The team arrive in Trinco! Paddy’s ponderings part two…

After soaking up the sights and sounds of the capital for a couple of days, we have finally arrived in Trincomalee. We enjoyed our time in Colombo but I get the feeling everyone is relieved to be at our final destination so we can get settled in and started with the research. We rolled up bright and early at 5am after six hours on the night coach and met up with up with the manager of Poseidon school, Praveen. After dropping us off at our picturesque little house, the whole team rushed down to the beach to watch the sunrise and take in the beautiful area we’re lucky enough to be staying in! Not many words were crossed during our early morning pickup due to the sheer exhaustion everyone felt from a rough night’s sleep but we walked up to the dive school before lunch to properly introduce ourselves and discuss plans for the next five weeks. As we have arrived in the just at the end of monsoon season it makes planning dives a little difficult as we are predicted

to see a couple of thunder storms in the next week. Praveen told us that they have recently been on the receiving end of a cyclone which has complicated launching dives and had devastating effects further south in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the recent bad weather has also dispersed local whale populations from the area (at least for the near future) but I am still determined to spot an elusive blue whale before our five weeks are up. There are still plenty of dolphins and blacktip sharks around so it will not be like there is not plenty to see. They have even spotted a bull shark rather recently which is exciting if not a tad terrifying. I love sharks but I think bull sharks will love me in a different way somehow; a more gastronomic kind of love.

First plan of action is to begin training up members of the team to advanced status in preparation for later dives. Rosie will also be looking to obtain her rescue diver and emergency first response certificate which is exciting as it is the first formal step to becoming a professional diver and it is by far one of the most fun courses both to learn and to teach. In the meantime, the rest of us will be making plans in preparation for our excursions which will mostly include orientating ourselves with the dive cameras, quadrats and surveying techniques for collecting data. Moreover, as part of the trip we will be conducting and outreach programme at local schools to raise awareness of environmental protection and promote an interest in science by getting some pupils involved in the studies we are doing. We have also brought a trunk load of googly eyes, crayons and bubble mix for them to play with so it isn’t going to be all serious business!

On the back of this we will also be conducting beach cleans in the local area. I am happy to say though that on the most part besides some occasional littering, the beach across from our house is actually rather clean. The sand is near pristine, littered with thousands of tiny holes which make for the homes of tiny crabs. The water is an inviting 270C and is an absolute joy to swim in as long as you don’t stay in for too long. The water can trick you in to a false sense of comfort when in actual fact your skin is so hot you could fry a raw egg on your forehead.