Location: Malolo, Fiji
Hello to all of the friends and family of Argo’s crew,
The past few days in Musket Cove have been incredibly beautiful. The water has been glassy, the sun has been shining, and the lack of wind has made it so quiet that we can hear the distant waves breaking on the barrier reef. We have even had a few visitors, including a praying mantis and a fairy tern. This particular praying mantis was first sighted by me when I was doing a rig check which involves going to the top of each mast and working your way down while checking various parts of the rig. The praying mantis was at the tippity-top of the foremast and was probably just as confused to find me up there as I was to find it. It has since moved down to deck level, and we have found it in various places over the past few days. Onboard, we spend a lot of time learning about marine life, but, in case you were wondering, praying mantis’s can live for a year, turn their heads 180 degrees, and the female’s eat their mate shortly after mating. They are sometimes referred to as the “perfect insect predator” because of their quick-moving arms and ability to grab prey with lightning speed. Among their normal diet of flies, moths, and other insects, they can also catch frogs, lizards, and birds. Basically, they are wicked cool, and I’m really pleased that this particular mantis decided to spend some time on Argo.
Insects aside, we had a classic jam-packed day on Argo. After learning about intertidal zones in marine biology, everyone had a chance to show off what they learned in the Emergency First Responder course during various scenarios this morning. Groups were challenged with taking care of unresponsive, non-breathing patients, panicked patients, vomiting patients, and many other injuries and illnesses. Challenges were met with prudent primary and secondary care, and a lot was learned along the way. In the afternoon, everyone got to spend some more time working on charts in order to master the art of navigation and then jump in the water for rescue diver training. The other boats in the anchorage were probably a little bit confused and maybe slightly concerned about all of the splashing and yelling that was coming from our “panicked” divers but hopefully reassured by all of the laughter that followed.
We rounded off the day with a green flash during sunset, a warm meal, and then learned about how to administer oxygen with Amanda.