27/28 April 2009 We spent an enlightening day and night on Green Island, Palawan. About 2,000 people, children included, live there. There are 360 households, and if you do the math, that’s about an average of 5.5 people per household. One family has 14 children! Underwater flashlight! You could walk this small, elongated fishing village from [...]
26 April 2009 Many thanks to Boy Bonoan and Ofie Rondina of the Palawan Provincial Government, our land transport to Northern Palawan was all organized. Once in Roxas, a scenic two-hour coastal ride north from Puerto Princesa, our guide Albert Ladica met us at our Pension. Albert is the Fisheries Technician of the Department of [...]
22/23/24 April 2009 Now back on land with all our gear full of salt, we shifted gears and spent slow quality time cleaning and maintaining our stuff. We also had to re-energize and plan our next Palawan trips to Roxas, Taytay and El Nido. Still with swollen fingers, Alya flew back to Manila early evening [...]
21 April 2009 Luli Arroyo infected with our COTS quest The guests onboard Oceana Maria joined in gathering COTS. Among them was Luli Arroyo, the Philippine President’s daughter and Southeast Asia Policy Officer for WWF Coral Triangle Programme. The fervor did not abate and as the stabbing sticks were not enough, rangers watched [...]
19 April 2009 Woke up at 5:45am – gee it’s overcast. By 6:30, while I was using nature’s toilet, the heavens opened. We all thought it was a good thing the rains didn’t happen at night! Equipped with raincoats, we continued shooting after breakfast. Secille and Choy found a dead brown booby tagged with bird [...]
18 April 2009 Woke up at 3 am. Outside the station, the sky was bright with stars and a quarter moon. It was peaceful to spend a few minutes outside with Yogi and the rangers creating a cacophony of snores inside. After half an hour, the winds picked up. It was time to go back [...]
17 April 2009 Flat calm seas and sunshine as summer should be Today was a day of helplessness and frustration. It was flat, calm, and full sunshine yesterday. We left the boat Stella Maris with all the guests and crew wishing us a not-so-scorching hot visit to Bird Islet, and warned us to [...]
16 April 2009 Rangers – NAVY Team Leader: Elmer “Jhing” F. de los Santos Jhing mans the radar and radio 24/7 Secille G. Balot Secille tills their little garden for the ranger's vegetable needs Romeo “Romy” O. Bellezo Romy assists in catching a baby booby for bird banding Richard [...]
9 April 2009 Puerto Princesa Wet Market We arrived Puerto early evening of the 8th and immediately after checking in, were whisked away by our friend Angelique Songco, boss woman of Tubbataha Marine Park, to dinner at Ka Lui’s. Our host for the evening was Rolando "Boy" Bonoan, the Palawan Provincial Government’s Information Officer. What [...]
6 April 2009 Live Reef Fish Trade It was simply glorious to finally go to sleep without worrying about storage. We can now start working. Working in Hong Kong meant starting our day looking for the nearest busiest “Yam Cha” or dimsum breakfast. It is after all, all about FOOD. With millions of mouths to [...]
