6/11-6/17

Tuesday 6/17

This morning Andy and I were up and ready to go by 8:00. Paul arrived shortly after and we had some coffee and biscuits on the porch with all of the other workers at Inobong. We ended up leaving with Paul around 9:00, and were heading to Kota Kinabalu. There we would head to mainland office for Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. We dropped our things in the office, then went on a walk to find Andy a new flashlight. When we got back we packed the things we needed into our backpacks, since we would only be gone one night, and got on a boat to head to Manukan Island. Manukan Island is one of a few islands within close proximity of each other within Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. There is also Gaya Island, which is the largest, as well as Mamutik Island, Sulug Island, and Sapi Island. Andy and I were just heading to Manukan Island for the night. We took a short 15 minute boat ride and arrived around 12:30. When we arrived we talked to some workers and ended up getting settled into our room at the Manukan Lodge, which is basically like one of the Rest Houses that we’ve been staying in, except with a crazy view back on the city. Manukan Island isn’t very big, but does offer some restaurants, a resort, and activities like parasailing, and snorkeling, with a pretty big beach.

Paul had told me and Andy that we could snorkel so we ended up talking to some people who got us set up to head out. There was plenty of space within the buoy markers of the beach to head out and explore. We went over coral, sand, and steep drop-offs. We snorkeled for a couple hours and saw a whole bunch of stuff. I saw a greater variety of things here than when I went in Pulau Tiga, including clownfish, a black tipped reef, shark, a ton of stingrays, and even an eagle ray. Just when you feel like you are done seeing new species, you see something that you haven’t seen yet. Eventually Andy and I were getting a little tired and decided to head in. When we got back to shore we talked to a worker, mostly in Malay, who was interested to hear about our time so far in Sabah Parks, and then suggested we take a 2 km hike out to sunset point on the far side of the Island. Andy and I took our time and got changed and then walked around for a while before heading out on the trail. It was paved and easy, but was beautiful, there seemed to me more elevation here compared to Pulau Tiga, even though it was smaller in size. We reached the point and explored the rocky beach for a  while, but ultimately headed back just a little bit before the sun went down. We didn’t have flashlights, and wanted to get ahead of a large group that was also out at the point. On the way back we were lucky enough to see a couple of megapodes along the trail. Megapodes are birds the size of a small chicken, but will build huge mounds as nests where they will bury their eggs to incubate them. I was hoping to see them at Pulau Tiga, and I saw their mounds there, but I was never lucky enough to see the birds.

When we got back Andy and I decided to eat at the one restaurant that was still open on the island. It was pretty fancy, and very expensive compared to the other places we have eaten here in Sabah, but the meal still only ended up being about 30 USD between the two of us. I seafood fried rice which was fantastic. After dinner Andy and I headed back to our room and enjoyed the view for a while, before doing some writing and eventually heading to bed.

Monday 6/16

Today I woke up nice and early to finish packing and eat some breakfast before I met at the dock at 8:00 to head back to Kuala Penyu. I left with Jane, Imaldy, the interns, and a few others. When we made it the mainland Uncle Impui, as they call him, was waiting for me. He took care of a couple things around the station when I got there, and then we left for Inobong where I would meet back up with Andy and stay the night. On our way to Inobong we stopped at a plaza in Penampang and met up with the Warden of Pulau Tiga, Roslizan, and had a quick bite to eat. After that Impui and Roslizan had some paperwork to do next door at the Motorola Radio Office. They are the parks radio supplier. After that I ended up swapping my luggage in Roslizan’s truck and he drove me the rest of the way to Inobong, stopping at the supermarket along the way. He was super nice and helped me make sure I got everything I might need while shopping, and suggested some good canned food brands since most of the time Andy and I don’t have refrigerators. After shopping we went the rest of the way to Inobong, the place where Andy and I first started our internship. I arrived probably around 1:30.

Andy was already there by the time I got there. We would stay in the Rest House which is connected to the office, rather than chalet we stayed at before. I unloaded my things and said goodbye to Roslizan. Andy and I had a lot to talk about after being apart the past two weeks, and it was fun to hear about his experiences. The similarities and differences were equally as interesting, and there were plenty of funny stories we each had to tell. Around 3:00, Paul came to hang out and talk for a while. He was eager to hear about our experiences, and we enjoyed talking to him about all the different species we had seen. He was able to help us identify some species that we previously were unsure about. We talked about our plans for the rest of our two weeks here and after about an hour he left. Andy and I made a late lunch and then went out to the porch of the other office to watch the sunset over Kota Kinabalu. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out and getting ready to leave the next morning.

