An Experience aboard a Research Vessel...

Note: I had the privilege for a while in 2006 to work aboard UM's R/V Walton Smith as First Mate - it was a great experience and extremely rewarding to use my skills and experience to work with Scientists doing ocean studies in the Gulfstream of South Florida and the Bahamas. I would still be helping scientists were it not for UM's Human Resources taking issue with an action I took that is legal under Maritime Law. It was a serious 'life-lesson' for me and an indication of how powerful, yet ignorant these HR departments can be in passing judgement on real-life scenarios of which they know nothing. The issue remains stuck in my craw to this day...
This post is a letter to my folks describing one of the trip experiences during my time on this ship.

"I know, I know...it's been a long time since I sat down and wrote to you guys... but altho' I have been in and out of port a few times, most of that time has been spent sleeping - exhaustion has been the order of the day whenever I got back into town!"

"It has been an interesting time in some ways and in others downright boring, tedious and often frustrating. Skipping the latter, some of the highlights included dolphin encounters, migratory birds and the discovery of a WW 2 fighter-trainer aircraft 800 meters down ( part of the Missing 7 that was attributed to the Bermuda Triangle). It was a beautiful wreck - classic in every sense of the word and relatively clean considering that it has been down there for about 50 years or more! The number was still readable, the canopy was open; the engine was hanging off the nose with the prop still attached and curled back from the impact with the water and the wings, fuselage and tail section looked as good as the day the flight left! Very exciting to see all this on video. I was actually on the helm when the discovery was made and got a call from the lab where the cameras were being controlled. The photo array weighed over two thousand pounds and consisted of 8 cameras and a huge assortment of underwater lights - it's very dark down at 800 meters. All of this was attached to the boat on a long cable and the name for the assembly is a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The call came up to 'all stop' and then to move the vessel to a location 25 meters from the point at which the vessell finally did stop. A couple more moves and I was able to put the cameras within two meters of the starboard wingtip - I was pretty proud of that. The resulting footage was mind-boggling!"

"The migratory warblers were also landing on the boat on a regular basis - we'd put out water for them and they would rest awhile before resuming their journey. I noticed that they would go after any moths or insects that happened to be flying around the deck areas and it struck me just how incredible this phenomena of nature and creation was - the fact was... that here were tiny little birds miles from land and already having flown thousands of miles and perhaps they weighed a few grams - certainly they were no bigger than the size of my thumb! Where the hell do they get the energy?"

"Then there were the dolphins - a favourite of mine! Two encounters with the first being the most interesting. We were leaving the base when I noticed the local pods coming out to the boat to play in the pressure wave created by the twin hulls.. Again I was on the bridge and so saw them coming from a long way off. The assignment that we were embarking on involved the use of ultra-sonic sound, sonar arrays, sub-bottom profilers also using sound explosions and reciever cones and finally side-scan sonar. So when I saw these ocean-beings heading for the boat to follow us out thru' the reef I had a deep sense of fear for these guys - I knew that what was going to happen at some point was that they would experience pain - the pain that was associated with the way that they communicated and hunted...a pain the likes of which they had never before known and it would all go straight to their brains and more than likely affect them permanently. I was scared for them in a way that a parent would fear for the safety of a child. My gut was turning upside down and the old familiar jumbo-jets were doing touch-and-go's in my torso. The dread that I felt, that helpless feeling you get when you can sense a disaster in the making was making the hair on my body absolutely crawl. It was so bad that I said to myself that now was the time I needed to communicate with them and that if it was true that I could do this telepathically then I would have to prove it to myself right at that moment. I HAD to warn them. I put Chris on the helm and stepped out on to the bridge wing and focused on them using sight and my mind - I almost went into a trance and attempted to project my thoughts in their direction - I did this for about 2 minutes and then got this feeling of being really tired and weary. I stopped and turned my back on them at the precise moment that the lead ocean-beings reached the boat. I walked in to wheelhouse not wanting to watch anything and thinking to myself that they 'had to get the hell outta here!"- bear in mind none of the instruments were on at the time - I checked on some gauges and the navigation computer and calculated the time remaining before the scientists would begin calibration - we were still transitting the reef opening. Next thing...Chris says to me "hey Bruce, what's wrong with the dolphins?" I stepped out on to the wing and the sight that presented itself was an instant relief - they were leaving...going away... and very fast! They were doing it in a way that I had never seen them do it before...the sea around them and behind them was boiling and white water was everywhere as they launched themselves out of the water. At first I could not quite comprehend the sight and then I realized that all I could see was Dolphins asses and tails! I knew that it was good and I really did not care if they had gotten my message or if they had somehow figured it out for themselves - they were leaving and that was good."

