What DO you do all day??

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Katrina

Besides all of the ordinary things that go with running a small business? I volunteer, a lot!

Yesterday, I spent volunteering with the KIRMA (Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority) Marine Division in their annual survey / cleanup of crown of thorn sea stars.

These sea stars are coral predators, and while they are a natural part of the reef, over population can have disastrous consequences. The good news (or bad, depending on how you look at it :)) is that we didn’t find any crown of thorns in our section of reef.

So what did we see?

The crown of thorns are often found under coral overhangs and other shady places, so I got to do a whole bunch of looking under coral ledges and inside the hiding places created by the piles of coral. I saw LOTS of nudibranchs, a beautiful pin cushion star, a couple of lion fish, some living shells, other innocent sea stars and critters that prefer to avoid the sun, and of course tons of coral and fish. Not a bad way to spend the day!

I didn’t have my camera with me, but if you’d like to see some representative critters, take a look here: Katrina Adams Ocean Photos

Today? It’s the Chamber of Commerce Board meeting (I’m the secretary) and related stuff.

Tomorrow? Don’t know yet, but I”ll bet that there is something.

What DO you do all day?

Whatever it is, enjoy!
Katrina

 
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Katrina’s Spring Adventures!

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Katrina

Well, I’ve had an exciting few weeks and not always in a fun way. The “not in a fun way” part involved multiple computer failures, computer viruses in hotel “business” centers and discovering that Android tablets are useful in a business context – as long as you don’t rely heavily on Microsoft Access data bases. You really don’t want to hear about those trials and tribulations, just know that I’ve got a reliable machine and Internet access again! YEAH!!!

On the fun side, while I was in the Seattle – Tacoma area for the NW Dive & Travel Expo, I made a quick side trip to Kalispell, Montana with my sister. She had business, but I got to roam around, explore and take photos. Kalispell is within spitting distance of Glacier National Park, but the park was still a bit frozen. Instead, I explored Lone Pine State Park right on the edge of Kalispell and got this trailside panorama of the city cradled by the mountain range.

Kalispell from the Trail

Kalispell from the Park Trail

There is a delightful and sly sense of humor in Kalispell, as you can see from these two photos -

Love the Boots!

Love the Boots!

Don't Feed the Bears!

Don’t Feed the Bears!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A huge “thank you!” to my show “assistants” for all of the great help during the show! Remus (a Kosraean living in the Seattle – Tacoma area), and Wolfe and Donna (who came to help on their way home from their trip to Germany!) did a tremendous job and it was terrific to see you all again!

After the show I drifted down the coast to California, where I got to sail, go to a Scottish festival and experience a Cross Fit class with my kids.

Sailing on SF Bay

Sailing on SF Bay

Finally, on my way home I took some photos of  two of Honolulu’s “personalities”.

Honolulu Sunset

Honolulu Sunset

Honolulu Beach Front Park

Honolulu Beach Front Park

Enough about my adventures!

This weekend, June 8 and 9, Bruce will be staffing the Kosrae Island booth (# 629) at the Long Beach Scuba Show, along with Grant Ismael from the Kosrae Visitors Bureau. We are offering a great show special, so stop, ask questions (book a trip :)) and generally make a nuisance of yourself.

Have a great weekend!
Katrina

PS – We are still looking for a few divers to fill out the October coral monitoring team.

 
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Unofficial FSM National Election Results

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Katrina

For all of you who follow the FSM national elections.

Check this link for the unofficial results from Tuesday’s election.

Cheers,
Katrina

 
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Bits and Pieces

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Katrina

Coral Monitoring
People wonder if our coral monitoring program is fun, if there is a lot of diving and if you see new stuff. I think that I can say that the answer is YES!.

Yesterday I went through some of the photos I took during last year’s monitoring session, looking for a parrotfish that I remembered seeing. At the time, I thought that it was a fish that was new to me and I was right. According to some of the information I’ve read, it is not a common fish.

Tan Faced Parrotfish (Chlorurus frontalis)

Tan Faced Parrotfish (Chlorurus frontalis)

If I’ve misidentified it, please let me know.

So, do we have fun? yes! Do we see new stuff? Yes! Do we spend hours in the ocean and work really hard? YES! Come find out for yourself, Oct 5 – 18, 2013.

Photo Gallery
I’ve added some photos to my photo gallery and also a “subscribe” box so that you can be notified when I add new photos. I don’t have access to the email addresses so you don’t have to worry about your address being used for anything else.

Trade Shows
Next month, April 20-21, I will be at the NW Dive and Travel Show in Tacoma, Washington. Stop in to see me if you are in the area.

Cheers!
Katrina

 
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My New Photo Gallery :)

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Katrina

Apologies to you who have already received this through the Kosrae Village newsletter or Facebook page.

I’ve just updated my photo gallery. I’ve added a “Travel” section for the photos that I take when I am away from Kosrae, and a “Favorites” group to highlight the photos that are currently my most hated? nah, probably my most loved. But I’m fickle, today I love you, tomorrow? Well, we’ll see.

Never fear, probably most of YOUR favorites are still in the gallery and there are a whole lot of new ones.

