Category Archives: High Seas

A golden snail with a foot clad in iron scales seems like a creature from science fiction. But in a few remote spots of the Indian Ocean these snails are very real.

It looks like an armoured knight crawling around on the deep-sea floor, says Julia Sigwart, a biologist at Frankfurts Senckenberg Research Institute and one of the only people to have seen a living scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum), also known as a sea pangolin.

The snails habitat is extreme. They live several miles below the ocean surface on searing hydrothermal vents, which are bathed in toxic chemicals and can reach temperatures of more than 300C (572F).

The ocean is one of the worlds last truly wild spaces. It teems with fascinating species that sometimes seems to border on the absurd, from fish that look up through transparent heads to golden snails with iron armour. We know more about deep space than deep oceans, and science is only beginning to scratch the surface of the rich variety of life in the depths.

As mining companies push to industrialise the sea floor and global leaders continue to squabble over how to protect the high seas, a new Guardian Seascape series will profile some of the most recently discovered weird, wonderful, majestic, ridiculous, hardcore and mind-blowing creatures. They reveal how much there is still to learn about the least known environment on Earth and how much there is to protect.

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The snails entire bodies and lifestyles revolve around bacteria growing inside a special pouch in their throat, which convert chemicals pouring out of the vents into energy and thereby provide all the snails food.

To keep their microbes well fed, scaly-foot snails evolved enormous gills to absorb oxygen and chemicals from seawater, then deliver it by way of their bloodstream and a hugely capacious heart. A human heart of equivalent proportions would be the size of our heads.

In 2019, scientists worked out that the scales on the snails foot are not to protect against predatory attack but to avert a toxic threat that comes from within. The bacteria stashed in a scaly-foot snails throat release sulphur as a waste product, which is deadly to snails (its a common active ingredient in slug and snail-killing pellets).

The internal structure of their scales acts as tiny exhaust pipes, drawing the dangerous sulphur away from the snails soft tissues and depositing it as a harmless iron-based compound on the outside.

Even though they evolved many strange adaptations to survive on vents, scaly-foot snails did not bank on humans showing an interest in their habitat. All three sites where they live an area of less than 0.025 sq km (0.01 sq miles), which together would fit inside St Peters Square in Vatican City are potential targets for deep-sea mining.

Mining firms are after the gold, silver and other precious or rare metals deposited in the rocky walls of the black smoker chimneys. If their tiny areas of habitat are damaged or destroyed, the scaly-foot snails would soon be gone.

Thats why Sigwart and her team set about assessing the status of these rare animals and eventually had the scaly-foot snail added to the International Union for the Conservation of Natures red list as an endangered species.

Its an incredibly powerful communication tool, she says. When you say a species is endangered, everyone in the world understands that.

The scaly-foot snail was the first species in the world to be listed as threatened because of deep-sea mining but there are now many deep-sea molluscs that experts have assessed and added to the global endangered list.

Out of 184 endemic species that only live on vents, from giant clams to a fuzzy snail named after Joe Strummer from the Clash, only 25 are not considered to be at risk of extinction.

These species remain relatively secure, Sigwart explains, because they live on vent fields where there is an explicit ban on any future development of deep-sea mining. This includes marine protected areas in territorial waters of Canada and around the Azores.

Most of the other species live on hydrothermal vents out in the high seas, which are beyond territorial limits and therefore less protected and more open to mining exploration.

These are the red-list assessments that reflect the status and the risk to the whole species and its potential to actually go extinct and for us to lose it completely, says Sigwart, and nobody wants that.

To Sigwart, these unusual molluscs brilliantly illustrate how evolution is just about being good enough to get by. It shows us the strange and twisted paths that life can take in order to adapt and survive, she says.

The rest is here:

Discovered in the deep: the snail with iron armour - The Guardian

Greenwich Theatre presents a madcap production of Treasure Island, by Le Navet Bete and John Nicholson, directed by James Haddrell.

David Haller, Elliott Bornemann, Lauren Drennan and Helen Ramsay are set to bring 30 or more characters to life this summer when the theatres outrageously comedic version of Robert Louis Stevensons classic adventure story takes to the stage.

