BACK TO Ms. SUTTON'S HOMEPAGE

Welcome aboard the Adventures of Ms. Sutton in Palau and Chuuk!

The first leg of my adventure began in Raleigh-Durham Airport this morning at 6:40AM EST and I’m struggling to stay awake until we cross the International Date Line in a couple of hours. The time on my Eastern Standard Time watch reads 10:15PM and my internal clock is in full agreement, yet the glaring sunlight through the airplane window contradicts my cerebral interpretation. Between the time changes and our second 8+ hour flight, I am beginning to worry that my brain might become too weary to conjure up coherent thoughts once we finally reach our destination in Palau. I will add an update to this entry once our final flight is complete (as promised to my 8^th grade students for their web quest predictions) and enter my total travel time here: 24 hours-31 minutes-17 seconds.

I am traveling with a wonderful group of 15 divers and each of us brings our own special hopes and dreams for the spectacular diving experiences that await us along the pristine reefs of Palau and the maritime heritage of Chuuk Lagoon. It is often the anticipatory excitement of a journey that makes the adventure so memorable. My excitement covers a broad spectrum of hopes and dreams. My highest hope at this moment is that the technology works when I arrive in Palau so that I can share the culture, history, and environment with my students at Newport Middle School. Aside from providing my students with a glimpse of our world from “the other side,” I hope to see a diverse population of corals, fish, birds, and mammals indigenous to Micronesia and learn from local researchers how these organisms coexist within such a unique ecosystem. I hope to visit with school children at the Palauan schools and learn about their hopes and dreams for their future. Finally, I hope to absorb a sense of awe and reverence as I dive among the World War II relics of Chuuk Lagoon; to visualize the history and atmosphere of such a turbulent time in this part of the world in contrast to the tranquil marine habitats created among these wrecks over the past 60 years.

I arrived at the hotel at 10:00PM Palau time and suddenly realized that I had totally lost my Monday with the 24 hours of flying. I was unable to secure Internet connections so I called my final flight time to Newport Middle via phone before unpacking and crashing into bed. The hotel owner is contacting his technology person today to work out the kinks. I decided to drop back to Plan B this morning so I packed my laptop in a dry bag and carried it with me to the dive shop. Note to my students: ALWAYS have a Plan B. Having an additional Plan C can also be helpful sometimes.

We began diving today and I’ll try to have some photos ready for my Wednesday or Thursday entry. Today’s adventure began with a 45-minute boat ride over 4 foot swells and 2-3 foot breaking seas as our boat captain navigated between the Rock Islands and dodged the remnants left by the typhoon that passed by Palau this past weekend. If you have ever ridden a log flume ride at an amusement park, just magnify that experience by 50 and you’ll have an idea of the ride to our first dive site. My dive buddy and I were the first divers off the boat and as soon as I was beneath the surface, I remembered why I love diving so much. The world beneath the ocean’s surface is like no other. All the turbulence found at the surface disappears as thousands of fish species take center stage and thousands of coral species provide the backdrop. This dive location is called Ngedebus Coral or Lionfish Rock. I saw so many new species of fish that it is difficult for me to describe them all. One of the highlights was definitely my first encounter with a Moorish idol that looked just like “Gill” from Finding Nemo but without the scars. I saw several “Gills” today in addition to the little yellow butterfly fish who lived with Gill in the aquarium. No one in the dive crew could remember his name so I’m counting on my students to figure that one out.

The second dive site we visited is called Turtle Cove. I didn’t see any turtles today but saw a few sharks at both dive sites, including grey, white-tip, and black-tip reef sharks. I really love swimming around the reefs with sharks. No matter how scary Hollywood makes sharks appear in the movies, these creatures are some of the most graceful and peaceful fish to watch as they gently pulsate their muscular bodies along the reef’s drop-off. So much power displayed with so much grace. It is such a feeling of awe to be in their presence.

