Colorful Coral

 

   

We're on the Maldives, a volcanic archipelago in the Indian Ocean. About twenty-five years ago the tsunami that devastated coastal Indonesia rolled over the islands, covering some of them with sand and toxic debris to such a large extent that they were rendered uninhabitable.  I took a brief submarine ride, descending to one hundred feet below the surface, skirting the “reef” and then the following day two of us went snorkeling along the “reef, “ stopping at a couple of locations.  We saw some fish, a few lobsters, one reef shark, and lots of dead coral.  Dead dead.  There wasn't a hint of color anywhere.  As we idled right next to the coral in the sub it looked like a huge pile of gravel.  There were a few larger fish near the surface, drawn by the offal one of the crew attached to outside hooks on the sub, and a handful of varieties deeper down, but nothing in the way of vibrant coral.  The snorkeling was no better.   Shit is dead.  One of the guides said that the tsunami exposed a lot of coral to the sun and this killed it off but I dunno . . . Shit was dead at a hundred feet, too. 

One woman asked the snorkeling guide at the midpoint if we were going to see colorful coral at the next stop.  This is the obliviousness of the wealthy.  They don't pay attention to climate change, often actively denying that it exists or waving it off as part of some maleficent natural cycle, or their money insulates them from its effects.  Keep eating meat and driving three ton cars and turning your A/C down to arctic temperatures and then express surprise that things are turning ugly.  Hey, I wanted to see some bright colors! You are providing a crappy tour!  I tipped the crew - five of them plus the pilot - twenty bucks and he didn't seem to have a fistful of cash.  The obliviousness of the wealthy continues to astound.  Even after we survived the Thomas fire a couple of years later everything was pretty much back to normal save for some empty lots and black, skeletal trees.  There's an ongoing project moving beachfront public parking further from the ocean downtown.  Managed retreat.  Every now and then we'll get a high surf event and it'll eat away some more of the coast.

This is what a non-expedition cruise looks like.  I knew it was a cruise on a standard ship but hoped that Africa! would make it more palatable.  Hurumph.  Still a lot of fat, entitled people hobbling between meals.  This is what it is!  Suck it up!  I know you're not bitching too much but stop even that little bit of bitching.