Orphaned cabin boy Jim Hawkins (Haller), left in the careless care of Aunt Agnes, is serving ale in the Admiral Benbow before being taken under the wing of Long John Silver (Drennan). He happily embarks on what he expects to be an exciting sea voyage in search of treasure, but thanks to a crew of pirates, a strangely familiar Captain Birdseye (Ramsay) and the wildly eccentric castaway Ben Gunn (Bornemann), nothing ends up being quite as it seems.

This riotously chaotic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevensons beloved tale of pirates and buried treasure is full of physical comedy, daft jokes and thrilling adventure, with Jim setting sail on the high seas with Captain Birdseye, Blue Peter, Long-John Silver and the parrot Alexa

The shows director James Haddrell says: This year weve been lucky enough to secure a fantastic script from Le Navet Bete, a brilliant comic theatre company, so this will be unlike any production of Treasure Island that our audiences have seen before. Fans of the Greenwich pantomime will recognise a lot of the comedy style, but theres much more besides.

Haller is thrilled to be treading the boards (a.k.a. running around the stage like a madman) at Greenwich Theatre once again after appearing in their 2021 summer family production, Pinocchio. Drennan is also no stranger to the Greenwich Theatre stage; currently performing alongside Ramsay, whos making her professional debut at Greenwich Theatre in An Intervention. The cast is completed by Bornemann who has worked extensively in theatre for young audiences, making this production set to be a family favourite.

Treasure Islandfollows last years acclaimed production ofPinocchioin establishing the Greenwich Theatre summer show as a popular fixture in the boroughs cultural calendar.

Greenwich Theatre, Crooms /hill, SE10 8ES from Friday 19 August-Sunday 4 September. Performances:Tuesday-Sunday (not 21 Aug);Tue-Thu 11am & 3pm;Fri-Sat 2pm & 6pm;Sun 1pm & 5pm.Admission: Adult 25, Concession 20, Child 12.50, Friend 12.50

Website: greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Continue reading here:

Treasure Island Southwark News - Theatre - Southwark News

The goal of All aTwitter is to give readers a handy spot to check the Washington Commanders beat writers & bloggers, national sports journalists, and football fans in order to keep up on the latest news and opinions about Washington, the NFL, and sports in general, along with a smattering of other things.

Warrior Bella has fought really hard to get to this point. The last month she has been on a ventilator fighting for her life multiple times.

Today, she rings the bell and is pic.twitter.com/WtRjlGaHDx

Weve had a great time at camp this week! Join us TOMORROW as we continue to get ready for the 2022 Football Season! The @Commanders will be hosting a scrimmage @FedExField, doors open at 4 PM.

We are partnering with local shelters in the East End Zone for a pet adoption event! pic.twitter.com/foJFTG2XeH

Were partnering with First Class Cruises to launch the first-ever Washington Commanders Fan Cruise!

Set sail with Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and plenty more legends next spring

Jury duty summons? Child support payment? Congressional Subpoena? Follow the trusted legal strategy of the Bluth family and Dan Snyder by taking to the high seas! Maritime lawyer not included. https://t.co/jhBdpHWcwu

Introducing himself on the mic Trash talking with coach Harris @JahanDotson mic'd up at practice is too good

Spoke to Kerrigan about a lot of topics including his coaching; one coach that impacted him the most and why it took 4 years to develop as a pass rusher. How his kids thought he was Jalen Hurts scoring all those TDs. The emotions attached to retiring. https://t.co/ZiP8aXXJAv

Its 2:30 a.m. on a Friday in Aug. 2022, & Joe Jacoby, who last played in 1993, is trending on Twitter. As unfortunate & ridiculous as his @ProFootballHOF exclusion is, it has made people be aware of & appreciate his great career maybe more so than if he was actually in the HOF.

Sammis Reyes also had a hamstring issue too. So the Commander's top 4 TEs are down - Logan Thomas (knee), John Bates (calf), Turner (hamstring), Reyes (hamstring).https://t.co/uPrBYDtFCq

Cole Turner left the field (walked off on own). Didnt see much of a limp. Currently in the tent. Update later. Dont overreact.

Hard to tell if it has been an exchange issue or not but Antonio Gibson with two fumbles today in full team work. Lost ball quick; can be hard to see if quick pop or bad handoff. Bottom line: lost both.

We just witnessed a goal line stand for the ages in Ashburn. Defense stopped the offense on seven straight plays from the 1. Finally, on snap eight, the offense breaks through for a rushing TD

Darrick Forrest is having himself one HELL of a camp!!!