I awoke to sunny skies this morning but the lingering effects of the typhoon continued to keep the wind speed elevated and a few showers during the morning dive to New Drop Off. The name is not deceiving as I never saw the seafloor on this dive.  The marine life however, was everywhere. More sharks today, patrolling the outer fringes of the reef as they scout out easy meals for later in the evening. The second dive was Blue Hole and it was just as cool as I thought it would be. From the surface, we dropped through a huge hole in the reef. It was like sinking through a tube of corals. Halfway down, I twirled over to gaze back toward the surface for a different perspective of the descent. Once on the bottom, the reef curled back toward our right and upward. My dive buddy (former NMS principal Paul Payne) and I followed our dive group into a section of the reef that is best described as an underwater cave. Hovering 20 feet above the seafloor, we were suspended beneath a cathedral of coral above and surrounding us on all sides. I swam a little closer to the ceiling to observe the intricate arrangement of coral growth. I continue to be amazed at the diversity of coral living so close together. In honor of coral unity and the sanctity of this section of the reef, I suspended vertically beneath the ceiling and gracefully executed the yoga Tree pose for my diving cohorts.

One of the logistical procedures of SCUBA diving is calculating the amount of time spent beneath the surface and the time required above the surface to allow the bloodstream to “off gas” the build-up of nitrogen in your system. Breathing compressed air at depths causes the nitrogen to be absorbed. Precautions are taken during and after diving to keep the nitrogen in your bloodstream at a safe level. Surface intervals are required between dives to assist this process and the deeper you dive, the longer your surface interval has to be. Our surface intervals (SI) have ranged from 1 to 2 hours and, while SI are usually spent resting or lounging around the deck of the boat, our surroundings and dive boat captain have blessed us with a whole new technique for whiling away the hours of surface intervals. We toured the Rock Islands during our afternoon surface interval today and it was amazing. We saw limestone monoliths left standing alone by the forces of erosion. We saw beautiful archways and limestone terraces and finished our tour with some World War II history. Palau was invaded by the Americans during WWII as our forces progressed across the Pacific in search of airfields manned and defended by the Japanese. We saw 2 pill boxes carved into the side of limestone rock islands at the entrance to one of the harbors. Japanese soldiers set up their artillery from inside the pill boxes and waited ready to defend their island. Our final dive today was our first wreck dive for the trip. We swam over the artifacts left on the deck of a freighter that included a stern gun with ammunition still stored in cases at the gun’s base. Bottles of sake were resting nearby as if waiting for the celebration that would surely follow a victory.

Today’s adventure revealed the beauty of Palau above and below the surface and I find it difficult to voice which arena wins the prize. The Rock Islands are far more beautiful than any picture can illustrate and the coral diversity is like no other I have seen. At least I have a couple more days here to help me make my decision.

Palauan weather is finally back to normal today. The typhoon is ancient history and the crystal blue waters of Palau were as inviting on the surface as they were from below. We began our underwater adventure at Blue Corner this morning and the sharks, barracudas, and turtles were out in full force. Blue Corner is near New Drop Off and, once again, I never saw the bottom. The sharks were hanging around 90 feet down along the outer edge of the coral wall and the barracuda schooled near the surface. Smaller species of fish were everywhere, dancing in and out of crevices in the reef wall. I am finding it difficult to decide what to look at while diving. Between the thousands of colorful coral and fish along the reef and the magnificent sharks patrolling the outside, it’s all I can do to keep up with the dive group. I have to remind myself to look up often enough to find my dive buddy and group before they swim too far away. I feel like a little kid in a toy store marveling at all the unique toys and looks up to see his dad waiting patiently to continue down the aisle.

Our second dive was near German Channel, which was dredged by Germany during their occupation (before the Japanese) to gain access for phosphate mining. This section of the reef is called Coral Rose Garden and it was filled was huge gorgonian, plate, and lettuce corals. Each of these species is quite unique in its design and covers large sections of the reef. After this dive, we ate a late lunch on one of Palau’s beaches and then journeyed to Jellyfish Lake. Try to imagine snorkeling among thousands of jellyfish that will not sting you. Every sweep of your hand or kick of your fins brings you in contact with these gelatinous creatures. The adults were the diameter of volleyballs and the smallest were the size of my pinky fingernail. Jellyfish Lake is an enclosed marine lake (i.e., saltwater) where the jellyfish have no predators and have lost their ability to sting. These jellyfish are farmers and feed off the algae that lives in the jellyfish. Algae need sunlight, so each day, the jellyfish swim to the surface to keep the algae happy. At night, the jellies swim back to the bottom of the lake to provide more nourishment for the algae from the thick layer of hydrogen sulfide found at the bottom. We were not allowed to dive the lake because hydrogen sulfide can be absorbed by human skin and cause illness. Staying at the surface was fine with me because that’s were all the jellies were. I felt like Dori and Marvin from Finding Nemo as I wiggled my way through a sea of jellies trying to avoid touching them. It was impossible! What a unique experience. As we returned through the Rock Islands and back to the dock, the afternoon clouds began to gather ahead of us. The clouds quickly gave rise to a double rainbow arching across a couple of rock islands. What a beautiful ending to such a wonderful day.

