Turtles & Co
24 February 2014 | Utirik, Marshall Islands
teri
As the day ebbs and the tide drops the swimming pool blue arises to greet me. The white sand is on the rise as the water follows the moon on its daily course across the globe. Of course the sand doesnât rise, but from a hermit crabs perspective who hasnât studied physics his increasing real estate summons him to begin his scavenger hunt.
The sapphire pools stretch all the way to the anchor which nestles in its own white bath of sand, nearby coral heads darken the lengthening baby blue leaving only small round universes for the multi-colored damsels and white banded trigger fish to encircle. The sand is really spectacular, not necessarily the finest, but still I am awed by the idea that nearly all this sand is composed from deteriorated marine organisms. A short beach comb and you will find layers upon layers of these magical little shells, most in their entirety. Echoing from the depths of land hoe weâve arrived at Utirik atoll, which is nearly at the northern end of the Ratak Chain, also referred to as the sunrise chain or the eastern set of atolls; the more famous Bikini atoll is part of the Ralik Chain in the west and therefore referred to as the sunset chain.
March 1st 2014 marks the 60th anniversary for the first hydrogen bomb dropped in Bikini atoll, Castle Bravo was its codename. As part of the Pacific Proving Grounds even the United States were surprised by its powerful wide-spread radioactive contamination and the largest bomb ever set off by the US. The Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon was not so lucky that day. The contamination of its 23 crew members ensued an enormous scandal in Japan which sparked off the 1954 thriller Godzilla, where the US nuclear testing mutates the great ape to genocidal proportion. âThe Bikini island is well-known for being the subject of nuclear bomb tests, and because the Bikini swimsuit was named after the island in 1946. The two-piece swimsuit was introduced within days of the first nuclear test on the atoll, and the name of the island was in the news. Introduced just weeks after the one-piece âAtomeâ was widely advertised as the âsmallest bathing suit in the world,â it was said that the bikini âsplit the Atome.â Thank you off-line Wikipedia.
It is no wonder then that the Marshall Islands is a matrilineal society, where women inherit the right to cultivate and use land, but sadly so are not culturally able to wear the namesake two piece swimsuit. Social status is still gained from kinship and chiefs, itâs not what you know or what you wear, itâs who you know. And these islanders seem to know quite a few of each other. The average woman has 4 children, the highest count among the central Pacific countries. Could a shot of birth control at puberty help a nation with rising seas and shrinking land mass; would it be ethically to insist? We left Majuro on the 11th of February and sailed the 215 miles to Ailuk atoll for some kite surfing, diving and etc. The wind was good to sail and we had a great first day of kiting. Then came day two and the wipe out. I could blame it on the wind, but that old adage holds about as much truth as flying pigs. So here I am enjoying the course through time to heal what I think is a sprained ligament on my left knee. We came to Ailuk last year and were there for its Independence Day celebration, where the vegetarian in me took the back seat to what I thought would be a once in a life time opportunity, to taste turtle. When you are seated next to the Prince of Marshall Islands it is hard to refuse his offering of turtle flesh, which I was surprisingly very good, once I got over the endangered species act. Opportunity struck again this year, apparently I was wrong, hmmm just how enforced are these endangered species acts? Thank goodness I sprained my knee that morning and was unable to attend the School function where low and behold they served turtle for lunch, not that I would refuse eating turtle again, even if it was only sitting next to a 3rd grader, but from the stories we heard from our neighbors anchored next to us, the turtle that was served this year was not worthy of a Prince; turtle parts that were undiscernible, possible intestines, and what not. I believe the once in a life time of eating turtle has been fulfilled. We couldnât find anything written on the diving in the passes of Ailuk, so six of us from three separate boats left on the 42â Chris White catamaran named LightSpeed, a very cool cat indeed. Thanks to Dave and Kathy for hosting us all. With two dinghies in tow, we set out to drift the deeper parts of the waters. As usual in these passes small reef sharks come up to see what has just dropped into their territory. Marshallâs are among the first in becoming a shark sanctuary where finning and catching are illegal, most of the sharks we saw were about one and a half meters, still beautiful, sleek and graceful creatures, easily mesmerizing you into some kind of fateful submission. After lunch we set out the poles and fished. We caught. Not sure if there is that great of a distinction between fish and turtle eating or for that matter eating any other animal being. My inner vegan rises from the flames. Anyway, along came a splash, a big splash at the end of the line, which was considered to be a marlin, alas, it was a barracuda that had been caught and now was doubly caught, four reef sharks were in hot pursuit as the line was reeled in. All that arrived at the boat was the head. I doubt there are any vegan sharks.
The sail up to Utirik was indeed upwind, Iâm not sure how many more times I need to prove to myself that I get seasick when we sail upwind. Fortunately it was only 50 miles from Ailuk and the furthest north we will be heading this time. We had only rudimentary and offset charts for our entrance into the lagoon. The Google Earth image barely discerned the pass, it did foretell the line of white water that stretched off into the horizon. We sailed close to the reef to eyeball the spot where Soggy Paws wrote would be an entrance to the lagoon. It looked deep enough but was narrow and there was a NW swell along with an outgoing tide to help with the anticipation. I asked Philip how well Blue Bie surfs. We caught 2 waves and she handled quite wellâ¦..after the rudder caught. The return course from Utirik to Ailuk will be a more favorable wind direction, hopefully, and of course once we get through the Utirik pass again. Update on the turtles. Is the sea turtle even on the list? Both Philip and I thought we heard that it was illegal to hunt the turtle except for an allocated number per year per island. Maybe the father we met on Utirik who had a very large female turtle tied upside down preserving her for his daughterâs one year birthday celebration on the 27th is not in the know either. After seeing the live turtle, no doubt uncomfortable as her flippers swam uselessly through the air in an attempt to escape and only leaving narrow ditches in the sand, I can decidedly say that I will not consume turtle flesh again. Once were back in Ailuk we will meet up with Emily whom we have asked to craft some square baskets; most of the baskets created here are round, I suppose for ease of weaving, so to square request is unique, but they fit better on a space conscious boat. Ailuk is famous for the canoe sailing and basket weaving, Iâll post some pictures of the canoes when we once again return to the land of the internet, which will be when we either run out of sugar for Philips espresso or beer.