Likely Buffalo Nickel

Logan Paulsen is as good as it gets around here in terms of football IQ and the ability to break down the game. He also has the access. When he says Jahan has been the best WR on the field, its worth listening to.

Logan Paulsen had some bold things to say, one of them is..he says Jahan Dotson has been the best WR on the team this offseason, also said the positional value of LB has decreased across the league, thinks its just average position in terms of importance on the field

I just want to say that Terry McLaurin is a top-notch human being. Looking kids in the eyes, asking how theyre doing. Complimenting their apparel and thanking them for their support. Over and over and over. For every kid. @TheTerry_25 pic.twitter.com/2SznCfI8Dl

Communication was awful last year.

It's clear McCain senses something is wrong. Trying to communicate with Collins.

Good read by Winston. Easy Money. https://t.co/NVIe16IgzX

Steelers and Diontae Johnson reached agreement on a two-year deal that averages $18.355 million per year, per @ByKimberleyA and me.

Maybe it's just the fact that the WR market has ballooned beyond all recognition recently, but this 18M per year number for Diontae Johnson seems like a massive discount.

I know it's only for two years, but still that's a great deal for the Steelers.

So my guess, based on the initial reports of the Diontae Johnson extension, is that the Steelers weren't getting close to his salary expectations in a crazy WR market, but he wanted a payday now and probably wanted to avoid a tag situation next year. Hence the short deal.

Kliff Kingsbury had Kyler Murray call plays to backup quarterbacks in practice. "I just wanted him to know that, hey, this shit ain't easy," Kingsbury said. https://t.co/mEel3rLEN8

#broncos are going through a mental rep period. Heard this about Wilson. He literally visualizes every aspect like its an in game play. Visualizing a pass rusher, moves in the pocket ect. I was told by a few players its like a next level type of mental rep theyve never seen

I will now begin mental repping my tweets prior to posting.

I am sorry this is 2021 5th rounder Simi Fehoko

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All aTwitter: 6 August 2022 - Hogs Haven

A strong oceanic heatwave has formed in the North Pacific, following the weather pattern changes. These unusual anomalies can impact the regional weather and marine ecosystem but also have a wider meaning for the upcoming weather seasons.

A heatwave in the ocean is very similar to an atmospheric heatwave, which we all know as hot or very hot weather. The ocean temperatures can also rise above the normal levels due to changes in atmospheric pressure and wind patterns.

We will look at the latest such event developing in the North Pacific, how it forms and what it can tell us about the weather in the upcoming weather seasons.

The heatwaves in the ocean are better known as marine heatwaves or MHWs. These marine heatwaves are defined when temperatures are much warmer than normal for an extended period of time. They can have significant impacts on marine ecosystems and the food industry.

The map below shows the typical global areas where these ocean heatwaves occur. We will focus on the North Pacific today, as it is developing a new strong oceanic heatwave.

As you can see, the North Pacific warm blob of 2013-2015 was the longest such event so far. It also caused unseasonably warm weather in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada.

The image below shows the average progress of a marine heatwave event. Usually, an early phase starts with warmer than normal anomaly spike days. It takes consecutive days with abnormal temperatures to define an anomaly as an oceanic heatwave event.

Below is a current global ocean temperature anomaly map showing where the ocean temperatures are warmer/colder than normal. We can see a strong warm anomaly in the North Pacific Ocean. It features temperature anomalies over 5 degrees Celsius.

Looking closer at the Pacific Basin, we can see the nice temperature contrast between the tropics and the North Pacific. There is an actual connection, as usually, the tropical anomalies are reversed in the North Pacific. Here we see the active La Nina in the tropical Pacific.

This is called an Atmospheric Bridge. You can see that in the image below, revealing the connection between the tropics and the North Pacific. It is opposite to what we have now, but the principle is the same. Pressure and wind patterns change, affecting the circulation.

The video below shows the temperature anomaly development in the North Pacific since May. You can see the onset of the strong oceanic heatwave in the North Pacific, starting in May, but the strong warm blob developed in July.

As mentioned, the development of this oceanic event began in May. In the mid-month, a high-pressure area was strengthening over the Aleutians. A strong low-pressure area was present over the northwestern United States and Canada.

Looking at the ocean temperature anomalies in the region, we can see ocean surface cooling in the northeastern Pacific from the low-pressure anomaly over the United States and Canada. Persistent warm anomalies are seen in the central North Pacific.