Our final day of diving in Palau was filled with more excitement than a Christmas morning. Yesterday we asked Ernan, our dive master, to tell us his favorite dive in all of Palau. He quickly responded, “Peleliu,” which is on the southern edge of Palau’s main island. We headed south from the harbor this morning for a one-hour boat ride to the dive site. Ernan provided a review of the reef wall layout and a lesson in “reef hooking” as we prepared to leave the boat. He cautioned us that the current on one section of reef typically ran 5 knots or more. His final warning continued to ring in my ears during our descent to the reef: “If you miss your hook-in, just gradually return to the surface as you’re being swept out to sea and the boat captain will pick you up.” I donned a hot pink swimming hood for a little extra visibility (just in case) and conceded to the ride of my life.

The dive began at 90 feet as we glided with a mild current along the southwest corner of the wall. Sharks were cruising on the right and we kept the wall to our left. When Ernan gave the signal, we swam up and away from the reef to about 50 feet and readied our reef hooks. As we drifted back toward the top of the reef, I could feel the current speed increasing. I watched a couple of fellow divers hook-in a few seconds before I reached the reef’s edge. Once at the edge, I began swimming across the current and searching for a hand-hold where I could set my reef hook. My students should remember the diagram we viewed last semester for surviving a rip current. This part was simple. Finding a place to hook in with the reef flying beneath at 10 knots was not. Suddenly, I was back in Linville Gorge rock climbing again, only this time I was climbing horizontally rather than vertically. Finding a familiar concept from earlier experiences became very helpful and within the next few seconds I was hooked in and watching the show. The scenery was akin to sitting beside Interstate 95 on a summer afternoon and trying to count every make and model of vehicle as it cruises by at 65 mph. The viewing position, however, was most unusual. You know how those Weather Channel reporters look when they are standing on the shore in 50+ mph winds? They start leaning into the wind, standing at a 45-degree angle. In a 10-knot current, there is NO 45-degree angle. My position was horizontal and about 2 feet above the reef. The turbulence was unreal! I had to pull on my reef cord to get closer to the reef and reduce the turbulence before losing my mask. A couple of the guys in our group hooked-in on the outer edge of the reef and watched blue fin tuna and dozens of sharks as they cruised the current. A few of the sharks swam right towards them before turning away in the current. Everyone successfully hooked into the reef and enjoyed the view until Ernan gave the signal to release the hooks. Once released, we flew off the reef face like shingles being torn from the roof during that hurricane the Weather Channel forecaster was reporting. As we flew over the reef, we began our ascent and safety stop. Within minutes the “ride” was over but the memories will last a lifetime. UNBELIEVABLE!!

Today was a land-day in Palau. Land-days are required before flying to allow your body some extra time to rid your body of the excess nitrogen absorbed while diving. The more time spent diving, the more nitrogen absorbed by your body. Our bodies do not use nitrogen so the molecules just accumulate in our systems. Flying too soon after diving increases the risk of illness because of the change in air pressure from diving several feet below sea level to flying several feet above sea level. If you’ve ever traveled to the mountains, you’ve experienced this change in pressure. Your ears pop and squeak as you travel up and down tall mountains. This same phenomenon occurs in diving as we descend from one atmosphere of pressure at sea level to as much as four atmospheres while diving (one atmosphere increase for every 33 feet of depth). Divers must learn to equalize this pressure as they descend to avoid damage to their eardrums. Equalizing is as simple as pinching your nose shut, closing your mouth, and gently exhaling to force the air into your Eustachian tube and against the internal side of your eardrum. The difference between traveling in the mountains and diving in the sea is the life-support system divers carry along to see the wonderful underwater world. Our air is supplied through a compressed air breathing system called SCUBA: Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Air contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and other trace gases. Breathing the air compressed forces more of the nitrogen into our tissues because the molecules are smaller. Remaining at sea level for several hours reduces the pressure around our tissues and allows the nitrogen time to “off gas” or be eliminated from the our system.

