whale talker

The days here in my new home in Baja Sur have taken on an almost surreal character. It is not just the incredibly special encounters I have had with the “whale People” (a term used by my good friend Tomas when he introduced me to a Huichol Way of thinking), dolphins and my Sea Turtle friend this season, it is a heightened awareness of .....well, everything!

I have mentioned before how this small village in Mexico “feels” like I have come home. I wonder to myself, as a full blooded Baltic Viking, what is it here that inspires this feeling of coming home. Here it is sun and sea and desert….Ranchero Music, dusty roads, butterflies, beautiful birds and this wonderful TRANQUILITY. Perhaps it is a memory of a prior lifetime. Or perhaps it is the place I have found that is the antithesis of the cold, the fear and the spiritual pain of being born into a War Zone during WWII. Whatever it is, I am devoted to embracing it with all my physical, emotional and spiritual energies. I hope that some of you that might be reading these posts can share the joy that I feel.

Because of my recent dive at Isla Cerralvo and the realization of the unique beauty of our reef here, I am starting the process of establishing a transect across a part of the reef so that I can do a baseline survey and begin monitoring it’s health. All reefs world wide are in great danger of degradation so my little contribution here, as with my whale work, is timely. I must add that my good friend George Sievers from Colorado is here right now and has not only been deeply interested in reef work but has really “kicked me in the pants” to get it started (the monitoring protocol). He has arranged to have the underwater markers made and has volunteered to help set them in place. Then we will begin the survey and gather our first year’s data. This means a lot of underwater time that will be fun; especially now that there is a reason beside play (which is reason enough) for going in.

I went out today to determine on which part of the reef I wanted to set the transect. I did it with a GPS from my kayak and I have to say it was exciting just thinking about the possibilities. The pic is from satellite (google earth) of our reef. Technically it is called an inshore coral reef head. I will be working the area of the reef at the south eastern part of the picture.

One of my local friends has heard of my interest in all things indigenous and has invited me to a friends ranchero to see some Indian paintings I haven't seen before. I'm of course delighted and will share some pics if it happens.

So much to do here.