Quick up date...

Would you believe the weather has changed? What!? No..! Yes. and for the better mind you. There is no rain for casted for today but for a bit of wind. We are heading out to the airport in a few minutes. The whole intern team is out turtle hunting this morning. Perhaps I can give them some support from the air in a while. They are trying to get hold of Carol, the turtle and she is actually a very interesting story. But I am off now to go fly. Will tell all later on!

Wish you where here!

:)

Dreams do come true...

After todays hectic flying I thought I would get up a few pics from the nicer days. Just to kind of make me feel better... ;)


Here is a pic of Ali and I having fun over Beau Vallon bay. Ali is part of the Aqua-firma group and on her first day had a great whale shark encounter. The very next day she booked a flight in our little orange plane. Of course she loved every minute of it and I recommended that she takes up flying. She was very keen on that idea. I won’t be too surprised if I see Ali in the sky pretty soon.

The funny thing is that out of the whole group (I think they are twelve) she is the only one that wanted to go flying. The rest are just into diving! I just don’t get it. Who would not want to do this?

:)))))
What do you think? One of my favourite pics. On one of those perfect days when you can flirt with the clouds…

Yep, you should have been here!

Up date...

Shoe! Just a short note - today I flew in some of the strongest wind I have ever flown in. It was blowing up to 50km/h in places and the sea looked angry. Of course the problem really was just in take offs and landing and at lower altitudes - it was very turbulent low down. Higher up it was actually quite pleasant, apart from the rain which slowly got worse. Yes, it was all from the outflow of a very large CB cell that covered the horizon. I know, I know, I should have known better but...

After spotting one whale shark in the morning this afternoon was disappointing. We did not get anything...

Wish you were here...

:)

Masks…

Sometimes it is good to wear masks. It can protect you from the sun, from the cold, from harmful gas or as in its most common use, just plainly hide your identity. Take for example the day Jana spotted a whale shark.

Now Jana is Dirks better half. She has flown over to visit for the week, which has been good for all of us. Dirk is not cranky anymore and of course Janna provides new and fresh conversation. Inevitably soon she was sitting in the back seat of the little orange plane with Dirk at the helm. He had to show her the ins and outs of the island from the air but also just to be the man – you know, the guy we don’t always see but Janna knows all too well.

Soon, Dirk had shown her the local fish-traps, the turtles that hang out in the coves and those that like the deep water, seemingly just hanging out in the middle of nowhere. And the large schools of fish that adorn the turquoise waters like Christmas lights a city.

“Daars n haai!” (Theres a shark!) OK, I am taking some poetic licence here. Jana actually said, “Wats daai?” (What’s that?) But the gist was exactly the same – could that be a whale shark?
Dirk could see it too and put the little plane into a downward spiral.
“Ooooh..!” Jana shouted from the back seat. (OK, I’m taking more poetic liberties here :) But soon the large brown object became clearer.
“It’s a Manta!” shouted Dirk and the large wide winged creature took flight. They could see its flatness and tip movement and got all excited. Jana was.., OK I will stop adding colour to the story here – Jana is living in our flat and I fear some retribution…
“Ag, dis a palm tak!” Shouted Dirk. (It’s a palm leave) and the two made known their disappointment while they flew on and left the palm leave to its own devices.

Of course later on when Dirk retold the story to me he could not help harping on the size of the leave, “It was not just long but so wide…” his arms went as far as they could while his fingers pointed even further. And that’s what gave it away. You see I know that in order to hide their identity it is not uncommon for the Seychelles whale sharks to hide behind large palm leaves. And let me tell you, they are very, very good at it too…

Wish you were here!
:)

Up date..

On Sunday afternoon I stumbled upon a lone whale shark. OK, they are loners anyway but this was our first shark in more than a week. Of course the boat was very happy. The sharks proved to be a tame one and kind of hanged around for a while. The Aqua-firma group loved it. It was their first day (Last week’s group left Sat and did not have one encounter for the week…) But this was a good start.

Of course today we tried the same thing in hope. For almost three hours I scoured the ocean surface for anything resembling the likes of a spotty creature but allas. It was not to be. So we are tired but on the way back I managed to get this pic for you. Base leg just before turning on finals. Not bad hey?

Wish you were here!
:)

Update...

Dirk got back at 8:30 this morning. It is pouring outside and there will be no flying this morning. The met office says the rain is wide spread and only the southern islands have sunny weather. We have just on two weeks left for the official whale shark season. Bar a miracle I doubt there is enough time to recover from the dismal season.

Yep. Still wish you were here! :)

PS: Here are two pics as a reminder of what the norm is for this time of the year. Two whale sharks and two manta rays in the one and just lots of whale sharks. From last years season.

Climate change...

South Point is on the right. Police Point is in the foreground. A rare gap in the weather allows me to explore the south...

O the irony. For almost a week we have been plagued by a large cell of CB’s hanging about in the south even if the north of the island was having fine weather. That’s where the MCSS office is – in the north and of course when all the marine biologists looked out the window they see fine weather. I can imagine they probably question why the pilots aren’t flying, once again! Of course the danger aspect of flying to the north where it is clear is that these CB cells can at any time move just a tad to the north and cover the airport, cutting us off from being able to get back and land safely. And it has happened a few times too – thankfully we were still safely on the ground (and happy at having made the right decision!)

Then yesterday we decide that the chance of finding sharks in the north is better since there have been higher plankton counts in that area. We set a plan of action and lo and behold, the large rain cells decide to migrate to, you guessed it, the north! So we sat at the airport with bright sunny weather to the south and rain in the north. I kid you not. What is it with the weather this time round? This has to be the worst season we have ever had. We are all frustrated – marine biologists, pilots, interns and tourists alike.

Climate change is real and if what we hear is correct then it is only going to get worse. I was listening to a program on BBC that mentioned climate disasters are up by three times as many as in the 80’s. Even scientists are working on coping measures rather than preventative ones. On the bright side, you might be living in an area that is going to get better weather in the future. Either way, change is upon us and for those businesses affected by the weather these are very trying times. The big question now is how does one set about a strategic plan of action for the weather? Get into a business that is not affected by the weather? Every time I sip a coffee I think along those lines… I have been for some time now. :)

Wish you where here!

:)