My diving group and I are taking full advantage of the land-day by touring Palau. The highlight was twofold: our trip to the Palau International Coral Reef Research Center for an interview with Steven Victor, director of the research center provided me with tons of information and updates on invasive species in Palau, the coral reef health status, and concerns for Palau’s future; and, our trip to the prison to purchase storyboards which are carved by the prisoners as a form of restitution for their crimes. The storyboard I purchased tells the story of two young lovers who discovered the egg-laying cycle of the sea turtle as the couple fell in love on an island. Many of Palau’s legends can be explored at the Palau Visitor Center website: http://www.pbs.org/edens/palau/p_legends2.htm.

Read and enjoy.

My diving group and I flew from Palau to Guam this morning, with a short stop in Yap to exchange a few passengers. We left Palau at 1:15AM and arrived at the hotel in Guam about 5:15AM. Sleep deprivation has never been one of my strong suits so a quick nap was required before I could consider an adventure in Guam during our 12-hour layover. After some breakfast, I made a few phone calls home and explored a couple of streets near the hotel with some friends before heading for the water. The hotel is located on Tomon Bay which is located on the western side of the island of Guam. The bay is protected by an outer reef which serves as a natural breakwater and provides a tranquil area where travelers can snorkel over shallow reef outcrops near the shore. As I prepared to head out into the water, one of my traveling companions decided to join me. We swam in and out between the shallow reefs watching dozens of small reef fish dart in and out of the coral. We were quite surprised to see two Banded Sea Snake skins lying in different sections of the reef. These snakes are highly venomous. The Banded Sea Snake has a very small mouth with fangs located in the back portion of his mouth. This design makes it difficult for the snake to bite humans, but they can if provoked. We never did see either of the snakes and continued to swim further out to enjoy the coral. I found a section of sand that was completely surrounded by coral on all sides and lowered my feet toward a shallow section and stood up a moment. I continued to observe the fish below me and was asking Dawn, my snorkel buddy, about the identification of one of the fish. She asked for a more detailed description and I lowered my mask back under the water for another look. My attention was drawn away from the fish I was seeking to identify by a Triggerfish that was darting sporadically towards me from the edge of a reef outcropping. Once I realized the Triggerfish was agitated at me for being so close to “his” corner of the reef, I quickly pulled up my feet and swam away to safer sand. Triggerfish are about the size of an adult’s hand, or larger, and are fun to watch as they swim by pulsating two opposing fins located above and below their body just affront of their tail fin. These graceful little fish also have quite the temper and, when agitated, can create a nasty bite that is known to penetrate wetsuit material and draw blood. As I swam away, I was really wishing I had a little more protection than a bathing suit and decided to end my snorkeling adventure before my luck ran out.

It’s kind of weird that I’ve been diving in water as deep as 100 feet all week and my first risk of getting bit by anything occurred in 4 feet of water. Go figure!

I’m out to sea again! My diving group and I are on board the Odyssey of Truk Lagoon. The Odyssey is a 132-foot live aboard diving vessel that has been refitted to accommodate sixteen divers and 10 crewmen as they cruise the Truk Lagoon and dive on ship wrecks that have rested on the seafloor since Operation Hailstone (February 1944). Lenny, our captain, and his wife Cara, will be our hosts for the next 6 days as we dive as many as 20 of the 60 World War II wrecks. Diving from a live aboard vessel provides more diving opportunities than when diving from a land base as we did in Palau. Transportation to and from the various dive sites takes time away from diving and last week we seldom dove more than twice in one day. This week, we will have the opportunity to dive as many as five times a day and with more diving opportunities, there are bound to be more diving adventures!