The high-pressure system moved further east in the next month. This temporarily reversed the developing cold anomalies in the far northeast Pacific, making the weather there calmer and lowering the heat exchange from the ocean to the air.

We can see on the mid-June ocean anomaly image below that the cold coastal anomalies have turned into warm anomalies in the far northeast Pacific. That shows the effect a high-pressure system can have on ocean surface anomalies.

But, there was a pattern change in the North Pacific going into July. A strong low-pressure system came down from the north and over the Aleutians. As a result, a strong high-pressure system has strengthened over the central North Pacific. That plays a key role in this whole story.

The main effect of the high-pressure system is that it lowers the rate of heat loss from the sea to the atmosphere. That is due to the warmer air above the water surface and the very calm weather. Weak winds mean calmer ocean surface and less mixing of the ocean waters.

The ocean gets colder the deeper you go. So low-pressure systems and strong winds create waves and rough seas, mixing the warm top layers with deeper colder layers, thus cooling the oceans surface. There is much less mixing and cooling with calm weather, and sea surface temperatures can rise.

The image below shows the anomalous southerly and westerly winds around the high-pressure system in the far north Pacific Ocean. Westerly and southerly winds promote warming of the ocean surface, while easterly winds promote ocean mixing and upwelling (cooling).

We have a special graphic below from the NOAA Coral Reef Watch project. It shows the 7-day temperature trends on the ocean surface. We can see a strong warming trend developing from the west in the central North Pacific, related to the push of westerly winds.

Combined with the effects of the high-pressure system, this has helped to kickstart a large warm ocean anomaly in the far north Pacific Ocean. Surface temperatures rose 3-4 degrees celsius over a wider area. This is the beginning of the so-called warm blob anomaly.

Going into mid-July, the strong low-pressure area moved from the Aleutians into western Canada. The high-pressure system remains stationary in the North Pacific. A smaller low-pressure area moved in from the west, interacting with the high-pressure in the North Pacific.

The interaction between the pressure systems is best in the wind analysis. We can see a strong push of westerly and southerly winds around the high-pressure system. It is amplified by the pressure difference between the weather systems.

We can see the combined effect of the high-pressure system and wind patterns on the sea surface temperature trends below. In mid-July, the 7-day trend showed an area of strong temperature increase.

We can see a large area of abnormally warm waters looking at the actual anomalies. That is the final birth of the currently ongoing warm blob event or an oceanic heatwave. It is a combined result of pressure and wind patterns.

The NOAA Coral Reef Watch project also produces special graphics, revealing oceanic hot spots worldwide. As you can see in the image below, the strong warm anomaly in the North Pacific has lit up the area very quickly.

In late July, the low-pressure system in the North Pacific moved further east. The high-pressure area has begun to weaken. A broad southerly and westerly wind field has developed between the pressure systems.

Looking at the wind analysis, we can see anomalous southerly winds developing in-between the two pressure systems. This provided means of sustaining the warm anomaly in the North Pacific Ocean.

Below we can see the oceanic heatwave anomaly in the North Pacific on the last day of July. Compared to a week before, it has extended further to the east.

But what is the current status of this warm blob anomaly?

Looking first at the actual ocean surface temperatures, we can see the ridging on the ocean surface. This shows that the ocean waters are not necessarily hot or warm, as the anomaly suggests. But higher than normal temperatures reach much further to the north than ordinary.

The coral bleaching alert system has also detected this North Pacific heatwave at the warning level for coral bleaching. But this is not a concern as the water there is deep, with no corals at the surface level. But if there were, the temperatures would be hazardous for the corals and their ecosystem over a wide area.

Temperature trends from the NOAA analysis show continued warming of the ocean surface in the North Pacific. The main area of temperature increase is around the hot spot, spreading towards the north and the east.

Temperature anomaly shows this spread towards the east, as the 4-5 degree anomalies are now approaching the 150 degrees westerly longitude. Anomalies have also increased to the north, aided by the southerly winds.

Below is another special product from NOAA Coral Watch, showing the heating weeks. This graphic shows accumulated heat stress during the most recent 12-week period. We can see quite strong values of over 12C, indicating a strong hot spot developing.

But there is one more way to look at this developing oceanic heatwave. By looking at depth across the anomaly, we can see its extent downwards. The analysis below shows that the strongest anomalies reach no further than 20-40 meters (65-130ft) in depth.

