Chumphon Pinnacle, Koh Tao, Thailand: Whale shark

11th September 2013

Thailand is gentle, lush, steamy and full of colour.  The people are incredably warm and friendly.  The beer is cheap and the food is fresh and delicious.  It's paradise here and I am lucky to say that I am having a wonderful new experience every day. 

After a day of acclimatising to the heat and new smells, I enrolled on my Open Water diving course.  An intensive four-days of classroom and practical skills testing - I had to concentrate very hard in some parts of the teaching and had to overcome a fair bit of anxiety to get there - but boy oh boy was it worth it!

We were a small group of five.  Jann, our French dive master led me and three others through the first few days of the course, but it was on our final day at the dive site called 'Chumphon Pinnacle' to the north-west of the island of Koh Tao, are that we came across this beauty:

Everyone on our boat leapt into the water to swim with this magnificent creature.  Other dive masters told me that day, they had taken over 700-dives before they had even set eyes close to a Whale shark as such is their rarity.  We had landed this experience with one on our third dive and most fortunately, shared our diving with someone with a camera:

Of all the creatures in the sea, one of the most majestic and mysterious is the whale shark.  It's the biggest shark there is, reaching 30-feet or more in length and weighing in at about 10-tons.  Ours was a juvenile at about 15-feet.  Nevertheless, it's size was still awesome and it spent a good half an hour, slowly circling our boat and enjoying (apparently) the sensation that the bubbles we were creating gave off on it's giant belly. 

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea and one that we know least about.  They are harmless filter feeders and tropical ocean wanderers, but whole chapters of this species' life history are either poorly understood, or entirely unknown. 

A few dedicated scientists are currently trying to piece together these missing chapters, yet some of the most basic questions remain unanswered.  

Whale sharks are highly mobile animals, capable of swimming thousands of miles but it is yet to be seen whether whale sharks are truly migratory?  

Migratory animals move between particular areas on regular seasonal or annual schedules, but whale sharks appear to perform simple movements within more defined home ranges - or larger, seemingly random movements.  Also, no one has ever witnessed whale shark courtship, mating, or birth.  It is known from the study of a single female that whale sharks are ovoviviparous, that is, they have eggs which develop within the female - but give birth to live young. 

Their skin is marked with a beautiful checkerboard of spots and stripes which function as camouflage by breaking up the outline of the body and mimicking the dappling of light at depth.  The whale shark is in the order Orectolobiformes (carpet sharks) and is the only species in the family Rhincodontidae.  Although it shares some features with other carpet sharks including the nurse shark and the zebra shark, it does not have any close relatives.  There are only two other large filter feeding sharks; the basking shark and megamouth shark, but they are not closely related.

Whale sharks are incredibly cryptic animals.  What is known of their behaviour comes from observations of a tiny portion of their life where they are shallow enough and close enough to shore for people to see, or from data gathered by tags on a very few individuals.  Thankfully though, the hunting of whale sharks is now banned in most countries. 

Swimming at depth under water is an extraordinary experience.  A whole other world of light, shade and splendor.  There are fish that look like rocks, rocks that look like fish, coral masses the size of a house and of colours I could never have imagined.  After overcoming my fears, I soon found that once totally immersed I could enjoy the sights and wonder that was there.  I hope to continue now to my Advanced Open Water training - where I will be able to reach 30-metres underwater and do some wreck diving, night diving and also enrol on a fish identification course; but I've got to mend myself first.  I was having great difficulty trying to equalise my ear pressure under water, then clearing them at all onshore - a swift visit to the medical centre on the island told me that my middle ears were damaged so I'm keeping out of the water for a week and concentrating on yoga classes instead.  

Filefish!

Gobustan, Azerbaijan: Mud volcanos

4th September 2013

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zarathustra in ancient Iran approximately 3500-years ago. Among many of their quite sensible beliefs, the religion states that active participation in life through good deeds - is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. Also, Zoroastrians worshipped fire.

Little wonder then, that this oil and gas rich nation became a focal point for their worship. Gas flows freely from fissures in the rock and up from the chalky earth, identifying itself in pools of sticky mud which form ripples, rivulets, pathways and eventually mounds of chalky, bubbling cauldrons.  Elsewhere up in the mountains, the natural gas is so abundant that it burns continually from the sides of the hills in fierce and fiery pockets. 

The mud volcanos are a real natural oddity and can be found spattered throughout the world, astonishingly though about 300 of the earth’s estimated 700 mud volcanoes are here in Azerbaijan. They are capable of ejecting millions of cubic metres of hydrocarbon gasses and mountains of mud. These geological marvels really were a sight to behold and while I imagined them to be boiling hot they were surprisingly, stone cold.