The wrecks we are diving on this week are all that remains from the U.S. bombing raids which took place between February and April, 1944. The Truk Lagoon was used as a safe harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II. Several battleships, destroyers, and submarines were anchored here along with cargo and supply vessels which carried tons of equipment and supplies for the warships. After the Japanese had observed U.S. reconnaissance planes in early 1944, they decided to move many of the warships away from the Truk Lagoon prior to the attacks. Most of the ships that were sunk during Operation Hailstone were the supply and support vessels. Several of these vessels were originally designed as cruise liners but were refitted for military use by the Japanese during the war years. Our first day of wreck diving was on two of these redesigned ships. The Heian Maru was converted to be a submarine support vessel, known as a sub tender, and the Yamagiri Maru was a 439-foot support vessel for warships. My dive group and I entered the torpedo cargo hold of the Heian Maru and gazed in amazement at 20-foot torpedoes lying in disarray throughout the hold. The Yamagiri Maru’s cargo holds were filled with 14-inch shells and lots of artillery supplies. Big ships require lots of power and these ships were no exception. The Heian Maru was driven by a beautiful set of twin propellers that were 18 feet in diameter. Absolutely HUGE!! The coral growth on both ships is beautiful and the Yamagiri Maru also has a new species of anemone attached to its upper deck. The neon anemone appears to glow (like neon lights) and has a unique bubble design on each tentacle. It’s hard to imagine that something so beautiful can actually inflict pain. Look but don’t touch!

I’ve been trying to imagine life in the Truk Lagoon 62 years ago. Photographs from Operation Hailstone are mounted on the walls of the Odyssey and I’ve taken some time to study them during our surface intervals between dives. Some of the photographs were taken by reconnaissance flights before the attack and others were taken during the air raid. I gaze out across the lagoon and try to visualize 60 vessels moored and anchored in various channels between the islands, along the edges of reefs, and water ranging in depths from 60 feet to over 200 feet. One of the ships we dove on today lies over 100 feet below the surface and remains in the same position it was in when it was floating above the surface on the day of the attack. The Fumitzuki 320 was a destroyer and its bow carries the distinctly sharp angle validating her status. Destroyers were built for speed and as I looked downward upon the Fumitzuki 320 during our safety stop, I imagined her bow splitting aside the azure waters of the lagoon as she made an attempt to escape during Operation Hailstone. I could visualize the air filled with smoke as torpedoes and bomb shells exploded in every direction and supply ships caught fire and began to sink. The Fumitzuki 320 would need all of her tactical skills and speed to escape unharmed. The futility of her efforts is evident as I leave my imagination with her and prepare to swim back to the Odyssey. My last impression of this valiant warship was her stately stature resting on the seafloor with hundreds of fish encircling her mast and the bounty of corals that embellish her today. What a fitting adornment for such an intrepid guardian of the sea.

Today was farming day. Our first dive today would have made my farming and ranching brothers so proud of me. The Hoki Maru’s cargo holds were filled with trucks, tractors, and lots of wheels. I couldn’t help but think of my “southern boy” brothers as my lights illuminated the outline of a flat-bed truck. This wreck is a redneck’s playground. After I finished hauling the feed and plowing the fields… (I really have quite the imagination, wouldn’t you say?) …we spent the rest of the day and night diving around and in the Fujikawa Maru. The Fujikawa Maru was a support carrier for airplanes and its cargo holds are filled with planes, wings, cockpits, machine guns, and lots of gas masks and bullets. We also discovered an air compressor from the 1940s which looks like (and is affectionately known as) “R2D2” from Star Wars. Diving inside of shipwrecks is a lot more exciting than I thought it would be. When you swim deep inside a wreck, the surface light tends to fade and you rely on your underwater flashlight to find your way from one room to the next. Most of the doors and windows are gone and this makes it easy to swim throughout the various levels of the ship. But, when the ships are resting on their sides, the floors become walls and the walls become ceilings. It can get a bit confusing at times. Your senses tend to be heightened by the strange surroundings and the unexpected discoveries are quite amazing. As Cindy and I shined our lights around the corner where R2D2 was supposed to be “sitting” his eyes seemed to pop from his head. I held my light steady while Cindy snapped a few photos. R2D2 seemed totally unabated by the paparazzi.

