Librarian on Palmyra Atoll: Back in the States physically, if not mentally

Now that I am back home, I thought I would add a few more blog entries to document a few things that I didn't have time to do while on Palmyra.

I didn't have a lot of free time as Doug kept us very busy. Beside the one Sunday afternoon I got off to go snorkeling, on the last day I had an hour and a half between lunch and when the plane took off to return us to Honolulu. Since I had lost my watch on the reef and didn't want to risk missing the plane, I borrowed Doug's watch and took off to hike around Cooper Island. While the terrestrial work had given me the opportunity to visit some of the other islands, I hadn't had a chance to walk around the island on which the camp and airstrip were located. I headed out thinking I would go to North Beach, but I took a wrong turn. I was pretty sure I knew where I was going and figured I would eventually hit the airstrip and could loop back from there. I told myself if I didn't get to the airstrip by 1 pm I would need to turn back. One pm came and I still hadn't seen it, but I was sure I would have to run into the airstrip and hated the idea of backtracking. I picked up my pace and gave it a few more minutes. I was rewarded when the forest opened up and I found myself at the far end of the airstrip. It was still a long walk, but I made it back in time to take a quick shower and rinse my shirt in cold water. Putting on a cold, wet shirt felt great.

I forgot to mention that when we visited the other islands, we had to wear cloths that had been frozen for 48 hours. This is to kill off any insects, seeds, and fungus. There are some non-natives on Cooper Island that they don't want to get onto the other islands. I found putting on the frozen cloths refreshing and considered doing it for all my cloths.

Here is what the "wet lab" looks like inside. When you arrive you just claim a space that no one is already using and can set up you computer. My chair is the one on the left with the navy sweatshirt on the back. I am right under the air conditioner, the coolest place on the island. It does have its drawbacks. The air conditioner spritzes you with water on occasion. This feels great, but it is not good for computers. Hence you will see that mine has plastic over it. I brought the sweatshirt after being told the plane will be cold as well as the wet lab. I didn't put it on once. It is something I can cross off my packing list should I go back.

Here are the two walk in freezers. Actually I don't know if they are both freezers or one is a walk-in refrigerator. In any case, they made it possible for us to be fed so well.

Here is the dive locker with air compressor for filling SCUBA tanks.

In addition to the dive locker, there was an area on the boat ramp where dive gear can be hung to dry.

There is a tent available just above the boat dock for staging research gear.

There are four lagoon boats that can go within the lagoon and to sites on the outer reef that have moorings. Also on this dock is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife whaler.

There is another tent where fuel for the lagoon boats is stored and dispensed.

Now for some recreational facilities that I did not get a chance to use. First there is the Yacht Club which has a weight room, a place to watch DVDs, a ping pong table, a dart board, and a library of books that smell of mildew.