Sunday 6/15

Today would be my last day here on Pulau Tiga. I was up at my normal time and once again I spent a better part of the day reading. There was nothing to do in the morning, and I had asked about possibly going for a hike, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards today. For lunch I went to eat with the interns and today they had made sour and spicy stingray. They were surprised when I said I had never tried stingray. It smelled a little strange I’ll be honest but the it ended up tasting pretty good. It was more similar to fish than I thought it would be, flakey and white meat. We ate and I hung out for a while, but then I headed back to my room to start doing a little bit of packing and to read some more. The plan was to head back to Lovely Island tonight, the place I had stopped with the dive crew the other day, to spend the night there. Unfortunately, the Rangers had something come up. It sounded like they had to go on a patrol because someone might have been illegally fishing in the park. So we did not go. Instead, I got to get in one last game of volleyball with everyone. We played a little longer than usual today, and when we finished it had started to rain. So I went back to my room, finished packing, called home and ate dinner. I went to bed fairly early.

Saturday 6/14

It was a slower morning than usual for me today. I got up and walked around like usual, trying to figure out what the plan was for the day, but there really wasn’t much to do. I read for most of the morning and when it was lunch time I went to go hang out with interns again. We ate and hung out and it still sounded like there wasn’t much of plan for the day. I went back and read some more by the water and then took a quick nap. I walked around a little bit longer and talked to some different people, and the read a little bit more. The day went by kind of slow but eventually it was 5:00 and time to play volleyball. We played until dusk and then took a half hour break. Then, all of us interns, Eddie and Imaldy walked down the beach towards a point that has a lot of coral. It was low tide, and there was a lot to see.

It was probably around 2 km down to the end of the point and we took our time, looking around in the shallow water and coral. There were a bunch of fish throughout the whole walk, small and medium sizes of all different kinds of species. The first interesting thing that we saw were prawns swimming around then. Then, we were looking at a crab when out of nowhere a small octopus swims by and then burrowed beneath a rock. It turns out we would see at least 5 more octopi throughout the night. When you touch them they grab you with their suction cups and it is such a strange feeling. As we walked we got to a point where everyone turned off their flashlights. Each step that you took in the shallow water would cause bioluminescent algae to light up. It wasn’t super bright, but for a brief second the water looked like it was filled with stars. For the most part the light was yellowish-green, but sometimes it would be bright blue. We were getting pretty close to the point when someone spotted an eel. One of the interns tried to pick it up and he immediately got bit, drawing blood, but he was alright. As we walked we say starfish, some goofy looking fish, and a lot of crabs. Eventually we reached the point and these big mounds of dead coral rubble. I could see these from the basecamp, but always thought they were huge rocks. We all looked around for a little bit, then all sat down to take a second. There were so many stars to see, and for 10 minutes people just laid silent, looking.

Eventually it was time and head back, and we looked for things the whole way back too. We saw a pufferfish that did not seem to be very afraid of us, just moving around slowly as we all looked at it. We also saw a couple small black tip reef sharks, hunting in the shallows. We saw some more octopi as well, and then even found an anemone with some clownfish hanging out in there. Everyone was super excited to see the nemo fish and we all watched it for a little while. When we made it back to the basecamp I think everyone was pretty tired. I went back to by room, ate dinner, took a shower, and then went to bed.

Friday 6/13

This morning I got up and had my same morning routine. It appeared that there was not much to do today, so I walked around for a while, and then just did some reading. Around 1:00 I went and had lunch with the interns. I’m grateful they always invite me over for lunch. It is a lot better then what I would be cooking for myself. After lunch I talked to them about what we had planned for the day. They said that we would go to Pulau Ular, or Snake Island later tonight. Pulau Ular is just a small, rocky island where sea snakes, specifically Yellow Lipped Sea Kraits, go to breed. I was excited for this but also asked if maybe I could swim this afternoon before we went. They talked to Eddie, one of the main rangers, and he said yes, but he would have to look around in the water with a drone first. There have been some repeated crocodile sightings around the island nobody has really been swimming for the past couple weeks because of it. Luckily, after searching the water where I would be swimming, he saw no crocodile and said it was safe.

