after the class ended, pete and i headed to another group of islands in french polynesia called the tuamotus. the tuamotus are all atolls compared to the high standing islands in the society island chain (moorea, tahiti, etc.). our first island was fakarava - a sleepy little atoll known exclusively for it's amazing diving. the first day we were there we were fortunate to get on a dive trip to the south pass of the atoll. it is a trip that dive shops do rarely because it is 60kms from their base. the first photo below was taken from that pass...the sharks were AMAZING! there are also no crown-t0-thorns on the atolls, so the live coral cover was incredible. the fish were also more numerous and bigger than anything we saw in moorea. almost all of the dives we did were drift dives through the passes of the atolls. these dives are neat because the current creates congregations of fish and as a result their predators. we would start our dives in blue water where we would see lots of pelagic species and then drift in over the reef and see those species. the current was so fast some days that i felt like superman underwater...we were flying and there was no stopping! we would eventually drop down into a bowl while the current continued overhead. this bowl, called ali baba, was filled with thousands of fish doing the same thing we were...escaping the current.
we had six days on fakarava. we would usually dive in the morning and then take our bikes (provided by our pension) and find someplace to snorkel. we spent our evenings playing cards (loser had to do dishes) and pouring over the fish field guide to figure out which new species we had seen during the day.
after fakarava, we headed to rangiroa for a day. we were met at the airport by a dive operator that our fakarava dive outfit had arranged. jean-jacques wrote down what gear we needed and picked us up in the boat at our pension 30 minutes later. it worked out brilliantly! we did two dives in rangiroa - similar drift dives to fakarava, but slightly different. the pass is a lot deeper in rangiroa so we were not as close to the bottom there. we did see lots of different species - turtles, eagle rays, and our most prized fish of the tuamotus - the golden hawkfish! the hawkfish is one of mine and pete's favorites and the golden species is only found in the tuamotus. we had both been looking for it since we arrived and had had no luck. i spotted one in the last ten minutes of our first dive in rangiroa...we were so excited! (we know we're nerds)
after our short stay on fakarava, we headed to our final destination of tikehau. tikehau is a tiny little place where we had nothing more planned than relaxing. our pension was on its own little island and we were picked up from the airport in a boat. the snorkeling in the lagoon was not very good, but the waves were small enough that we were able to cross the crest and snorkel on the outside of the atoll. the first day we snorkeled out there we swam out to the edge of the reef so we were in blue water. as soon as we arrived there, a whole mess of gray reef sharks starting coming up from the depths straight at us! it was slightly intimidating even though they were no bigger than i was. they started circling around pete...there were 22 of them! then a big school of barracudas came in and started following us around. the site was also hawkfish central, so we checked off another two species we had not seen before. tikehau definitely fit the bill of relaxation...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMd7W_5mQxCro7TKAbC_s5UMY3mOyV-sb8eylLFuofBo_abahWUDhU09BNK_P0PRXh0dQr0EyW3ORFTysK9F5XKxhihVPYAceV2gF9Fs4CFa7g9t4BIMn9Mz8kL3BgD2oa15BqM1jmo8/s320/tikehau_intertidal+%281%29.jpg)
while we were in moorea, pete was offered a job with the US Geological Survey in santa cruz. after days of deliberation, he decided to take the job. his last day at the university will be january 2nd. he is excited for the new challenges his new position (marine engineer) will bring but is sad to be leaving the university after ten years.
the next six months will be busy for me as well. i am hoping to finish my phd by june 2009 and am actively writing grants and applying for post-docs in the bay area. keep your fingers crossed!
cassie turned eleven last week and is as spunky as ever. she was really excited when i came home, and i am so happy to have her around me again.
my niece madeline turns ten tomorrow and is giving her leukemia a run for it's money. her perseverance and unwavering attitude have been amazing to watch. all signs point to her treatments working well and her body fighting the cancer cells with avengence. she's been able to keep up with her school work and was able to go to a full week of school before the break started.
we're off to oakland to spend christmas with pete's family. wishing you a lovely holiday and best wishes for 2009!
the next six months will be busy for me as well. i am hoping to finish my phd by june 2009 and am actively writing grants and applying for post-docs in the bay area. keep your fingers crossed!
cassie turned eleven last week and is as spunky as ever. she was really excited when i came home, and i am so happy to have her around me again.
my niece madeline turns ten tomorrow and is giving her leukemia a run for it's money. her perseverance and unwavering attitude have been amazing to watch. all signs point to her treatments working well and her body fighting the cancer cells with avengence. she's been able to keep up with her school work and was able to go to a full week of school before the break started.
we're off to oakland to spend christmas with pete's family. wishing you a lovely holiday and best wishes for 2009!