Island Life Begins

As many of you know, I am moving to Maui on June 14th. Maui is about 6,000 miles from South Carolina, and it takes 11 hours to get there if you catch a direct flight from Charlotte. Needless to say, going home is not going to be a frequent activity over the next year and a half.

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, about 48 miles across and 8 miles wide at the skinniest point (which is the land bridge between the volcanoes). Right now, I have a place to live in Wailuku, with a couple of the girls who I am going to work with.

                                           Wailuku

 

Wailuku

                                           Wailuku Falls

Wailuku is about 7 miles from Maalaea Harbour, where I will be working for the Pacific Whale Foundation.

                                          Maalaea Harbour

I am going to be a Marine Naturalist on the Ocean Voyager, meaning that my primary duty will entail taking tourists out on the boats and talking about local ecology, aquatic ecosystems, and marine species. Some days I will be on the boat, others I will be in the water with tourists, taking a more hands on approach and pointing out different aspects of the reef systems. The Pacific Whale Foundation focuses on marine mammals, and Hawaii is actually the breeding ground for Alaskan Humpback Whales (first they visit LAWRA, then ME!), so starting in October through late March and early April, I will be doing a lot of work with Humpback Whales.

                                        Humpback Whale breaching

Since I have never seen a Whale before and know little about them, I am really excited and have a lot to learn. I have already substituted my nightly trashy-tv streaming (for the moment, I am not Keeping up with the Kardashians) for Humpback Whale Documentaries and my Miley Cyrus/ Hanson play-lists for Marine Biology pod casts. Luckily, a lot of the fish species in Hawaii overlap with the Seychelles, as Hawaii is on the outskirts of the Indo-Pacific, so I am a little more prepared in that regard. Still, there are still so many fish that I am unfamiliar with and so many endemic species that I have already started making flashcards (and have sufficiently annoyed my parents by running down all the color ink cartridges in the house).

Moorish Idol, found in Hawaii and the Seychelles (Also famous for an appearance as Gill in "Finding Nemo")

All of my necessary belongings have been shipping-- I am completely packed and ready to go. I head to Portland on Thursday to visit Niki on my way to Maui, and then I move in on Monday! Training starts Tuesday, and then two weeks later, I should be a self-sufficient, contributing employee! Lots of pictures to follow--  trying to entice all of you guys to come out and visit soon!