Bikini day on Vayva Island

The one day of the week where we get to strip off all the layers and run around in a bikini (the girls that is!)

Juvenile has a dhoni and a few of the local boys come along to crew and keep an eye on us while we snorkel. The dhoni is started like you would a really old car...with a crank. Chey-lo jumped into the engine bay and cranked the handle a few times before the engine spluttered and roared to life.

Casting off and getting out of the harbour is an experience in itself. All the boats are lined up side by side, bows into the wharf. Ropes and anchors are tied off to the wharf, to neighbouring dhonis and criss-crossing over each other out the back. So to cast off and navigate the myriad of ropes is amusing to watch to say the least. Back and forwards, pulling on anchor ropes, pushing off other dhonis and Patchi jumping in with a mask and snorkel to free ropes from around the prop is all normal.

As we headed out of the harbour, a couple more ropes are stretched out for us to cross. No matter, Kale puts the boat in neutral, we glide across the ropes, the engine is put back in forward gear and we're off again. The hull has a smooth keel that begins at the bow and gradually gets deeper so the prop is protected. Ropes slide down the keel and out the back without getting stuck. Practical and simple.

Vavvaru Island is only about 20 minutes away so the boat ride was thankfully calmer than my last trip. As soon as we were out of close range, extra layers came off and I could enjoy the direct sunlight on my pale skin. 

We anchored in close to the island and jumped off into the calm aqua waters. Coral, coral and more coral! Heaps of different species stretching out in long reefs. It was only a metre or so deep, then as we neared the edge, it dropped off down into the murky depths. Patchi is a talented free-diver and disappeared from sight, finally reappearing after holding his breath for what seemed like minutes. I have a whole lot of practice ahead of me if I hope to be even half as good as him at this sport.

There is quite a lot of plankton in the water this time of year so  it's not crystal clear. Still, I could see a good 7-10 metres or so and could happily snap away  pics of all I saw. 

There are mostly hard corals around Vavvaru. We'll be doing coral surveys so I'm curious to see how many I can name by the end. There were a few small clams, their bright speckled blue inner flesh sticking out into the sea. Patchi pointed out the only anemone we came across, it's soft tentacles waving gracefully in the currents and orange nemo fish darting in and out.

The current was slow and swirled us around the island, allowing us to move along the reef and see how it changed. More sediment was covering the coral on the sheltered side of the island and the coral seemed more damaged here. There is also a lot of rubbish in the water. We came across nylon sacks (used for sandbags) stuck around the coral and had a delicate task of trying to untangle them without destroying the coral in the process.

There were small schools of time reef fish hanging around their favourite coral, with larger fish slithering under rocks and overhangs whenever I got near.

After an hour or more, we climbed out and wandered back along the beach. Orange hermit crabs peer out of their pure white shells and scuttle away or hide whenever I came near. If I waited, they would eventually stick their heads out and begin to move again. And more rubbish, rubbish, rubbish washed up on the shore.

Cara and Megan

Patchi

A 20 second walk got us to the other side of the island. I was greeted by a white sandy beach, no coral reefs in close and gentle waves. We spent the next hour or so just swimming, chatting and relaxing in the warm tropical water.

A wander along this stretch of beach revealed even larger piles of rubbish washed up on the shores. Plastic and glass bottles, jandles, string and rope, cigarette packets, thousands more nylon sacks and tins. All covering the beach above the high tide mark. It was sad to see such a beautiful island so smothered and it feels like an insurmountable problem. 

How do you stop people throwing rubbish into the ocean when that is the norm and has been for years? One of the goals of Atoll Volunteers is to try and change these behaviours and so regular beach clean-ups and educational talks are some of the other things I'll be getting involved in too.