The Haunting

"The Ocean was never my escape; she had always been my destination."

When one day you decide to come to a halt, I want you to look behind your shoulder and see not the hopelessness and regrets you've managed to store within the four corners where death lingers around; I want you to see how far you've managed to travel away from the shore and into the heart of the ocean.

These sleepless nights shall not be filled with the eerie silence of soul-voided bodies but with the turbulent crash of waves along the shores; not with the blinding operating room headlights but with the faint glow of protozoans suspended in the sea and the distant burning stars, existing not for you but for themselves, perhaps.

You will run in haste not for someone else but towards that meeting place where you'll slowly tread across the shallow, rolling saltwater. You will learn names, you will gaze for hours at the horizon, you will go deeper, you will float, you will embrace and never learn to fear because by then, you will be in a place you loved most.

You will hardly remember the salty taste of tears on your lips for when you are with the ocean, you will shed your tears no more.

This passive passion 

is why it's impossible;

why it stays a dream.

(image from Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane)

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The Cove

I've never seen any body of water turn blood red as that which happened in Taiji the moment the captured dolphins were all killed.

I'm doing my NatSci 5 homework in here because I'm too lazy to type unless it's on blogger. :|

1. Overall assessment of the movie

At first, I thought that the film we were watching would just be like any other documentary films dealing with environmental issues: the typical interview with the experts, pictures comparing the then-and-now, numerous graphs and other statistical data supporting the facts being presented etc. As the film progressed,it was shown that the people in the film were actually involved with real missions: of saving the dolphins and Taiji and doing it NOW! and of letting the viewers realize how real the happenings are. To be honest, there was no other documentary film that has made me as depressed and angry as The Cove. And in the end of the movie, I can say that I am so proud of Ric O' Barry and everyone else who took part in risking their lives not just for the sake of making the documentary but for actually saving the dolphins despite the threats not only of the locals but of those people in authority trying to protect such activity for monetary gain. 

2. Lessons

When the dolphin trainer Ric O' Barry retold the moment his dolphin committed suicide right in front of him, it reminded me of what a dolphin trainer told us once- that the dolphins in the show are those incapable of surviving out there in the wild. I don't know how real his words were but all I know is that being trapped in a very small space is indeed depressing. It's hard not to be bias but seeing those dolphin trainers in Taiji waiting on the beach for the 'perfect' dolphin they could each bring back made me see them as ignorant and selfish people-not all but some- especially those who know what really is happening.

One of the facts presented in there was that almost 23,000 dolphins are killed yearly in Taiji and that no environmental organization has done anything about it. One scientist had perfectly said it- that size doesn't matter, IWC and other related organizations should protect both large and 'small' whales. 

The method of dolphin killing used by fishermen was very brutal. I have never seen any body of water turn red as that one in Taiji the moment the captured dolphins were all killed.

I think that what everyone have seen in that film would be enough to have them do something in order to stop the mass slaughter of dolphins in Taiji and someday hopefully, all other marine organisms in other parts of the world as well.

3. Is it effective as a medium?

I think that the team led by Ric O' Barry have used the most effective medium in raising global awareness regarding the dolphin slaughter in Japan; in addition, they have made the viewers active participants of the cause by making use of the internet in sending online petition to the Japanese government to intervene on what is being done in Taiji.

If you don't know what's happening to part of the world's dolphin population, it's time for you to find out from those people who decided to uncover the truth themselves and decided to share it with the rest of us.

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Ocean

"Scanning for some random magazines on Booksale, I came across the magazine I've been looking for late last year."

I came there to look for a Nursing Diagnosis handbook. I came out with the thing I've wanted most since I first saw its small icon printed on the last page of NatGeo's Gulf Spill issue.

I finally get to hold my very own copy of NatGeo's special issue Ocean after months of waiting and searching (just when I almost totally forgot about it).



I found this book on the lowest deck in one of our library's bookshelves.
I was actually looking for a Chemistry book to borrow when I got so tired of scanning along those book titles that I suddenly decided to squat on the floor.
Then just like a miracle, about five marine biology books placed neatly together came in sight (right in front of me!). So I borrowed one of the books and totally forgot about the main reason why I came to the library.

"I'm gonna be the very best, like no one ever was."

Until the next Census of Marine Life.

See yah~!

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Coat of Arms

Today, we had our first laboratory class in Nursing 10 (Nursing Fundamentals) . I came in really late. I thought the class was supposed to start at 8. I didn't hear the announcement yesterday that we'd be starting at 7:30.

Anyways, when I came in the assigned area, my group mates were busy drawing their coat of arms.

Each of us were required to make one which contains the following:

1. Thing you treasure the most
2. Greatest achievement so far
3. Goal as of the moment
4. The thing you want to be remembered most for

The first one I made was completed in less than twenty minutes. And I think it's messy.

The cross:: God is the one I consider most valuable in my life. Love God and everything else will follow.

The fish:: My goal is to take up marine biology years from now.

That weird-thing-on-the-upper-right-side-is-the-UP-logo :: My greatest achievement so far is being in UP

The droplet and the flame :: I want to be remembered as someone who had done something to save the ocean and as someone who kept burning for God.


After explaining my drawing, our teacher told me that I should ask myself if I'm really happy in taking up Nursing. In some sense, I am. I do not hate this course and I've actually gained a lot of experiences which made me appreciate this path I'm taking. BUT in all honesty, I cannot say I AM very happy with this course.

>> A few minutes ago, I just finished my second work which is actually a revised edition of the first one. I'll be writing my insights below it later on and we'll be passing it tomorrow.

I actually realized I had gold and silver colored pencils so I used them.

I just drew a shell and some seaweeds below instead of that fish thing. The eagle finally learned how to fly and landed on top of the shield which means I only have three symbols left.

I know I suck at drawing AND coloring. I just have to post them to remind me of how I think while I'm 17. I'll be reading this post again years from now and probably when that day comes, if I were asked to draw a coat of arms containing the same things, I might draw the same one but in a much better way or maybe, all the symbols in here will change but I hope the cross would still remain.

Gee~! Why am I always late?!?

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The Impossible Author

Rophy Sly G.Nunes, a scientist and member of University of California, Los Angeles’ Marine Science team, is the author of the 2016 Newbery medal book “Into the Depths of Dolphin’s Despair”- one of the books greatly acknowledged and recommended by World Wildlife Fund.

Her first ever published book was widely read around the world by children of all ages and was translated into more than 20 languages including French and German. This book genuinely and vividly portrays the endangered life of dolphins; their unusual intelligence and their never-ending struggles to adapt and survive the constantly changing world of the deep waters.

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