As New Year approaches we often think about the things that are to come. The things we want to do, the resolutions we want to try and keep (and know we will break!), and, if you are like me, all the work you need to do when you get back from the break! However, I realise I don't often look back and think about what the last year brought. On Christmas day I thought about where I had been on Christmas 2013 and realised that it felt like a decade ago. This year I have packed in more stuff than any other year I think, and in particular I have trekked the globe visiting coral reefs everywhere.
From September 2013 until November 2014 I dived in Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Thailand, Cornwall, Djibouti, Maldives and Oman. Whether for my own research, working or fun, these places have left a big impression and series of firsts for me that I wanted to share. Hope you enjoy and dream big dreams for your year ahead.
September 2013: Sumatra, Indonesia
Going over to Sumatra for 3 weeks of fieldwork, was not only my first time to Asia, but also my first time to see a coral reef outside of Kenya. Hence, the first 2 years of my marine biology career starting in September 2011, I had only seen Kenyan reefs. I was overwhelmed with the new underwater scenery and dozens of new species. This trip was my first step at building up a mental list of reef condition and character, which I rely on for guiding my research now.
October 2013: Kuruwitu and Kisite, Kenya
Running up to Christmas 2013 we had an amazing marine team at A Rocha Kenya, with Peter, Doro, Cassie and Hannah. One weekend we decided to drive to the South Coast, and, being the marine nerds we are, went to visit a couple of reefs. On our second day in Kisite, we arrived at the reef early, with no other boats around, got in the water and were quickly surrounded by a pod of friendly dolphins, who swam and played around us for at least 20 minutes. I will never forget making eye contact with a baby dolphin and seeing the recognition in his/her eye as she/he gazed back at me with equal interest. There's a reason that swimming with dolphins is on people's bucket list! We had an incredible weekend of stunning reefs, beautiful scenery and just communing with nature, that made me realise again that I want to spend my whole life discovering the wild places on this planet.
January: Mount Kenya
My best mate and confident from my time in Kenya, Andrew, was leaving for new pastures in America, so to mark it we decided to climb Mount Kenya, along with Jaap, who was to become my friend over the coming months as he joined the research team in A Rocha. Mountains for me are as alien and frightening as some people find the sea, so to climb this mountain was a massive personal achievement. It was my first (and will be my last!) time to climb above 3000m altitude, feel altitude sickness and see the sun rise at the top of the world.
April: Vamizi, Mozambique
The reefs of Northern Mozambique are supposed to be the best and most diverse in East Africa, and with my imminent migration back to the UK approaching I was desperate to see another African nation, so I arranged some fieldwork on Vamizi Island, where one can find sharks, humphead parrotfish and other rarities. Unfortunately my research schedule was quite crazy and although I did get to see the amazing reefs, I had no time to enjoy them properly or find any of the rare wildlife that inhabits the area. In addition, I saw more extreme poverty, inequality and insecurity when travelling around that area than anywhere else I've been in the world. It is an area ravaged by years of civil war, and now the centre of a messy and incredibly rapid oil extraction development. Mozambique will stay with me as one the most depressing and frightening places I have ever seen and an example of how low people can stoop when there is no justice, sharing of resources or hope.
May: Phuket, Thailand
I was invited to Thailand for a meeting called by the UN Environmental Programme to discuss climate change and coral reefs. This is the topic of my PhD, so I know a thing or two about it, but this was the first time I had been invited to an event of this kind. I was both super excited and super nervous! After the meeting, which was a really stimulating experience, I went diving around the famous limestone islands of Phuket. Most memorable was free diving off Ko Racha Yai, with other delegates Nico and Angie. I saw my first sea snake that day!
June: Yns Mon, Wales
After years of busy summers and living abroad I finally went to my first festival in Angelsey, Wales at the age of 25. It was an absolute blast, with great people, incredible artwork, a lovely beach to chill out on during the day, all under the hot summer solstice sunshine from 4am until 10pm at night! What a great welcome back to the UK.
July: Land's End, Cornwall
I missed the sea terribly in the first few months back in the UK, so I tried to get to the coast as much as possible. A new friend from Oxford, Mike, had never been down to the South-West, so we drove all the way down to Land's End one weekend, to hike, snorkel and do some filming for my crowd funding campaign (to be launched in Jan 2015!). We managed to find seals and swim with them, which for Mike was not only his first time to see seals in the wild, but also his first time to snorkel! For me it was a great time of reconnecting with the place which inspired me many years ago to do what I do today.
September: Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti
Getting back from my summer holidays I was sifting though my email inbox and noticed a message, which was 10 days old, asking if I wanted to go on a field trip to Djibouti, with some other scientists to do a mapping project for the area. I messaged back immediately, but thinking I was far too late at replying. A week later I was on my way to the horn of Africa to survey in this stunning and unusual place. Here in Djibouti I saw reefs that seem largely un-impacted by coral bleaching and the impacts of climate change. The shelves of beautiful table coral descending down the reef will stay in my memory for how stunning healthy reefs can look like.
October: Kuramathi, Maldives
As soon as I got home from one unexpected trip to Djibouti I was invited on another to the Maldives! A contact from Nairobi, Gabe, was now working out there on a marine programme and asked me to come and do some surveys around a resort island. My confidence was massively boosted by these two trips, because for the first time people actually think I'm good at something and want to pay me to do it! Not only this but the Maldives had been a place I was desperate to see for a long time. The reefs were in great condition. On this trip I saw my first grey reef shark, leopard shark, eagle ray, manta ray and dozens of new fish.
November: Muscat, Oman
To finish off this epic year of travel and amazing experiences I spent a few days in Oman, where my dad was working, on the way back from the Maldives. It was my first time to the Middle East and I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was and how friendly the people were. The reefs were quite unique and on land there was a lot of interesting cultural things to explore. It really flew in the face of my expectations of what a newly developed oil nation in that part of the world would look like and just goes to show you can't always judge a book by its cover.
2015 ...
I don't know exactly what this year will bring. Quite soon I am hoping to launch a crowd funding campaign, to raise money for my research, so stay tuned for this. I am also hoping to finish my PhD and close that chapter on all the work I've been doing for the past few years. Otherwise, if its going to be anything as fun and unexpected as the past year, bring it on!
