Taki Taki!
Location: Drawaqa, Fiji
Today, the crew of Argo had quite the adventure. We had an early morning wake up time of 6:30am so that we could get underway early and move to our next anchor site. I, of course, woke everyone up with some Solar Power by Lorde, and then we had a yummy breakfast of yogurt bowls and fruit before cleaning up, hoisting sails, and getting underway. We have our station bill quiz in two days (our first quiz eek), which is our safety quiz on procedures for man overboard, fires, flooding, and abandoning ship. We actually accidentally ended up running a man overboard drill because while sailing we lost one of our red dishy pit buckets over the side. But, the crew of Argo prevailed and we got it back after a dramatic dinghy rescue.
Afterwards, we went below deck and had seamanship class, during which we reviewed sails and parts of the boat, and learned about our international boat crew certification. We then had lunch, which was a delicious tofu masala prepared by our student chefs, and our bread makers even made naan. After, we went to marine bio class and talked about scientific writing, and THEN we finally all got to go and get ready for our sign-out night. After some pictures on deck, Sky and I put our respective Epi-pens and allergy medicine in a bag, and we loaded up into the dinghies and were shuttled out to a resort nearby. Shane picked up my group and absolutely flew through the water which was super fun - we all ended up a little drenched but it was worth it.
This resort specializes in manta ray ecotourism and research, and we had a presentation in their marine science center, which also had some other tanks with various marine animals, including some fish endemic to Fiji and sea cucumbers that ranged from very small, to MASSIVE. Walking into the presentation room, there were some chalkboard areas that showed the 2026 and 2025 manta ray sightings, along with gender and names, some of which were Panda, Chai Latte, and Ponyo. They all have identifiable markings. We also learned about one manta, Lady Grey, who had been seen a lot over the years and actually doesn’t have a tail. Our presenter’s favorite was one named Flappacino.
The presentation was amazing, and we learned so much about the area and the rays. We learned about ways to properly interact with the manta rays, and how tourism in some areas has caused manats ray sightings to decline and can stress out the animals. We also talked about how incredibly special this area and ecosystem is for rays and other marine life - they’ve been recording data here since 2013, and have actually seen minimal pollution impacts compared to most others areas in the ocean, even places like the Maldives. This area also has an unusually high concentration of melanistic, or mostly black, manta rays, which are really rare. The channel is a unique feeding and cleaning station for them, which is another reason why humans need to be careful not to disrupt it. They showed us a lot of beautiful videos of manta rays, and there was one with 7 manta rays in it, the most they’ve ever seen at once, filmed during COVID, which was really interesting to see. But we also got to watch videos of them swimming and even courting. We’re going out to the channel tomorrow to hopefully spot some rays.
After our manta presentation and some impromptu weight lifting, we went to the restaurant and all sat down on a big table right on the beach with our feet in the sand. After sitting down, we played some games before we were treated a performance of some traditional Fijian dancing and music, and got to learn about Fijian culture. There was also some dancing from us too - the resort staff taught us some moves and at one point a massive conga line broke out.
After, we all participated in a kava ceremony. Kava is a root central to Fijian culture, and it was ground up into a drink. Everyone there sat down all around the center where the kava was, and people came around and offered everyone a cup. To revive, you clap once before getting it, say “BULA!” drink, and then clap three times. It was an incredible thing to be a part of and able to participate in. The whole night was incredible, and we were very aware of how privileged we are to experience it. After the kava ceremony, we had some really delicious food and there was lots more dancing before the we loaded up on some of the resort’s boat and got taken back to Argo.
After everyone made it back, we ended the night with an awesome deck dance party, and even Shane came and joined in. Anchor watches started happening during it which was funny. We’re looking forward to mantas and some more diving tomorrow!