Week 8 in Pez Maya
Hola culebrones locos!
Yes, we know the last blog has only just been posted, but we’ve been super busy and everything ran a bit late, so weeks seven and eight are like a buy one get one free offer…
The most exciting news we have this week is that we’ve finally started monitoring the reef! Hooray! There are Expedition Members walking around base talking about boat codes and transects and deciding who will be measuring the water salinity for the physical parameters log – we all feel very scientific. Those of us doing the BTEC (Advanced Certificate in Supervising Biological Surveys) are having even more fun writing risk assessment and emergency action plans and planning briefings stating the aims and objectives of the project. The Divemaster Trainees are starting to look a bit like zombies as they have so much work to do…put simply it’s all systems go at Pez Maya!
There have been a few eventful Divemaster training sessions, particularly the underwater demonstration of weight belt removal and replacement. This left Jax upside-down with dreads in the sand and Kels and Ralph lunging at Andy to stop him from floating to the surface. Instructor Gigi was highly entertained.
There was also some interesting role-play during the Emergency First Response training session for the five-weekers. Alex did a great job as Rocky Balboa trying to resuscitate Apollo Creed (although he still died. You can’t change the script you know).
Not even their newly acquired skills could save the unfortunate possum found drowned in one of the dive kit dunk tanks one morning (new rule: empty dunk tanks at the end of the day). Liz, however, was just in the nick of time to put her EFR skills to good use by rescuing yet another possum the very next day who had decided to take a dip in the compressor tank bucket. Good work, Liz.
Despite inadvertently killing a possum we have actually been doing conservation work – promise! We had a clean up around the lagoon mouth to the north of base; we’ve said it before but we’ll say it again –Reduce, reuse, recycle! Plastic is evil!!!
We had a few dive cancellations due to the return of the excessive, unrelenting, never ending, continuous, 24 hour CONSTANT howling wind so some of the EMs have been developing their practical joke skills. Clothes have been buried in sand, cameras and mozzie nets have been hidden and entire beds have been moved miles away from the huts. There has been talk of calling a truce, but to be honest we’re having too much fun and it passes the time.
We’re pretty sure that we must be entering the iguana mating season here at Pez. The iguanas have been getting busy all around base and we’ve all witnessed some sort of iguana hanky panky. Greg has developed a worrying obsession with the mating rituals and has been studying them in great detail so he can share his findings with us at the evening briefings. His favourite fun iguana hanky panky fact is that the males cannot run away if their business is interrupted…thanks Greg…
Until next time, then, manten la fe y serás grande!
The most exciting news we have this week is that we’ve finally started monitoring the reef! Hooray! There are Expedition Members walking around base talking about boat codes and transects and deciding who will be measuring the water salinity for the physical parameters log – we all feel very scientific. Those of us doing the BTEC (Advanced Certificate in Supervising Biological Surveys) are having even more fun writing risk assessment and emergency action plans and planning briefings stating the aims and objectives of the project. The Divemaster Trainees are starting to look a bit like zombies as they have so much work to do…put simply it’s all systems go at Pez Maya!
There have been a few eventful Divemaster training sessions, particularly the underwater demonstration of weight belt removal and replacement. This left Jax upside-down with dreads in the sand and Kels and Ralph lunging at Andy to stop him from floating to the surface. Instructor Gigi was highly entertained.
There was also some interesting role-play during the Emergency First Response training session for the five-weekers. Alex did a great job as Rocky Balboa trying to resuscitate Apollo Creed (although he still died. You can’t change the script you know).Not even their newly acquired skills could save the unfortunate possum found drowned in one of the dive kit dunk tanks one morning (new rule: empty dunk tanks at the end of the day). Liz, however, was just in the nick of time to put her EFR skills to good use by rescuing yet another possum the very next day who had decided to take a dip in the compressor tank bucket. Good work, Liz.
Despite inadvertently killing a possum we have actually been doing conservation work – promise! We had a clean up around the lagoon mouth to the north of base; we’ve said it before but we’ll say it again –Reduce, reuse, recycle! Plastic is evil!!!
We had a few dive cancellations due to the return of the excessive, unrelenting, never ending, continuous, 24 hour CONSTANT howling wind so some of the EMs have been developing their practical joke skills. Clothes have been buried in sand, cameras and mozzie nets have been hidden and entire beds have been moved miles away from the huts. There has been talk of calling a truce, but to be honest we’re having too much fun and it passes the time.
We’re pretty sure that we must be entering the iguana mating season here at Pez. The iguanas have been getting busy all around base and we’ve all witnessed some sort of iguana hanky panky. Greg has developed a worrying obsession with the mating rituals and has been studying them in great detail so he can share his findings with us at the evening briefings. His favourite fun iguana hanky panky fact is that the males cannot run away if their business is interrupted…thanks Greg…
Until next time, then, manten la fe y serás grande!
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