"And so... in my mind, the story does not end there. The project that we were embarking on took almost 30 days to complete and during that time I never saw one single solitary dolphin...nothing. I almost felt lonely out there and desperately wanted this assignment to end...it seemed like time was taking forever. Long story short...the project ended and we returned to RSMAS unloaded the gear and mobilized for the second phase of the project - that which I described earlier on involving the ROV. It was late one afternoon when we departed the dock and 2 hours later we were well offshore and it was dark as we headed towards our operating area. We were beginning 24 hour ops and since I always take the night watch I was up on the bridge moving the vessel. It was nice evening and I was alone wlile everyone else was catching some zzz's in anticipation of starting the watch rotations once we were in the zone. These are my favourite times when everyone is asleep and I am solo - it's quiet as quiet can be with only the throbbing and thrumming of the ship as she powers thru' the Ocean and the crackling of the radio as vessels talk to each other, the Coast Guard broadcasts their Notices to Mariners and harbourmasters co-ordinate traffic and transfer pilots aboard ship...you know what I mean. I was feeling good. I poured a cup of Java and opened the doors to 'let the atmosphere in'!!! Some time went by and my thoughts went out to the Ocean-beings (they do that a lot). At some point I heard a sound, vaguely familiar, but not immediately identifiable and I thought that it might be a problem with the boat. I left the helm chair and moved outside... there it was again but coming from down below. I looked over the side just as a single large solitary dolphin launched himself out of the water...the sound which I had heard was a 'whoosh' as he forcefully expelled air thru his blow hole and inhaled before hitting the water. He was swimming parallel to the vessel right below the bridge wing and looking up at me everytime he cleared the surface. To say that I was stunned is somewhat of an understatement...a feeling of utter calm came over me. He was the largest male Ocean-being I had seen in the area and he was absolutely magnificent ... beautiful, powerful, graceful, fluid...and I felt something more - almost like a buzzing and I recalled the picture of dolphin asses and tails and white, broiling water and I felt a thought pass thru' my mind and I heard myself say "you're welcome" . Can this be? I leave you to decide..."

B

My Stingray story...

Sometime during 2006 I was operating a decontamination boat called Scavenger along the Miami River. I would run up and down the river 5 days a week recovering floating garbage, breaking up rafts of stinking sea grasses clogged with debris and operating what was essentially a giant ozone generator. Ozone is a radical O-3 Atom/molecule, which when forced into water breaks up 18 known bio-contaminants and is effective in cleaning up the water (thats the simple explanation). It was a difficult job but one that fulfilled my need to get active in an environmental capacity - it filled my need to DO something about the environment. The job was interesting at times 'cos I would inevitably encounter wildlife and occasionally leave at the end of the day feeling very rewarded...some of the animals included dolphins, rare birds, manatees and seahorses.

One day I got to work and I was feeling really depressed. The previous night I had gotten into a confrontation on a freediving/spearfishing forum (yes I am a spearfisherman), with a guy who was asking about how to go about spearing a Stingray. I did not handle the question very well and suffered some major fallout from others on the forum. In the end the guy learned that there was not much food to eat on a ray with just the tips of the wings providing anything edible, and that they were difficult to spear - many spearos offered suggestions on how to spear them. I consider stingrays off limits for both these reasons and don't take kindly to shooting fish for the sake of it. I hunt for food taking only what I can eat. The issue plagued my mind for most of the day.