I jumped at the opportunity to finally leave the city and see this arid place.  A small group of us from the photography club I have joined headed South out of the city for about an hour.  It was a relief to leave busy Baku, particularly to see something truly organic.  

The capital of Azerbaijan has been engineered in such a way that very little natural-nature is to be found in the centre anymore. Sadly, the natural scrub and many of the indigenous trees were cleared to make way for manicured shaded squares, walk ways and rapidly expanding business centres. Then, in came the imported and very ancient olive and feminine looking Baobab trees which now line the waterfront. While very beautiful nevertheless, the clinical design and continual attention to managing the detail and 'mess' keeps much of what should once have been here, well away. 

There have been some natural pleasures to enjoy however; the pair of courting Turtle Doves who huddle together on the TV ariels below the balcony, mobs of squawking Rose-Necked Parakeets at the entrance to the old city, several Hooded Crows that hop noisily about on the roofs of the city, the Cormorants and Caspian gulls scudding along the Bulvar and a multitude of straggly cats that I befriend in the alleyways. 

I didn't realise how much I had been longing for the freedom of walking in a wild place.  This coming Friday, I will have to opportunity to do exactly that as I leave for the next stage of my journey, to Thailand. 

Fountains Square, Baku: Pomegranate Tree

11th August 2013

I have arrived in Azerbaijan.  The heat here is extraordinarily dry and intense. Thankfully though, there is the khazri - the blissful wind that arrives from the south over the Caspian Sea.  Never before have I spent time anywhere quite so exotic.  The smells, sights and sounds are a far cry from the Devon hedgerows I know and love.  In the evenings, from the balcony of our apartment the lights of the city come alive while the moon rises and the sound of the mosques calling people to pray is magical.

The city itself is kept immaculately.  There is untold wealth here and no expense has been spared on maintaining the image of a cosmopolitan environment, but the place has been 'built' for the ex-pats, the workers and their money.  As such, Baku is very much a man's world and in the evenings, the bars bristle with testosterone.  Whether it be the European riggers, drillers and engineers or the local Azeris and Turkish men, all of whom have money to spend and are looking for ways to spend it.

Just off the centre of Fountains square is this Armenian church.  Now bricked up but still standing, which is remarkable given the recent war and bloodshed between the neighbouring countries.

Pomegranates grow in the closed off garden here and the fruits are used throughout the cusine here. The juice and syrup taste wonderful and the seeds look like the finest, glittering rubies. Naturally, they are steeped in history and mythology throughout the Middle East.  Here is the story of Persephone... and an excuse for some more artwork:

Persephone (Prosperine in Roman) was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Zeus. Persephone is often known as the Kore (or Cora, meaning young maiden) or called the Maiden. She is often depicted carrying a sheaf of grain, symbolising her connection to Demeter and Earth's fertility. 

Because of her beauty, everyone loved her, including Hades, ruler of the Underworld. It is said that several gods flattered and flirted with her, until Demeter hid her daughter from the Olympian gods. 

Proserpine ~ DG Rossetti

Persephone lived alone, caring for nature and planting seeds, however, she did eventually become the wife of Hades. From that time on, she was often known as 'Queen of the Dead' and it was taboo to speak her name aloud, so many continued to refer to her as the Kore.

Hades had fallen in love with Persphone. He wanted to marry her, despite Demeter's wishes. One day in a field on Enna, Persephone was picking flowers when the ground opened up. Hades rode up in a chariot from beneath, grabbed Persephone and escaped to the Underworld with her. Persephone was now his and there were only two witnesses; Zeus and Helios, the sun. Persephone's mother Demeter was not told what had happened.

L'enlevement de Proserpine ~ Simone Pignoni

Shortly after though, when Demeter realised her daughter was missing she was crushed and lost, the earth feeling the intense impact of her grief.  Droughts, blights, farms were destroyed as Demeter continually searched for Persephone. 

The earth suffered as she did. Finally, Helios came forward and told Demeter what had actually happened.

The return of Persephone ~ Frederick Leighton

Demeter rushed up to Mount Olympus to plead with Zeus. He agreed that Persephone could be returned to her motherand the heavens if, she had not eaten anything while in the Underworld as eating in this place was strictly forbidden.  Demeter agreed and Hermes was sent to retrieve Persephone - However, Persephone had eaten something down in the Underworld. Tricked by Hades and starving, she ate seven pomegrante seeds.  According to what Zeus had said, she could not then leave but Zeus compromised to keep order.  Persephone would spend 7-months of the year with his husband, Hades, and the other 5-months with her mother.

