Reef Check

Reef Check is an organization that seeks to document the health conditions of the world’s coral reefs. Towards this end, the diving community regularly chips in to that data bank in Los Angeles, California.

What we do is simple enough: Three groups of divers (for fish, invertebrates and substrates) will write (in an underwater slate) what they see a meter on either side, up and below a transect line, which is usually 200-feet long. The data will then be analyzed after the dive by a group of marine biologists before sending it to California. Today, Tropical Island Adventures (TIA) and Coastal Dynamics Foundation (CDF) in Cebu will check a coral reef off the northern coast of Olango Island. I am one amongst 12 diver-volunteers with Underwater Naturalist PADI certifications for this dive.

My dive buddy was doing invertebrates (crabs, shrimps, etc.) while I record the fish. As he scrutinized cracks and crevices of a coral covered rock formation, he accidentally brushed his finger on a lionfish. The lionfish has a unique appearance. It moves slow and looks harmless. It has elaborate feather-like pectoral, caudal and anal fins that are lovely to look, but beware: they are full of poisonous stings! The moment my dive buddy was stung, he twisted and thrashed around in panic. I would have to hold him down from surfacing faster than is safe. When underwater, the dissolved nitrogen in blood form bubbles in your bloodstream during rapid decompression causing Nitrogen Narcosis, a condition leading to death. Hence, a foot a second should be the surfacing rate, and in certain cases, safety stop is required for a few minutes at a certain depth above your deepest dive. If you don’t, you will be sick. Sometimes you will be sick enough to warrant a trip to the decompression chamber, or the hospital, and in worst situations, a trip 6-feet under! In only a few minutes back at the dive boat, my dive buddy grimaced in pain. He was inhaling pure oxygen while his now reddish whole arm was bloated like a plastic balloon. The tip of his forefinger had a red dot on, that’s where the lion’s poison came through.

I had to come back for the second dive, now in charge with securing the transect line. The area has a modest undercurrent, which is not only good for drift dive, but more importantly, a good indication of a faster growing reef because of the nutrients it brought to the water around as the current stirs bottom and those brought from farther reefs. These nutrients draw in marine life starting with the microscopic to the visible and more popular reef inhabitants like tuna, rays and sharks. Substrates include huge table corals, gorgonian fans and barrel sponges, but a great majority are bleached corals, rocks and dynamited acroporas. However, within a few years of fishing ban (if established as a sanctuary) the reef will recover and the juvenile food fish can have a chance to grow big and spawn. That’s the objective of this dive: to educate fishermen, the community and local government that yes, the future is good, if we join hands now to conserve and protect what we have. If you’re a diver, join Reef Check, assemble your dive buddies and send data of your favorite dive spot to that data bank in California. Act now!

Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz is one of the most sought-after motivational speakers. He recently joined ESPN as its College Football analyst. He is a legendary football coach with uncompromising rules: Do what is right, do your best, and do to others what you want done to you. He is friends with Bob Hope Arnold Palmer and Bill Clinton. His strategies are as relevant in the football field as in life itself. He espouses the WIN philosophy or the What’s Important Now Life strategy. I’ve been nodding my head all along as I read though the pages of “Wins, Losses and Lessons” and I clearly remember, when I came to the closing part of Chapter 10 - I buried my head on the book and kissed that page!

I’ve read somewhere years ago that “some people come into our lives and quickly go. Others linger for a while then leave, but some stay, and leave footprints in our hearts and we are never quite the same.” He is the third kind, this guy Lou Holtz….

Black Nazarene

The Feast of the Black Nazarene is a celebration attended by thousands of devotees at Quiapo Church. Those who can’t stand the heat and traffic and a likely stampede, prefer to stay at home and watched the proceedings on their TV sets. For the first time, I experienced it first hand at Quiapo Church in an early evening mass. Though the devotees have mellowed since the frenzy happened during the daytime, I still felt the vibe. The people’s faith is so thick and palpable, you can almost touch it. There was one man who carried an image of the Black Nazarene close to his forehead the entire time. He was closing his eyes while silently murmuring a prayer. I thought his devotion was complete. I nodded and smiled at some of the devotees when it was time to “give each other peace”. I was wet with Holy Water when it rained on us. And when the final blessing was given, and the people erupted in jubilation, tirelessly clapping their hands, I thought that was the end of it. But the final blessing is yet to come.

People milled about on the street, which was closed for vehicular traffic for the occasion. I was eating street food and casually walked around with the others. Then it came, slowly, silently. I saw people throwing handkerchiefs, and shawls and shirts and had them rubbed on the image. Right in front of me was the Black Nazarene! In the daytime, it is almost impossible to touch it, and devotees would have to wrestle and shove their way just to get near it. But there it was, he came to me. I felt blessed, and honored, and that strange feeling of being chosen, as if The Black Nazartene was saying, Yes you, you’re the one!

17-Year Sleeper

They sleep for 17 years underground, come out one night in droves, shed their old skin then transform overnight and be noisy!!! They mate, the females lay eggs, and the next day they die, to fertilize the forest. That’s the life of the Cicada. And I was lucky to see and hear them buzzing in the summer of 2004, in Seoul, Korea. They will be back in 2021!!!         

Shirt

I bought a shirt for Dad on his birthday. It was one size bigger, which means my size, and which means, I really bought it for myself! I was hoping he would just be happy I gave a present and then hand it back to me for being too big. He didn’t. He brought it to his friend and had it adjusted, tailored-fit for him. It has become his favorite shirt ever since. Though proud he liked it, I was a little embarrassed for my selfishness. So, be careful with what you give, the recipient might like it!