After a busy day…

Gavin Newman (photographer), Boy Siojo (videographer) and I did two dives in different sites during the day to investigate for signs of oil on corals and other marine life.

On the way to the dive site we observed some oil slick on the surface of the water which made me cringe and think of what lies beneath the surface. As we neared the shore, one could see the stark contrast of the black mangrove leaves and roots covered with black sludge as opposed to the lush green background.

The first dive we did was at 10 metres of water but we saw mostly sand and a lot of anemones with feisty saddleback clownfishes. We cut short the dive and proceeded to the shallow reef. Here we did not see any visible signs of oil on the reef and, although a lot of corals were alive, we observed some broken corals and a lot of crown-of-thorns starfish feeding on healthy coral heads scraping off the living polyps and leaving behind a bleached coral skeleton.

Even though we did not see visible signs of oil on the reef, it felt that something was wrong with the water’s colour. A tinge of yellowish brown seems to cloud the water affecting the visibility.

During our debriefing a while ago, Janet Cotter (pollution expert) mentioned that bunker fuel is light (unlike crude oil) and quite miscible in water making it more toxic. This means that even though we did not see signs of oil on the corals, it doesn’t mean that the corals, fishes and other marine life are safe.

August 21, 2006

It is only around 2:30 in the afternoon and already it feels like a long day. Boy and I went diving to help install booms made of indigenous materials (bamboo, woollen sacks etc).

On the way to shore, after a night of rains and big swells, we observed much more oil in the water and as we neared shore it just kept getting worse. While waiting for the land team to bring the booms to us, I stared on the slick covering the surface of the water. As the surface breaks, one could smell the oil and small bubbles of thick brown water would burst and mix with the water beneath. I started getting ready to dive, thinking about how to avoid ingesting these waters on one hand but also thinking of the inhabitants of these waters.

To avoid getting too much oil on us, Boy requested Remon, the boat driver, to quickly make small circles to clear some of the oil and we immediately dove straight into the bottom at 3 metres. Visibility was worse compared to yesterday and it was hard to see the boats above us so I quickly deployed my safety balloon to ensure our safety.

Despite the bad visibility, I could see that this area has quite a good coral cover. Aside from that I saw a small school of juvenile batfishes swimming around me. However there was no time to assess the reef at this point except that I noticed that some polyps have retracted deeply into their coral heads which could be a sign of stress already.

A group of swimmers guided the booms while Boy and I tied ropes on dead coral heads and rocks, avoiding doing additional damage to the reef. I had to surface several times to coordinate with Jasper, another Greenpeace campaigner on the outrigger boat, and the local fishermen and volunteers tying the ropes to the booms. It was during these times on the surface that I saw how frantic the situation is: While we are attaching booms to prevent more oil from reaching the shore, most of it are already “mixing” with the water and the waves are speeding up this process.

Despite my hesitation to remove my regulator since I did not want to ingest the oily water, I had no choice but do it anyway to be able to communicate with the rest of the team properly. It was during these times when I felt some burning on my lips, neck and face and taste the oily water as well. But despite all of these, we still continued working until we managed to install the four test booms.

On the way to the ship I felt stunned by what I saw on the surface and underwater. I spent the entire trip back to the Esperanza thinking of the future of the coastal communities over and underwater.