This legend explains the changes in seasons throughout the year. Autumn through to winter, Persephone acts as Queen of the Underworld and lives with Hades - Spring and summer are then spent with her mother.

Kingskerswell, Devon: Domestic Cat

7th August 2013

Today I said goodbye to another piece of my heart that I am leaving in Devon.  This unremarkable scrap of grey fuzz has been my companion for the last 8-years and has seen me through thick and thin.  I scooped her up from a farm on the edges of Dartmoor when she was a tiny kitten, where her fate was sure to be a less than an attractive one.

To others, she must seem to be a very ordinary cat - with few redeeming qualities.  She won't be picked up, she doesn't play, she has not been known to hunt anything larger than a cricket and tends to run away from, everyone. 

Nevertheless in private and with it seems only me, she is the most loving creature who subtly communicates herself with a continual purr whenever we are alone together.  I shall miss her immensely. 

Torbryan, Devon: Lesser Horseshoe Bat

25th July 2013

Thursday marked the last occasion I was likely to be dancing with Beltane for some time. We headed to the Old Church House Inn at Torbryan and it was a brilliant, but emotional night of songs and adieus to my lovely friends.  How fitting thing that the evening should reveal the inky treasure of a Lesser Horseshoe bat. 

 
A couple of weeks ago a friend at Beltane introduced me to their heterodyne detector and provided the inspiration to buy one, as I've never before used them or properly seen them in action. We spent an hour in Exeter enjoying the sound waves of Daubenton bats, skimming the surface of the quay water and catching insects (which was wonderful enough) but on Thursday, we crept off to an area around the redundant mediaeval church with our devices and were given the treat of this rare little creature. I'm assured that it was a lesser and not a greater horseshoe by the distinctive frequency of it's echolocation.

It get's it's name from a characteristic horseshoe shaped nose and is one of the world's smallest bats. It has strong feet that it uses to grasp rocks and branches, and can see well in spite of its small eyes. Like most bats, lesser horseshoe bats live in colonies and hunt their prey by emitting ultrasound from specialized round pads in their mouth.

The base of its fur, which is soft and fluffy, is light grey in colour, with dorsal side fur smoky brown and grey, with the exception of juvenile bats which are entirely dark grey. When hunting they are quick and agile, often flying within five metres of the ground while avoiding contact with bushes and shrubs eating small insects, most of which are gleaned from stones and branches.

Lesser horseshoe bats mate in the autumn.  Females give birth to one cub, normally between mid-June and the beginning of July. Pups open their eyes after around 10-days and becoming independent at six to seven weeks of age. The bats hibernate during the winter months in dark caves, mines, old buildings, and sometimes in cellars.  Myths about bats are found in many human cultures. The ancient Egyptians believed that bats could prevent or cure poor eyesight, toothache, fever, and baldness, and a bat hung over the doorway of a home was thought to prevent the entry of demons that carried these “diseases.”

Bat gods were important to many pre-Colombian civilisations in central America, and bats have been used in voodoo worship in parts of Africa as well as in many parts of the Caribbean even today.  The association of bats with the legend of human vampires has an uncertain origin, but since the time of Cortez and his Conquistadors, peoples of western civilisation have linked vampire bats with the legendary “human” vampires of Transylvania.  The writings of William Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, and others have contributed to legends that cast a veil of fear on people, as they associate bats with graveyards, death, ghosts, and goblins. To the Chinese, bats are regarded as symbols of happiness and good fortune.  At one time Chinese mothers would sew small jade buttons in the shape of a bat on the caps of their babies, a custom believed to impart long life. 

Below is a copy of a Taino Indian legend, called 'The Vain Bat' which I thought was a good little parable: 

'When time was yet in the cradle, there was no uglier creature in the world than the bat. The bat went up to heaven to look for God and said: “I’m bored with being hideous. Give me coloured feathers!” No. He said, “Please give me feathers, I’m dying of cold!” But God had not a single feather left over. “Each bird will give you a feather,” he decided. Thus the bat got the white feather of the dove and the green one of the parrot, the iridescent one of the hummingbird, the pink one of the flamingo, the red of the cardinal’s tuft and the blue of the kingfisher’s back, the clayey one of the eagle’s wing and the sun feather that burns in the breast of the toucan. 

The bat, luxuriant with colours and softness, moved between earth and clouds. Wherever he went, the air became pleasant and the birds dumb with admiration. According to the Zapotec peoples, the rainbow was born of the echo of his flight but, vanity puffed out his chest. He acquired a disdainful look and made insulting remarks. 

