Postcard #4: Over Land and Sea
January 27-31, 2005 | Sri Lanka's southeastern coastline
From 500 feet up, and at speed, our world becomes clearer. The riot of twisted branches, upended trees, drifts of sand and mud blend and soften into earth brown abstract shapes. The signs of human refuse and debris, the smells, vanish and the world below appears sublimely clinical.
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Sanjayan recently answered questions about his journey to Sri Lanka to assess the impact of the tsunami on the environment and people.
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We all understood the gamble that we were taking. With the Ministerial meeting looming and many miles of coastline still unexplored, taking to the air and mapping from above was the only option left to us but it still was a costly and logistically difficult option and it burned precious time. The coastline we were flying over was all but inaccessible by ground and it had not been surveyed since the tsunami hit four weeks ago.
We had taken a couple of days preparing for these flights. We would only get once chance at surveying this coast by chopper. We examined from the ground, the details of the patterns and signs of the tsunami on vegetation, soils, and freshwater. What do estuaries, grasslands, dunes, and other habitats look like after they have been inundated by salt water? On the ground, we took our time to learn, because in the air, time is what we would lack.
Help comes from an unexpected quarter. Dr. Pruthu Fernando is one of the finest wildlife biologists that I know. He also went to school with me, years ago, at the University of Oregon. Our meeting, on the shore of an estuary, replete with crocodiles and elephant tracks, warrants from me, at least, some ceremony.
I cannot resist borrowing and paraphrasing from Stanley’s famous line when he encounters Livingston. “Dr. Fernando, I presume!” I call out and am greeted by a warm smile and a reminder by him that years ago, when he first came to the United States, it was I who picked him up at the airport.
Pruthu is leading a ground team of biologists looking at and mapping at a fine scale the alteration in vegetation and structure caused by the tsunami. He has focused his efforts during the past two weeks on a 12 mile section of coast, getting to know it intimately. Now he unselfishly gives us a mini-tutorial on the subtler effects of the tsunami and the vegetations response to it. In return, we give him two GPS units we had brought as back up with us. He writes out a receipt on the back of my note book.
Pruthu also dispels for us one of the persistent rumors floated by the media – that elephants had some sort of “sixth sense” and fled long before the tsunami arrived. Pruthu has some elephants radio collared, and thus knows their exact location at all times. His preliminary peek at the data shows that the elephants were not “fleeing” from the coast that morning. They did escape the wave by running to high ground but that happened, it seems, minutes before the wave arrived rather than hours before.
All this preparation pays off when we finally pile into the Bell Jet Ranger. I steer the pilot from the front seat, Tim and Ravi map from the back seat. With the windows open we communicate by hand signals and notes we pass amongst each other like errant and excited school kids. Our pilot is Captain Singh, a former Indian Air Force pilot. He is retiring to Virginia next month he tells me and he has only lost one passenger ever – a photographer who despite his strenuous admonitions walked behind the helicopter and got hit by the tail rotor.
He gives me these two pieces of information in one sentence. I am left feeling a bit uneasy but there is no time to probe further.
Once we are in the air, in truth, I remember little of the flights. We fly about 280 km each time to map 80 km of coast – a very low altitude ballet. The helicopter pivots and pirouettes in the sky, racing the outline of the tsunami inundation. For Captain Singh this is a welcome relief from the usual tourist load he carries and displays his full range of flying skills. Ravi reaches for the air-sick bag.
We do this for two days, each time we land with just 8 gallons of fuel left in the tanks. Vapor really. We are ecstatic about what we have seen and we have managed to map the entire coastline of not just Yala national park but also another adjacent park called Bundala. Our gamble paid off. When I get down from the chopper my first question was to Tim.
“Did we get it?!” I ask. “We got it, machan,” he replies, using a word he has been itching to use ever since Ravi told him what it means.
Say machan inappropriately and you are in for trouble. It is a term of familiarity that goes beyond simply knowing someone well. It implies familiarity that stems from station in life, class, values, and shared experiences. Its Western equivalent is unmentionable in polite company.
We meet the next day with the Department of Wildlife and Conservation. The Director General is amazed and pleased at what we have done. They accept our report without reservations and promise to implement the recommendations.
Soon our little unlikely band of explorers will disband. Tim and Mark will fly back. I will go to Colombo with Ravi to meet with US Embassy staff and the Minister of Environment.
I will be sad to leave.
For more information:
- In The News: Tsunami relief that will last
Denver Post, March 4, 2005
As M.A. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, surveyed the environmental toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami, he saw that although the destruction had been uneven, it wasn't necessarily random.
- In The News: Nature Bounces Back on Sri Lanka's Coast
NPR Morning Edition, February 24, 2005
In a two-part series of reports for the NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions, Elizabeth Arnold journeys to the island nation of Sri Lanka with one of the first teams to assess the environmental aftermath.
- Press Release: First Environmental Survey of Tsunami Damage Shows Sri Lankan Coasts and Forests Hurt but Rebounding
The tsunami has left Sri Lanka's marine areas dangerously clogged with debris that could cause long-term damage to coral reefs and marine species, but scientists say there are many signs of hope: trees are regenerating, wildlife is returning to damaged areas, and coral reefs are largely intact.
- In The News: Sea and jungle life bounce back from the tsunami's battering
The Independent (London), February 16, 2005
The first assessment of the damage to wildlife caused by the Asian tsunami found nature has been surprisingly resilient to the effects of the giant waves.
- Press Release: Tsunami Leaves Behind Human Devastation and Environmental Damage that May Take Decades to Recover
As aid arrives to countries hit by the tsunami to provide much-needed food, shelter and medicine for the survivors, scientists are beginning to focus on the longer-term environmental damage that will affect the livelihoods of fishermen and coastal communities for years to come.
- Donate: Support The Nature Conservancy's ongoing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region
Your gift today will enable our science-based conservation of coral reefs, rainforests and other threatened areas throughout the region.
- Our Partner: Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS)
The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society is the first organization to be established outside Sri Lanka for the sole purpose of helping to conserve and preserve the dwindling biodiversity of Sri Lanka.
- Statement from Nature Conservancy President Steve McCormick on the Tsunami Disaster and Relief Efforts
The world has begun the New Year facing the ravages of one of the most severe natural disasters in history.
- Relief Organizations Working in the Disaster Area
A list of non-governmental organizations working throughout the disaster area from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
- Aid Groups Accepting Donations for Victims
A list of ways to donate from CNN.
