May 18 - Catalina

I’m reading the executive summary for proposed military expansion on Guam. We were told that the group commissioned to compile this report was known for glossing over environmental concerns, but even with the glossing the proposal is bleak. As a result of the Department of Defense proposal, 18,000 new residents will burden Guam’s already struggling infrastructure and ecosystem. Guam’s Apra Harbor is the site of a proposed berth for an aircraft carrier. In order to meet the depth requirements for a ship of this size, the harbor will have to be dredged and widened. Dredging is a nicer word for hacking up all the coral reefs that are the backbone of the environment and biodiversity by serving as a home for many marine species.

Apra Harbor, Guam
One of the aspects of this proposal that was mentioned to us in class was that the United States is under great pressure to move the military out of Okinawa, Japan. After three US soldiers raped a middle school girl in the 1990s, there has been significant pressure to decrease military presence in Japan. That disgusting and reprehensible attack seems to serve as a symbol for the actions of the US military. Instead of evaluating the impact the military will have on the surrounding community, the DOD forges ahead and razes whatever objects they deem incongruent with their goals.
In this case, a coral reef is incongruent with the US military’s vision for Guam. I think that diving there next week will remind me of being in the Maldives. In the capital city of Male, it occurred to me after seeing the flood lines of the buildings that one day the only divers will flock to the Maldives to see the ruins of the city rather than the reefs. Maybe after some time, the only reefs left in Guam will be the manmade reefs of sunken military ships.
On a more upbeat note, there are gale force winds in Catalina this afternoon and I surfaced from our morning dive to huge swells that had come out of nowhere. The dive itself was less eventful that yesterday’s – the visibility was horrible and we were in a much more open area with a lot less kelp. Our professor, Jim, took some good pictures of us, though. We did another transect count of sea grass and molluscs.

Fisherman's Cove, Catalina
The wind has kept us out of the water this afternoon, so four of us hiked the huge hill behind the dining hall. We were told to follow the ridge but instead went straight up through thigh high grass and those same gale force winds plastering us against the slope. We ate some ripe prickly pear fruit and saw a fox. The rest of the afternoon has been spent reading and preparing for our class midterm on Friday.

The executive summary of the proposed military expansion can be found here: http://www.guambuildupeis.us/documents/final/summary/Executive_Summary.pdf