 The birds called a meeting, together they flew up to God. “The bat makes fun of us,” they complained. “And what’s more, we feel cold for lack of the feathers he took.” Next day, when the bat shook his feathers in full flight, he suddenly became naked. A rain of feathers fell to earth. 

He is still searching for them, blind and ugly, enemy of the light, he lives hidden in caves. He goes out in pursuit of the lost feathers after night has fallen and flies very fast, never stopping because it shames him to be seen.'  

It was in no way possible to get a picture but I'm going to head back there with a red light to try to record some video of it, if we're lucky enough to encounter it again. In the meantime, here's my favourite picture of me looking most like a bat doing one of my best-loved things in the world.

Babbacombe, Devon: Compass jellyfish

22nd July 2013

Summer holidays are here and Bo and Anna have arrived in England. This means, crab catching time. Their talents have extended this year, to hunting jellyfish.

 

Jellyfish have roamed the seas for at least 500-million years, possibly 700-million or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal. A group of jellyfish is called a swarm, or a bloom; which is rather lovely.

Ours was a Compass jellyfish - Chrysaora hysoscella: Chrysaora is derived from chrysaor in Greek mythology, the son of Poseidon and the god of lightening.  Hysoscella is from the two Greek words: isos, meaning 'alike' and scelis, meaning 'ribbon'. 

Chrysaor was the result of the ill-fated mating of Medusa and Poseidon. He was born from the blood droplets from Medusa's head when it was cut off by Perseus and oh look here, some fitting Pre-Raphaelite art by Edward Burne-Jones!

The Birth of Pegasus & Chrysaor from the Blood of Medusa

Little is known of Chrysaor other then he was considered a stout hearted warrior. His name means Golden Sword and his appearance is unknown but given his family, it is likely to have been unusual. Some say he was possibly a giant.

Perseus and Chrysaor (c1876-1885) 

Compass jellyfish appear in coastal waters all round the British Isles, they are most prevalent off the south and west coasts of England and Wales and although we discovered relatively early on that they are a non-stinging species, it didn't prevent a mild feeling of terror as we waded through them on our way out to sea to swim.

They have a saucer-shaped bell, with 32-semi circular lobes around the fringe, each one with a brown spot. On the upper surface of the bell,16-brown V-shaped marks radiate outwards from a dark central spot. The mouth, the only opening to the exterior, is located on the centre of the underside of the bell, and is surrounded by 4-arms. There are also 24-tentacles around the edge of the bell, grouped in threes.

Compass jellyfish change sex: first they are male, followed after by female. The medusae live mainly off other medusae, comb jellyfish and arrow worms.

While looking into the subject matter of jellyfish, I came across these beautiful pictures called 'Haeckel's medusae' from a magnificent series of botanical artwork Haeckel produced, called 'Art forms in Nature'.

Ernst Haeckel (1834 - 1919) was a German zoologist, biologist, and philosopher who was born in Prussia. He studied medicine and was a lecturer then professor of zoology. He undertook several scientific expeditions the the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, the Red Sea, Ceylon and Java and discovered many new species of lower marine animals. 

Haeckel's zoological works included descriptions of these some 4000-new species, mainly radiolarians, medusae, and sponges. He was immediately converted to Darwinism upon reading On the Origin of Species, and although a slightly ropey and fraudulent past was recorded, he was the first German advocate of organic evolution.

Sowton, Exeter: Mugwort

17th July 2013

Today was my last day working in Exeter.  I have made some nice friends during my time within the role, which arrived for me during a difficult and strange time.  I’m thankful that it helped me through the winter and for the knowledge I gained by working in a different setting.  They sent me home with flowers, a lovely card and job offers.  A lovely ending.  So, for the last time I walked to the secluded area I always enjoyed and watched long boughs of Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, softly waving goodbye in the breeze.

All varieties of Artemesia are sacred to the Goddess Artemis.  She was the Goddess of forests, hills, hunting, wilderness and wild animals.  She was also a goddess of childbirth.  Mugwort is feminine in nature and is associated with the element of earth and the signs Taurus and Libra (coincidentally my own sun and rising signs).  If you are open to receiving them, keeping mugwort under your pillow or in the bedroom may encourage prophetic dreams; it can also be dried, burned and smoked with tobacco to alter states of consciousness.  

Artemis

In Wales, mugwort was tied to the left thigh of a woman having a difficult labor and Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to keep their feet from getting tired.  Poultry and grazing animals enjoy this plant, and it may be the same ‘Artemisia of Pontos’ which was lauded by the ancients as good for fattening livestock. 

For years it was used to flavour beer before the introduction of hops.  Dried mugwort added to a fire will help keep it smoldering for a long time and the stalks make good kindling.