This confirms that the event is linked to the changes in weather patterns over the North Pacific Ocean and North America. Ocean surface changes from weather patterns are normally limited to the upper-most layers of the ocean.

Speaking of weather patterns, the forecast for the next week does show the same high-low pressure system pair in the northeast Pacific. Between these two weather systems, a southerly flow is expected to continue.

We can see this in the wind forecast from the ECMWF ensemble system. The high and low systems are marked, and we can see the wind flow in-between the pressure anomalies. With the high-pressure moving to the east, it will help expand the hot spot area.

The ocean temperature anomaly forecast shows the continued presence of this hot spot in the North Pacific. It is forecast to extend further to the east. Strong warm anomalies over 4 degrees celsius are sustained over a wide area.

The weekly temperature change forecast shows the spreading of this hotspot to the east. But we can also see another area of temperature increase further over the west, also related to changing weather patterns in the region.

But, this is not the first such ocean heatwave in the North Pacific. There were a few strong events in recent years. Below we have the ocean anomaly analysis for last July, showing a similar but weaker event. This anomaly was closer to the west coast of the United States.

One such event was also last July 2020, with ocean surface temperatures peaking over 6 degrees celsius above normal. The image below shows the ocean temperature anomaly in this event, located in a similar area as the current event.

Another strong event was in 2014. A warm anomaly began developing during the winter of 2013/2014. Yes, ocean heatwaves can happen during the winter. They are not defined by raw temperatures but by the deviation from the normal anomalies.

These events can cause unusually warm ocean temperatures, affecting marine life throughout the year. This was just the beginning, as the Northeast Pacific ocean remained warmer than normal throughout 2014.

Another warm phase developed later that year in September in a similar location. This whole event lasted throughout 2014 and into 2015. Due to its persistence, this oceanic heatwave was much more robust than the current one, as the strong anomalies reached over 100-meters deep.

But why are these ocean anomalies so frequent in recent years?

Below you can see a graph that we produced and shows the ocean surface temperature anomalies in the central North Pacific ocean. You can see a constant shift occurs between warmer and colder phases.

But in the last ten years, we have detected unusually strong warm phases in the North Pacific, manifested as these strong oceanic heatwaves.

It is important to note that oceanic heatwaves can indicate the developing pressure patterns and the changing background climate state. We can use this as a potential signal, compare it with historical data, and try and use it to predict the upcoming weather seasons.

One reason behind this is the large-scale shift in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation pattern. This oceanic temperature index explains the atmospheric bridge event we have shown in the beginning.

As the name suggests, The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is an ocean oscillation in the Pacific. More specifically, it covers the North Pacific Ocean, from the central regions to the west coast of North America.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a term used to explain climatic events covering a large area of the Pacific Ocean over several decades. It has two phases, warm (positive) and cold (negative).

You can see in the image below what a typical PDO pattern looks like. A horseshoe anomaly pattern is present along the west coast of North America, which tells us which phase is currently active. Below we have an example of a cold phase PDO pattern.

An opposite anomaly develops in the central North Pacific. So in a cold phase, a warm pool develops over the central North Pacific, and a cold develops in a warm phase.

As we have seen in the anomaly images above, the central North Pacific features a strong warm pool, and cold anomalies are present along the west coast of North America. That signals a negative PDO phase.

Below is an 8-year graph showing the PDO development since early 2014. You can see that the cold phase began powering up in early 2020. The graph also shows the transition process from one phase to another, which takes some time.

As a negative PDO supports a warm pool developing in the North Pacific, it provides favorable conditions for oceanic heatwaves and hot spots to develop. So we can use this as an early indicator of certain patterns of atmospheric circulation.

But what is the weather importance of PDO? First, the PDO is significant for the climate and seasonal weather patterns in the North Pacific and North America.

Below you can see the correlation between the pressure patterns and the negative PDO during the late Summer and Fall seasons in the past 40 years.

The signal shows that negative PDO supports a high-pressure system in the North Pacific and over the southeastern United States. But also a low-pressure area over western Canada and the northwestern United States.

Looking at the airmass temperature signal, we can see the negative PDO signature in the Pacific Ocean with a warm pool in the central North Pacific. Colder than normal temperatures are likely in the northwestern United States and western Canada. Over the southern United States, the cold PDO favors warmer than average Fall temperatures.