I made my brothers proud again today! Mr. Payne and I dove on the Betty Bomber this afternoon. This Japanese flying ace was gunned out of the air as it attempted to take off from the Eten Island airfield during Operation Hailstone. The plane lies in 60-feet of water at the end of the runway. Her nose was blown away by the shelling but her fuselage and cockpit are still intact. We had the best time playing fighter pilot in the wreck. Both of the rear windows were missing and you could swim inside the plane. We took pictures of each other in the cockpit and then Mr. Payne took my camera and pointed for me to swim inside the window. When I reached the inside of the fuselage, I found a rusted chunk of metal and on closer examination realized that it was a machine gun. It was too heavy to pick up with one hand so I repositioned my weightless body to get a better handle on the shaft of the gun. I signaled for Mr. Payne to wait on the photo and when he saw the machine gun in my arms, he laughed and steadied himself for the photo. I leaned out the side window and aimed the gun toward the sand and commenced to firing! As the camera strobe lit the scene, I was transformed back to my childhood when my brothers, cousins, and I would spend endless hours playing war in the backyard. Mom’s shrubs provided the best hiding places for ambush attacks until she discovered a few broken branches and provided us with a permanent peace treaty.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! I know my 100% Irish principal (Bud Lanning) is making sure all the students and teachers at NMS are having a terrific time at school today. I’m missing Mr. Lanning’s Irish stew today but I am wearing my lucky St. Patrick’s Day beads. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and in memory of a special friend born on March 17, I made my first solo dive this afternoon while the Odyssey was moored at the Sankisan Maru. I dove with my dive team for two dives this morning and really wanted to try a dive on my own. I talked with my dive buddy, shared my dive plan, and convinced him to let me try it alone. I knew I wouldn’t be totally alone on my dive because other divers from our group would be diving the Sankisan while I was down. If I really needed some help, I could find someone close by. My dive buddy conceded and I grabbed my camera and headed for the water.

Diving solo forced me to really concentrate on my diving skills. I was no longer depending on my excellent dive buddy to make sure my gauges were reading correctly or that I wasn’t descending too far below the deck of the ship or ascending too quickly on my return to the surface. No one was there to make sure I didn’t bang my head on an overhanging coral or swim backward into a piece of scrap metal torn apart from the ship during Operation Hailstone. All of the responsibility for safe diving was on me.

I’ll have to admit I was a bit nervous in the beginning, especially when I discovered that the ship wasn’t visible from the Odyssey’s mooring line. I had taken another look at the Sankisan’s layout before leaving the Odyssey and knew the ship’s entire stern section had been blown away during the attack. I also knew that the remainder of the ship was lying on the seafloor about 60 feet from the mooring line. It was the 40-foot visibility that was causing some concern. After a few apprehensive kicks, the faint impression of the torn and tattered hull appeared below me. Before continuing my dive along the lower deck, I paused a moment to mark the compass on my dive computer with a reciprocal heading. Finding the wreck on my own was a great confidence booster but getting lost on the way back would be quite embarrassing. After marking my return heading, I completed my first solo dive in the company of soft corals, tube sponges, hard corals, damsels, angel fish, gobies, and Moorish idols dancing along the I-beams above the ship’s cargo holds.

