What research, what Google images, what stories, what books
Nothing to beat my own personal experience
The night bus ride to Rameswaram
The excitement of traveling with my buddy
The curiosity of new land, new experience, new town
Humidity in real
An auto ride to the lodge
Basic accommodation a challenge for a few
Walk to the beach for Snorkeling
Losing path and jumping walls
Tiring for many
Lasted temporarily
The abundance of ocean invited many
And then all set for Snorkeling
Some first-timers
Some old-timers
Whatever was the time we all were in the ocean
Some chasing fishes
Some for you ride
Some saw big blackfish!
Some were happy with small yellow fishes
Some fishes were brown, some were bright yellow
Some were Sandy, some we called sea cucumber
Some ran away from jelly fishies, some chased them
Whatever was their names, we ask admired them
Some fishes hid under the corals
Some fishes dancing with the waves
Whatever they were doing, we all played with them in their ocean
Weeds and plants and fishes and crabs
Whatever was their names, it was all about Abundance in the ocean!
Dhanushkodi
A ride in a local bus
All well
Wind pleasant
And then the sudden slap of sand
Never got beaten up by sand like this
Indian ocean ferocious
High waves
Bay of Bengal calm and soothing
One said “good and bad child”
I said, ” just different children, with different energies”.
Witnessing merging two ocean
And then rescue operation of a tiny crab
And then whistle of guard
And then last warning of the last bus
And then back to the local bus ride
Bus stop at the temple
Dancing with Taki Taki with a surprise
And then tea and coffee with some and then some more and then a few more biscuits.
In anticipation of dinner at a Punjabi Dhaba
And then leisure bath in “my room”
And then a reflection of abundance
Journal so full of writing
Some with pages and pages of writing
And an expression of my feeling
And that was all about the day!
Ocean was all about water, beaches, ships, sharks and waves. Never thought about the biodiversity of the ocean and a whole new world beneath the ocean! Visit to CMFRI, a marine and fisheries research center introduced a whole new world of the ocean! Just a few words we heard while visiting the museum and hatcheries. The words – Peacock, Formalin, research centre, Mud crab, sand lobster, ornamental crabs, mark your n crab and inauspicious, preserve, dead, dilute, king crab, real or dead, medicinal value, rot, abnormal species, egg, porcupine, marine mammal, turtle, hatching, leatherback turtle, conserve, catch kill and eat, sea cow, sea grass, arsenic paste, coconut fibre, varnish, star fishes, medicinal, spirit, local name, common name, genes, species, worms, hatcheries, prawns, mature, Pearl, oyster, cultured pearls, nucleus, lab testing, suspend the cage, two shells, bi valve, Sandy Pearl, different shapes, retain, secretion, nectarial solution, lusture, edible, sea spiders, land snakes, poisonous, non poisonous, anteater, extinct, banned, sea snakes, Oliver turtle, mark me turtle, hawkbill, model of minicoy island, tuna fish, corals, colors,, polyps, multiplied, secreting, calci, skeleton, color fishes, predator, brittle, home aquarium, leisure, money, breaking, nursing ground, lay eggs, protection, beautiful colors, invertebrates, jellyfish, sponges, biodiversity, habitation, shore Seine, catching fishes, Portuguese Physalis, man of war, big and small, huge, heavy jelly fish, sting, non edible, endangered, potential ground for fishing, fisheries, shelf, stone Coral, two sea meeting, Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar, 21island, national marine park, fisheries, Flora, fauna, marine resources, sperm whale, skull, jaw, ribs, sea weeds, production, sea stats, contributions of scientist, sea urchins, sea cucumber, over exploitation, illegal, exporting, soup, chank, auspicious, shell, harming, beggar’s bowl, livelihood, skids, 10arms, cuttlefish, cephalopods, edible value, ink sack, octopus, tentacles, porcupine fish, inflate, puffer fish, eel, lobster, sea horse, female laying, male pouch, male hosting eggs, migration, tags, tracing, mark recovery studies, giant guitarfish, shovel shape, humpback whale, frowning, Fisherman wisdom, female becoming male, grouper changing gender, parrot fish, shark teeth, harmless sharks, biggest sharks vegetarian, land snakes ta round tail too, sea ranching, prawns hatcheries, lakhs of larves, brooder, plankton, feed to the size of the mouth of larves, live feed, organism, rotifer, zooplankton, finfish hatchery, clownfish, all male, sex change, ornamental fishes, brooder fish, fish farming…and the abundance of Shells, happiness, dead animals, crabs, crab claws, corals, support from others, lovely days, colours in the sea life, knowledge, glitter in sea, humidity, frustration, energy to walk, research, food, challenges, wind, questions, curiosity and enthusiasm to save sea.
A Day described by a child
It’s a sunny morning
Crows are chirping kao kao
The kite was calling whooo whoo
Peaceful with birds chirping
People are brushing
Waking up from sweet dreams
Getting ready to go for CMFRI
And for a yummy breakfast
A visit to nearby Beach in search of fish was a new and challenging experience for some. New because have never been to the beach to study marine life and challenging because going into the water was prohibited in that area. It was all about observing them! We observed every tiniest movement in the sea in search of seeing marine life. Everything from the tiniest fish to seaweed became a reason to get excited and curious.
The third day was the day of uncertainty – We had no plans finalized or rather plans with many ifs and buts. The day began at six with anticipation of meeting fishermen at the seashore after they come back from fishing. And we met them, we helped them to take their boat, The harvest of the day was all about crabs, crabs and crabs, and one huge Lobster to bring some excitement, and few squids to have the feel of gue gue and lots of chit chat with fishermen.
And then a splash in the sea to just release and relax while chasing fish in the sea.