Relaxation and reflection were in the air today. As our lovely ship made its way through the Tuamotu Archipelago, guests and staff alike enjoyed a day of revitalization after lots of fun in the sun and sea at Tahanea Atoll the day before. Some decided to persevere through the sleepy haze of the early morn and caught our wellness specialist Kat’s morning stretches. After a few coffees or teas, our National Geographic photographer on board, Bob Krist, regaled us all with a colorful account of “misadventures” while on the job. Bob mentioned a beloved quote explaining his start with National Geographic, “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff!” Certainly, the audience could appreciate his efforts to indeed find the interesting stuff itself, despite logistics and weather plotting against him.
After a short interim, naturalist Jimmy White give a captivating presentation recounting his experience with researching marine connectivity and the effective implementation of conservation practices. As an expert in the field, Jimmy elucidated the problems and concerns associated with marine protected areas and solutions to overcome them.
Our lively galley crew served a beautiful buffet for lunch that was so darned delicious, several people went back for seconds! Filled to the brim, guests made their way back to the lounge for a presentation by one of our Global Perspective Guest Speakers, Paul Rose. He spoke on “Pristine Seas: Preserving the World’s Marine Life.” Paul elaborated on his quest to protect the last truly wild and pristine parts of our world’s ocean and the struggle to gain governmental collaboration. Together with Dr. Enric Sala, Paul has paved the way in creating hope for parts of the marine environment with the Pristine Seas project. Via short films, photography, and celebrating the fantastic marine life that our planet has, Paul continues to gather support to protect and lessen the blows of pollution and over fishing with an increasing number of pristine marine protected areas.
Within the same theme, our other Global Perspective Guest Speaker, Bob Brown, closed out today’s presentations with a talk about staying optimistic while facing large obstacles in environmental conservation. The sun sets and the horizon is enveloped in a deep, dark blanket as we sail towards Pukarua, remaining optimistic to have benevolent weather tomorrow. Lastly, after our daily recap and delectable dinner, “Mutiny on the Bounty” aired onboard for some 1935 Academy-Award winning goodness.
