Sep 25, 2024
Photo by Dave Carulli
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Photo by Dave Carulli
Photo by LexusAG
Photo by Dave Carulli
November 6, 2015 I almost died today.
Or at least I thought I was going to. I went out to the water with Nica and the others. Overestimated myself there. I mean I got far without too much effort. It was low tide so my feet could touch the rocks dead coral.
When I decided to swim back, I realized how strong the current was. It was pulling me further out. I kept paddling but I didn’t get any closer to shore. I tried lying on my back and finning but that didn’t work either. The waves were so strong that I was swallowing water. At one point I got tired. I thought, what if I drown? No one was nearby to save me. I don’t think people could see me from shore.
But somehow I made it. I struggled paddling back until my feet held onto the dead coral. Then I waited for waves to push me forward.
The ocean is fucking scary. No matter how used to it you think you are.
“As it is, financial value is a bullshit measuring stick to a country like the Philippines.” — Tara Abrina, 2015
Tara is one of the people I’ve always looked up to in ISDA. I call her my mother when we’re together despite us being the same age. She’s a researcher for the UP Marine Science Institute and a record-breaking freediver. Her business partner, Elaine, is also one of my good friends and an even better skin diver and photographer.
One random day in July they brought me to the Calatagan Mangrove Development Alliance (CALMADA) to introduce me to their project and the community they’re working with.
Their project Katig-Bisig asks, “Where does your seafood come from?” And I think more than that, “How was your seafood caught?” “Are you helping local fisheries?” Their mission is to directly source your seafood, support local fisheries, and encourage these fisheries to practice sustainable fishing. They’re starting with CALMADA, an organization of 13 families who volunteer to manage the area’s mangrove project. Since the community’s developed a crab farm, their mud crabs should be available for orders when Katig-Bisig launches in 2016. For now you can like their Facebook page and buy postcards of fishing communities in the country. Proceeds will go to the communities’ coastal resource management initiatives, just like CALMADA’s.
The dive-in on Flickr.
The dive-in