Today was the final diving day of my Palau/Chuuk Adventure and I was determined to savor every last minute of my experiences beneath the surface. I dove with Cindy Burnham again this morning because her diving buddy (husband, Rick Allen) and my diving buddy (former principal Paul Payne) were joining a couple of other divers from our group (Bobby Purifoy and Scott Lewis) for an adventure of their own. The “boys” were heading to the San Francisco Maru for a dive well beyond the recreational dive limits of my SCUBA license. Their dive would take them between 150 and 200 feet deep and would require decompression stops before they could safely return to the surface. After bidding them a hearty farewell, Cindy and I grabbed our cameras and headed out for our own adventure scouring the wreckage of the Seiko Maru. Our first stop was into the first cargo hold of the freighter to gaze in awe at the size of the long-range torpedoes stored in the hold. We ascended from the hold and spent the remainder of our air time cruising around the deck searching for “Nemo” pictures. We found one massive anemone on the ship’s mast with five clown fish darting around various sections in a communal living arrangement. I took several photos to add to my files. In my opinion, you just can’t have too many “Nemo” and anemone pictures. Our gauges indicated that it was time to head for the surface all too soon but Cindy and I conceded and headed back to the Odyssey. Once the “boys” had returned from their big adventure, the Odyssey pulled anchor and cruised to our final diving destination: the Kensho Maru. The Kensho is also a freighter supply ship for the Japanese Imperial Navy and it is covered with a plethora of soft corals, hard corals, and sponges. But the highlight of this wreck is the variety and size of the anemones and clown fish that adorn her structure from the bow to the bridge and to the heights of her king post. Cindy and I were alone without our dive buddies again for the first dive on the Kensho. The decompression boys had to stay on the Odyssey for an extended surface interval to allow their bodies’ time to off-gas the excess nitrogen that accumulated during their excellent adventure on the San Francisco Maru. Paul and Rick were able to join us on the final Kensho Maru dive in the afternoon and each of us seemed determined to savor every moment remaining beneath the surface. I took some time on my last dive to hover and observe the minute intricacies of the ecosystem that has developed aboard these historic vessels. The hard corals provide an excellent nursery for the juvenile fish as they play hide and seek between the branches of coral. When predators swim by, they can vanish into the deeper crevices of the corals or even the dark corners of the ship for safety. When the danger has passed, they can frolic and play while feeding on microscopic plankton that is swirled about the ship’s deck. It seems such a wonderful place to learn about the ocean world in which they live. As I scanned the wreck beyond this one piece of coral, the hierarchy of the food chain was easily observable from the midship to its gunwales. Larger fish constantly survey the ship’s deck in search of an easy meal while cautiously keeping an eye out for the largest predators that cruise along the outer edges of the ship.

I awoke early this morning to watch the sun rise over Weno Island, Chuuk. The time alone on deck provided me a few moments to reflect back on these past two weeks of diving in Palau and along the WWII shipwrecks of Chuuk Lagoon. It is difficult to predict the adventures that await us in our future and I found myself wondering if I would ever experience anything like my Palau/Chuuk adventure again. The pristine coral reefs and unique rock islands of Palau were more beautiful that I ever imagined. I have never seen so many colors blended so beautifully among thousands of species of coral and fish, enhanced by a visible spectrum of hues from turquoise to cobalt. The maritime heritage of Truk Lagoon reminded me of the perils of war and the massive destruction that took place in such a tranquil setting. The tranquility seems to have returned to Truk Lagoon, secured by the soft corals that have attached to the masts and kingposts and bridges of the ships and the tropical fish that reside close by.

The sun struggled to rise through a cloud bank this morning and my diving companions struggled as well. No one seemed ready to leave this paradise for the “real world” we successfully escaped the past two weeks. After a light breakfast, we boarded the Odyssey’s transport boat and headed to The Blue Lagoon Resort. Our flight departs from Weno at 1:30AM Monday morning and Sunday is another no-diving-land-day in preparation for the flight. Several of us decided to take a land tour of Weno which included a visit to the Xavier High School. The facility used by Xavier was the Japanese headquarters during WWII. I met the principal and one of the teachers as we walked around the school. A few students were hanging around the gym but classes were not is session (since it was Sunday). Xavier is a private religious high school and many of the teachers are volunteers from the United States. The teacher I spoke with is from Brooklyn, New York and has been teaching at Xavier for one year. The principal is in her third year and plans to remain about one more year before returning to the states.

My school visit provided a nice warm-up as I contemplated my return to the classroom next week. I am so excited to share my experiences with my students and to expose them to a part of the world much different than their own. One of these differences was observed on our bus ride to the school. As our driver tried unsuccessfully to dodge potholes scattered along the dilapidated roadways of Weno, I was disheartened by the scenery outside my window. Chuuk has a major waste management issue. Litter was everywhere and trash piles were visible around every corner. I spoke to the Xavier teacher about the pollution on land and in the surrounding waters of Weno. He validated my concern but when I asked if a waste management plan was in the foreseeable future, he dismally shook his head, “No.” Our bus returned to The Blue Lagoon Resort past more trash piles floating in every corner of the shoreline, outhouses built over the water, and used cars rusting in front yards. Reality set in hard. It was heart breaking to see such a beautiful corner of paradise scarred but such shameless disgrace. I had to remind myself that life on Weno is all that the Chuukese know. It is difficult to practice stewardship if it is something you’ve never experienced. I am now ready to see the pristine Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Thanks to all of you who help to keep it beautiful and clean.