Don’t visit your first coral reef this way


If you are the curious type, love beauty, and feel we should protect God’s creation then here is a Netflix movie you do not want to miss: “Chasing Coral”. If you are on a budget and do not have Netflix, they offer a free one-month trial. Perhaps, with encouragement, your local library will show this beautiful documentary if you have trouble streaming. For help, call me at 906-285-3702

My first few years of commercial flying was in the Arctic. I loved it, but I was ready for a change and applied to fly tours on Kauai. My interview for a job was a ride through the mountains with a former Vietnam pilot. His purpose in life, as is the same with all X Vietnam pilots, is to show you all the conceivable things that a helicopter can do.  These are the maneuvers you would prefer never to experience. I passed the interview. You see, I had flown the last few years with X-Vietnam Alaskan helicopter pilots so I, and my guardian angel, handled the interview well. Or at least my G.A. did.

After my hands-on trial by fire interview I met the band of single Kauai helicopter pilots. The aloha work day had ended. They were going to a remote beach to do a night snorkel on the coral reef. They cordially invited me. Heck, I had had a mask on in a pool in Marquette once!  I accepted the gracious invite. 

At the beach they started up a fire, then drug out some masks, fins, snorkels, and some H2O proof flashlights. I fooled around with the gear and finally got in the water as the sun was setting. They pointed me in the right direction….sort of a no-brainer, actually. They told me, “Just look for the bon fire to find your way back.” 

Since I had not seen coral reefs before, even in the narrow beam of the flashlight, it was mesmerizing. The way I describe a coral reef is a wild colorful garden with, instead of birds, there are colorful fish in one crazy shape after the next. No human has enough imagination to dream up all the shapes and colors of all these different critters. It is truly a work of the Lord.

One of the disadvantages of a narrow beam flashlight is that your peripheral vision is of no value. Occasionally, something big would flash through the beam. I was unable to tell how big, and more importantly, how big it’s teeth might be. Given that, and the fact that I had swallowed half the Pacific, I bobbed up to find the light of the fire.  No fire! It was pitch black. I wish I could say that I “figured out” how to navigate in and how I deftly avoided becoming grated cheese in the reef as the waves picked up… but I can’t.   I made it in with only a few scratches, without a lick of credit for safe passage. (Thank you G.A.)

The promised fire was embers. The fire was surrounded by contented sleeping pilots. They had dosed off knowing they had cleaned up the helicopter gene pool.  Around them there were heaps of cans with foreign labels like Kona and Primo. Never a squeamish eater, I foraged for a few unemptied cans to see if the contents were acceptable to a main lander. They were. I drifted off, happy that the gene pool was still a little weak.

Daybreak.
     
Since I was the weak link at the fire, my pile of cans was pretty small. I woke up early, still curious and feeling happy. It was time to explore the beach. Off in the distance was a wind-surfer. Years before I had been a hack windsurfer. This surfer was obviously not a hack, so I trotted down the beach to admire a pro. When I arrived abeam the windsurfer, the surfer sailed in. A well-muscled female jumped off the board.  Earlier, she must have taken a hard spill and lost her bikini top. Being the helpful type, I walked up and said, “When your top washes up, where should I take it?” She looked at me like, well, I was from Alaska. 

My windsurfer lesson over, I continued my exploration and rounded a spit of sand and bushes. Previously hidden from view was a semi-circle of octogenarian males near to and facing out to sea and towards the rising sun. On closer examination there was a prone figure between the seated men and the shore. 

It seemed like I would be “imposing” to approach closer but my curiosity had not failed entertaining me for the last 20 hours so why be shy now? I strolled nearer. Soon, it took no guessing to deduce the gender of the prone figure. She was female, and she had, apparently, misplaced both her flip-flops and her grass skirt. 

My folks had taught me not to stare. I failed. The band of octogenarians, plus the unbelievably beautiful female, must have felt me rude because they marched off, single file, with the 10 in the lead. Can you blame me for staring? In Alaska, all females came with 15 layers of clothing.  

I hope you enjoyed my first 24 hours in Hawaii.  On a serious note, please track down and watch, “Chasing Coral”. After my first 24 hours in Hawaii I went out and bought my own mask, fins, and snorkel that still accompany me, even here in the U.P. My work brought me to many reefs of incredible beauty. All coral reefs, world-wide, are suffering.  The killer is global warming. The movie, Chasing Coral, deftly incorporates the science, the beauty, and the avoidable tragedy of our great reefs. 

To fail to try to save the coral, our kids deserved inheritance, would be an act of incredible ingratitude.

Greyson Morrow

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