You can get there from the links on the Kosrae Village main site menu or from this blog, just click on Katrina’s Photos in the menu bar. But just in case, here is the address: http://katrina-adams-photography.com.

Enjoy!
Katrina

PS – The one thing that I’m struggling with in the new gallery is the thumbnail structure. It seems to be unrelentingly horizontal and chops photos off in unexpected places. If you see a thumbnail that looks interesting (or really strange :)), click on it to see the real deal.

 
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Solomon Island Tsunami Kosrae Tide Levels

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Katrina

Last year a joint project between KIRMA (Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority), NIWA, SPREP and FSM PACC resulted in the installation of our first ever tide gauge in Lelu Harbor. The project was funded by GEF/UNDP. The tide data is collected every 10 minutes and transmitted to the various offices.

I thought that you might be interested in the following graphic of the sea water height in Lelu Harbor as the tsunami wave passed Kosrae. The red circle marks the point when the wave should have been passing Kosrae and it looks like there was about 2 inch increase in water height at that time.

Kosrae Tide Levels

Kosrae Tide Levels

My thanks to Doug Ramsey at NIWA for creating the graph and the folks at KIRMA and FSM PACC for allowing me to publish it.

Katrina

 
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Solomon Islands Earthquake and Tsunami

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Katrina

Earlier today there was a huge earthquake (8.0) of off the coast of the Solomon Islands. The Solomons are directly south of Kosrae and when the tsunami was generated, Kosrae was included in the warning issued by NOAA’s Tsunami Warning System.

Very fortunately for Kosrae (and us, since we are right on the coast) the wave died out before it reached Kosrae. We are safe and sound, but that is not true of the Solomons and other islands closer to the earthquake.

We are extremely lucky the the warning system exists and even luckier that our local leaders pay attention to this and other warnings.

Katrina

 
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Introducing Yosio!

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Katrina

We have a new Dive Guide (in training). :) Thursday he completed his Advanced course and one of his elective dives was the Photography dive. I thought that you might enjoy a couple of his images.

Tiny Tiny Squid

Tiny Tiny Squid

Flowery Sole

Flowery Sole

Yosio has a few things to learn about the science of diving and leading dive groups, but he already has a great eye!

Cheers,
Katrina

 
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Happy New Year! Kosrae Tide and Weather Info

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Katrina

Hi!

I hope that your holidays were wonderful!

Now it’s time to get back to “real” life, like planning your trip to visit us. :)

Most of our activities, here on Kosrae, are tide and weather dependent, so I’ve posted the 2013 tide predictions here: Kosrae 2013 Tide Predictions

The US National Weather Service Pacific ENSO Climate Center predicts ocean and weather conditions for the entire Pacific Region based on the current El Nino / La Nina conditions. They publish a quarterly newsletter with climate discussion and predictions that is very accurate, for Kosrae at least! Here is the link to their newsletter listing: Pacific ENSO Newsletters

There are links to the current Kosraean time and weather on our Kosrae Today page.

Let me know if they are helpful and if there are other references that would be useful.

Happy 2013!
Katrina

 
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Visit Micronesia Discount Airfare!!! UPDATE

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Katrina

Hi Folks,

In the week since I published the original article, a lot of new information has come to light, so this is an update to the original article with more accurate and current information.

United Airline’s discounted Visit Micronesia fare:

Here are the details on how to buy this discounted ticket and the rules that currently apply:

  • The Visit Micronesia fare is available for ticketing Dec 1, 2012 – March 31, 2014.
  • It can be used to travel beginning February 14, 2013.
  • Travelers cannot live in the Micronesia region. (i.e. The Commonwealth of the Marianas, Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands or Hawaii).
  • The ticket must be purchased outside of the Micronesia region and must be purchased before the trip begins.
  • Travel on United or United Express must begin outside of the Micronesia region. So, your flight into Hawaii or Guam must be on United or United Express.
  • The ticket number for the trip to Guam or Hawaii must be cross referenced on the Visit Micronesia ticket.
  • The Visit Micronesia fare provides a discount fare with multiple stops (2 – 5 islands, depending on the ticket purchased) for travel to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, CNMI and Palau. The turnaround island is included in the number of stops.
  • The first stop must be scheduled when the ticket is purchased, but the rest can be left open. The traveler has 30 days to complete their travel on the Visit Micronesia ticket.
  • There is a $250 fee for refunds and changes made by the issuing agency (United or your travel agent) before departure. After departure this fare is not refundable or changeable.
  • These fares aren’t available online. Since these tickets have many possible combinations of routes and islands to be visited, you need to buy the ticket through a travel agent or by calling a United reservations agent.
  • The Visit Micronesia fare details are found on page “GG VUS MIC” in United’s reservation system.
  • This is the current contact information for United, from the United Airlines website:
    • For reservations in the USA and Canada: 1-800-864-8331
    • This page, has contact options for other countries and regions.

Your potential savings are huge, for example right now (Nov 2012) the round trip Visit Micronesia ticket from Honolulu to Kosrae and Pohnpei is currently priced at $620.00. But remember that this does not include the taxes and fuel surcharge, which can be quite hefty! Your mileage may vary. :)

Now that you can afford the trip you have always wanted to take, do it!

See you soon!
Katrina

 
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