Australia 2019 – Day 36 – PNG Day 9. Snorkeling in Paradise
The big event of the day was a great snorkeling excursion. I
had bargained a good price, assuming I was joining a group, so imagine my
surprise when I got to the beach and found out that I would have a boat, a
boatman, and a snorkeling guide all for myself 😊
It was around 9:30 am when we started, directly across the
bay to the small Pigeon Island. This very small island has a wide fringe of
coral, which easily quadruples its size. There is a gentle but well-established
current from the open sea into the bay, so we jumped off the boat on the
upgradient side and had an easy float with the current. The reef was beautiful!
We had of course all sorts of fabulous fish, including the flute fish, which is
as long and skinny as a flute, and all sorts of soft corals (at least at the
point where we jumped into the water). My guide, Paul, had no hangovers about
touching the reef (which I had learned in Australia is a capital sin), and
amused himself tickling the corals or forcing the Clown Fish into hiding inside
an anemone. Then we saw a pretty blue starfish, and another, and another, and
in no time whatsoever the reef started looking shabby, as if we had crossed to
the wrong side of the tracks. In reality, these starfishes were all members of
the Blue Star gang, which spells really bad news for the corals, because the
Blue Star gang members are ruthless predators of the soft corals. I was a bit
sad about this, and every time Paul brought up a starfish I glared at it with
accusing eyes.
Now, If I were a marine biologist I would immediately blame
the invasion of the starfish on global warming, but the truth is that in every
ecosystem there have to be producers and predators. I am glad to report that
after a few tens of meters we crossed the tracks again, and went back to a
vibrant, colorful reef community where brain corals and soft corals were joined
by stiff upstanding sponges, echinoderms of the type called “pound stones” in
paleontology, the odd sea-urchin, and no starfish. Paul also pointed out to me
lobsters and prawns hiding in the rocks, and brought up a white sea cucumber
(much prized by the Chinese for its medicinal powers), black and purple sea
cucumbers, and a spotted sea cucumber that as soon as I held him very gently on
my open palm started extending a mass of sticky “tentacles” that looked like a
bundle of skinny noodles that stuck to my fingers like crazy.
In the meantime the boat had moved downstream, and escorted
us to the beach, where we took off our gear to enjoy the superabundant lunch
the dive shop had packed for us (tea sandwiches with tuna, cucumber, tomato,
egg, and cheese in all sorts of combinations, plus a huge tray of papaya, star
fruit, and pineapple slices). There are some advantages at being an only child.
For our second swim we crossed the bay in the direction of
the airport, and on the way saw a school of flying fish, which can easily
remain aloft for 10 m at a stretch. It turns out the airport strip was
developed by the Japanese as they were planning the takeover of the South
Pacific islands, and during WWII a Japanese Zero taking off from the strip was
gunned down by the Australians and crash landed in the bay. The cabin and front
of the airplane are easily recognized, as well as one of the wings, but the
other wing and the tail of the plane must have been shattered by the fire or
became detached on impact. Weird to see this man-made object in the middle of a
reef. That reminds me, the trash that is so evident in the beach is nowhere to
be seen on the reefs, which makes me think that it is incorporated into the
sand drift of the beach and kept there to the great happiness of the reef and
the tourists that visit it.
After another delightful float it was time for us to get
back to the dive shop, and our boat driver treated us to a longer ride parallel
to the coast, where we saw a school of dolphins, a peer built by the Germans in
WWI (what were the Germans doing so far from Europe in the First World War?), a
big land tract owned by the Catholic Mission (apparently acquired by bartering
land for mirrors, knives, and other shiny objects), and the several large
warehouses/stores owned by the Chinese. I should point out that starting 90
years ago the Chinese have distinguished themselves for their hard work and
industry, so if today they own 95% of the retail in PNG it is not because they
are crazy-rich Asians, but rather because they were the ones willing to be
behind the counter from 7 am to 7 pm every day of the year.
Speaking of retail, yesterday I bought myself a PNG shirt to
add to my collection of guayaberas and floral pattern shirts 😊
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