The other ranger, Imaldy, gave me a mask and a snorkel and told me to have fun. As I went out into the water in the back of my mind I was still a little nervous, but when I made it out to the coral I had a blast. I saw so many different things while I was swimming around. Parrotfish that were every color of the rainbow, some butterflyfish, a stingray covered in dark blue spots, and so many other fish that I do not know the names of. I also saw a lot of giant clams. I wish I had a camera that I could have taken out with me. I swam around for almost 2 hours, in shallow water, some deeper water, sand bottom, coral bottom… It was amazing. The water was maybe a little cloudy in some places, but for the most part was very clear. Eventually I was getting a little tired and made my way to the shore. This whole time it had been driving me crazy to be at such a beautiful beach and not go swimming, but I finally got my fix.

Once I was back on land I talked with some people about what I saw then went and got changed. When I came back out, Eddie and Imaldy were teaching the other interns how to fly the drone, and then I got to try as well. It was really cool. A new DJI drone with an amazing camera that was pretty easy to learn how to use. I flew it around for a little bit and went and looked around the reef with it. I even saw a small shark swimming around. I talked with the rangers about the different uses of the drone and it seems incredibly helpful, mainly for monitoring. They can look for what is in the water like they did today, and they can also monitor anyone who might be trying to fish within the park. The drone is equipped with GPS so if they see someone fishing they can go and check if they are inside or outside of the boundary. After flying the drone it was time to go play volleyball as we do most nights.

After volleyball, we had about an hour to rest before we went to snake island. There were about 10 of us that went out to snake island, it is about a 15 minute boat ride. We went east around the island and then north. It was low tide, and the crew had to be careful while docking the boat. We arrived on the island and within 5 minutes we saw our first snake, up in some dense branches in a bush. Everyone saw it and immediately moved on. I was confused why people didn’t stay and look longer, but before I moved on Someone already saw another one. These Sea Kraits are incredibly venomous, but are also super docile and do not really bite humans. We walked around on the rocky shoreline and saw snake after snake. They were beautiful to look at. Blue with black wrings all the way down the body with yellow above the mouth, and a tale that is shaped like a paddle. We were on the island for roughly 30 minutes and we saw about 20 snakes. The only bad part was at one point a bird pooped on my head. Oh well, what are you gonna do. I washed it off in the water and kept looking around. We didn’t stay long, but we saw so much. The boat ride home was peaceful, and I got back and immediately went and showered. After that I went to hang out with Rex, who was back on the island, as well as a whole crew of others for a better part of the night. I went to bed late, and was really satisfied with the day that I had.

Thursday 6/12

This morning I got up and ate some breakfast on my porch that overlooks the ocean. The weather was significantly calmer than the day before. It was sunny and the air was still, just small, rolling waves crashing ashore at a high tide. I finished my breakfast and decided to take a walk around. I walked over to the channel where water was flooding into the lagoon. I stood there and watched for a while. I saw some small fish swimming around and stayed just long enough to see a couple of very small sharks dart around and then disappear back into the ocean.

After my walk I ran into Jane and Imaldy. They talked briefly then I followed Imaldy to office, and then to the hostel where a group was staying. The group was an NGO called Malaysia Reef Check. They partner with Sabah Parks to monitor the health of coral reefs around Sabah. They were here at Pulau Tiga for the week but the bad weather yesterday had kept them from going out and today was their last day of diving. They told me that I could go out with them, although I would have to stay on the boat. I would have been able to dive with them if I was certified, and normally they would let me snorkel, however there have been some crocodile sightings recently and they said that snorkeling is the most dangerous thing that you can do. I still agreed to head out with them, and within 20 minutes we were on the boat, shoving off from the dock. We drove around the east side of the island, and headed north. As soon as we made that turn north you were able to see a view of Mount Kinabalu in the distance, still looking massive from this far away. The waves were not too bad, but got a little bigger as we got further away from the island.

 Throughout the ride I was talking to a young guy named Ahmeer. He was a Sabah Parks staff from the research division, usually stationed in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, but does all of the diving with Malysia Reef Check. The owner of the company, Calvin, was also there. Ahmeer spoke really good English, and explained to me the things that they do when they dive. Two divers will go down first and make a 100m long transect line on the bottom. Then, the next two divers will go and follow the transect line, observing what they see. They look at the different types of coral, the state of the coral, the different types of marine life, as well as the overall impact and health. They try and do the same sights every year so that they can compare results on a yearly basis. It sounded like last year was not a good year. The water temperature was much higher than usual, and in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, over half of the coral they observed was bleached and dead. That was the worst results that they had seen, but not all places were harmed as much. We eventually got to the dive location, and divers did their thing. There were 4 others besides myself who stayed on the boat while they did their thing. We talked the whole time in a mix of English and Malaysian. One of the men was another intern from a different park, and I enjoyed talking to him about his studies. After they finished their dive, they climbed back on board and we drove to a tiny island, a sandbar really, just north of Pulau Tiga. There is a little kind of resort there, with a place to swim, a couple of huts, and a pavilion with seating. I believe it was called Lovely Resort, or Lovely Island. We were brought out some a cooler of ice, some soda, and some biscuits. We all enjoyed the break from the rocking boat, and it felt like I was on vacation in paradise for a little bit honestly. The water here is super blue and clear, the sands are white, and I’m on a tropical island. It doesn’t get much better than this.

