask for too much else!

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