At the end of that day I headed upriver to the dock , tied up the vessel and secured for the night. I was leaving the boat when I remembered that I had forgotten something and returned to the vessel. Just as I was leaving once more, I turned to take in the redsky of the sunset. As I was watching, a huge Stingray launched itself clear of the surface no more than twenty yards in front of me, completing a half-turn and landing with a loud splash before disappearing again. I was stunned ... a vivid picture playing and replaying thru' my mind - one of a magnificent creature in full flight arched out against a setting sun with every colour of the rainbow seeming to burst forth from its body highlighted by beads of saltwater reflecting and magnifying the power and beauty this oceanbeing! Some minutes passed before I moved ... I did not know what to make of this seemingly spiritual appearance ... after a while I heard, rather felt myself mutter "you're welcome"! Somehow I had connected and felt the circle completed...

This was not to be the last time ... the connection is real and there are more experiences which I will share...

Broken Circle...

In Monterey, California there is a monument to a by-gone era. It is a classic case of a circle broken by modern man in his (our) haste to exploit a food source and the greedy rush to get rich. Sadly, this monument and one that aggrandises the fishermen that exploited this resource, together with many run-down and now restored buidings are all that future generations will know about the once plentiful sardines that frequented this beautiful coastal village along the central California coast some 40-50 years ago. The locals will tell you how the sardine industry suddenly and completely just disappeared. Hmm, I wonder why?

Chumash Circle

An ancient Chumash Circle copied from a petroglyph found at a secret location in the hills overlooking Santa Barbara, California and placed at the entrance on the breakwater of the Santa Barbara Marina. This area is rich in respect for the ways of the ancients and translates effectively to respect for the environment - great things are happening in this area where the aura of respect for both is quite palpable. I wish I could say the same about Miami and it's Miami Circle.

Circles...Ancient, Universal...

Miami Circle

I like Circles...so much a part of our History, our daily lives and of our Environment. How many people actually realize the importance and relevance of the Circle? Consider our transportation and the wheel which forms the very foundation of the way we get around on the Planet. How about the propeller on boats and aircraft? Life cycles of all living things, weather systems, ocean currents and our solar system...the Circle of Life.

The ancient ones understood this without science...examples like Stonehenge, Miami Circle, Yin and Yang ...they were able to connect many aspects of their existence to the Circle ... religion, agriculture, seasons, birth and death and believed in a continuum. All things are a giant circle..."what goes around, comes around".

My interest in Circles will continue thru' these pages and I'll attempt to photograph a lot of the ones I discover. The Miami Circle (above) was recently uncovered on the banks of the Miami River and altho' the meaning and significance is not yet understood, the fact that it exists and was determined to have been built 12-19000 years ago, illustrates some kind of understanding of the workings of the Universe and just how much of the mysteries of the past are yet to be discovered. Our Planet survived for thousands of years following ancient circles and patterns, and modern man has managed to destroy and disrupt many of those same 'circles' in just 100 years...we are doing something wrong...ya think?

...the Doomed Canoe.

Some time ago I wrote of the 'Elegy' that I found painted on the wall of a building in La Conner, Washington. How prophetic was THAT? For a while after that, any storm coming anywhere close seemed to have an effect on me.I have weathered these storms and I believe the worst is now behind me...but how real was this elegy ... and how true for the whole country?

Something about the way of the ancients and the emergence of their prophesies and lore seems to appear in contemporary life...the distant past returns to the NOW! After my journey to the South-East and the River of Grass, I found myself back where I began, assigned to deliver a large vessel down the Pacific Coast, via Panama to Florida.The journey began and was uneventful...but for me it ended in San Diego. A combination of storms and deceit by trusted associates (they called themselves friends)...and I separated from the vessel. My story here lends itself to the picture above...and finding this legend in Chumash Territory around Santa Barbara.

The porpoise (Dolphin) had dipped under the boat and come out ahead of it many times along the Pacific Coast...it served to confirm my instincts about this vessel and the individual with whom I was sailing....this was another storm and at the moment I remain within the effects of it...but I see daylight and feel the approaching calm.

Has it taken me from my Ocean - my coastal home and comfort zone? I feel that it has ... but only physically ... not in Spirit. No storm ahead for now ... but to reach my home I will have to cross a mountain...