After we rested on the island for maybe 45 minutes, we went back out to their next dive location. The two divers went down and began their work, but came up shortly after. They said that the visibility in this area just wasn’t good enough, sediment still stirred up from the storm the previous day. So they climbed back in the boat and we headed back to the Pulau Tiga Parks Basecamp. When we got back I thanked the crew for letting me join them and I went back to eat lunch in my room. After that, I went back to office to meet up with the other interns, and we decided to go for a small hike with Imaldy. We walked around the woods for a while and then walked down the beach a short ways to the old abandoned resort. The resort had been open for a while, and was the place that hosted survivor back in the 90s, but shut down during COVID. For only being shut down for 5 years it has quickly been reclaimed by the jungle. We did not walk around in there too much, but it was pretty cool to see.

By the time we were done it was evening and people were all finishing up their work for the day. We all shot the slingshots for a couple minutes, then went and played volleyball for the rest of the night. We played until it got dark and then people retired to their rooms to go shower and eat. I talked to my family for a while, sitting by the beach, then went and ate dinner with the interns. We had noodles and eggs with spicy chili sauce, and then I hung out there for a while. Eventually I was getting tired and wanted to head back to shower and head to bed. I ended up talking to my grandma for a while also which was really nice. Then I read for a while, my new book has been The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and then went to bed.

Wednesday 6/11

I woke up this morning at 7:30 and immediately noticed some water that had come in from under my front door. I had heard rain wind and rain in the middle of the night, and it was still pretty windy, but I was surprised to see that water had made it. I have a little porch with a roof and overhangs the porch by a couple feet, so it must have been quite a storm. I mopped up the water then sat on my porch with some tea. I noticed some Pied Hornbills flying around in some trees nearby and was super excited to see them through the binoculars. I had been waiting to see hornbills and I got to see a male and female fly from tree to tree for about 20 minutes. I had some breakfast and it was time to get moving so I went and met Imaldy and we went to the office. After that we went to meet the interns and a group of works from Kinabalu Park, who had come here to identify trees. We spent the morning walking around with them. We saw a lot, including  some large Fig Trees, a tree they call the blood tree for its red sap, and some Night Wood trees, that are known for being expensive wood for furniture with dark grains. Their process included having a large, telescoping pole with a small blade for collecting leaves from up high, small pruners to cut off some bark, and a hammer for nailing in tags to each tree that they identified.

We worked with them for a better part of the morning before going to take a rest by the beach. While sitting there we saw the big boss arrive at the dock and we went to greet him. His name is Rozlasin, and apparently mainly just works at the Kuala Penyu office on the mainland. I talked with him briefly before we went back to the office, and let him get back to the tasks he came here to do. We sat in the office with Jane for a little bit and she asked me if I had burned anything today. Very funny. After that the interns invited me for lunch with them later. I was walking back to drop my backpack off at my place and ran into Rex from the other night, who was just here with the boss for the day. I talked to him for a while before heading to eat lunch with the interns. They made rice, chicken curry, some kind of really spicy sambal, and some pieces of fried chicken. It was all delicious. After eating I fed some biscuits to the monkeys that hang out near their back door. There are also a couple large monitor lizards that patrol their back yard for leftovers as well. I watched the wildlife for a while then started walking back because it really looked like it was going to storm soon. Sure enough when I got back it had started raining pretty hard. I hung out inside while the storm was happening, then went over to the office to catch up on some random work I had to do.

After that I had gotten a text to come play slingshot with everyone. I had seen some people playing with slingshots when I was in Crocker Range Park and knew that people enjoyed it, but here at Pulau Tiga its really something else. They have a tiny little shooting range with cans set up on rails. The cans are set up 10 meters from where you shoot and pretty much the whole entire staff was there. The bullets are little dried mudballs that are bought, but reused if they’re not broken. I probably had about a 2% hit rate compared to most people’s 25%, but I got better as the night went on. Eventually it got dark and it was time to be done. I asked if we could look for snakes tonight and was told it depended on the weather. It continued to rain so we decided not to look tonight, instead I showered, read my book, and then went to bed a little early.