Interestingly, we have a neutral to colder than normal signal over Florida. That is a response to the pressure anomalies over the central and Western United States.

Of course, this is not exactly how every cold PDO Fall looks, as there are many other oceanic and atmospheric factors that shape a particular season. But we see the tendency or a trend that this particular phase might favor.

Perhaps more important than temperatures is the PDO influence on precipitation. In a cold phase, we tend to see less precipitation over the central and western United States. More precipitation is usually expected over the far northwestern and far northeastern United States.

We can compare these patterns with the actual Fall forecast. This way, we can find a potential connection in the ocean and the atmosphere.

The pressure pattern forecast shows the high-pressure system in the North Pacific, with a stronger high over the western United States and in the North Atlantic. This is a very similar pattern to the historical analysis we have done above. It also has a low-pressure zone hinted over Alaska and western Canada.

When we look at the global air temperature anomaly distribution, we can see a warmer anomaly belt from the Pacific across the United States and into the Atlantic. Northwestern Canada and Alaska are in a neutral zone, which will likely turn cooler in the future forecast updates.

Weaker warm anomalies are hinted over the southeastern United States, as seen in the historical analysis as well. But, overall, this seems to be quite a typical La Nina pattern, confirming its presence in the circulation.

Over North America, we have wetter conditions over the northwestern United States, expanding into most of Canada. The Midwest and the southern United States show a dry signal, while we also see more precipitation over the southeast.

It is interesting to see more precipitation in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Caribbean. This is part of the tropical systems development region. We can understand this as a potential signal for more tropical activity in the later part of the Hurricane season.

Below is the official Fall 2022 outlook from NOAA/CPC for the United States. Temperature-wise, we see the warm west and far northeast standing out.

We can also see a neutral temperature zone in the Midwest. That does indicate a chance of more cold fronts coming down from the northwestern United States and western Canada towards the central regions. It could mean earlier snowfall than normal over the northern United States.

Precipitation-wise, the NOAA Fall 2022 outlook shows drier conditions in the western and central United States. Wetter conditions are expected mostly on the east coast of the United States.

We will keep you updated on similar nature and weather events worldwide, so make sure to bookmark our page. Also, if you have seen this article in the Google App (Discover) feed, click the like () button to see more of our forecasts and our latest articles on weather and nature in general.SEE ALSO:

Complete Fall 2022 Forecast for North America and Europe

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An unusual ocean anomaly is growing in the North Pacific. How did it form, and what does it indicate for the weather seasons ahead? - Severe Weather...

Ordinary Seaman Combat Specialist Tayla Taupaki has just completed her basic common training and is looking forward to the next phase of her Navy career. Photo / Supplied

No two days are the same in the Royal New Zealand Navy and sometimes you have to eat quickly to fit all the tasks in, says newly-minted sailor Tayla Taupaki from Whangamat.

The 19-year-old, who went to Whangamat Area School and worked in a caf for a year before joining up, graduated from basic common training in late June, joining the Navy's ranks as an Ordinary Seaman Combat Specialist.

She passed the 18-week course (normally 16 weeks but extended by Covid-19) with 64 other trainees (43 men and 22 women) and is now tackling her 14-week basic branch training.

Seaman Combat Specialists are experts in the control and conduct of all seamanship operations, including gunnery, boarding of other vessels, security, weapons and seaboat handling.

"I wanted to join the Royal New Zealand Navy because I wanted a career that involves travelling around the world, helping people and having lots of interesting opportunities," she says.

"A highlight of the training was making so many new friends and getting to know them so well that I can call them family."

She says the first month of training was hard but it did get easier.

"Definitely all the running that's involved. And having to eat fast so you can move on to the next task."

Recruits are put under controlled stress throughout basic common training, and coping with fatigue is a factor, she says.

"You need to keep a positive mindset always, and go for it. It's so much fun."

With her move into branch training she's now enjoying a bit more independence and free time, which she intends to take up with sport.

She said it was a hard change moving from civilian life to the New Zealand Defence Force.

"But everything we do in the NZDF we do for a purpose. You never know what to expect the following day."

Read more here:

In the Navy: Whangamat's Tayla Taupaki ready to hit high seas - Bay of Plenty Times

SEIZING THE STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: Russia is taking Ukraine's threat to retake the southern province of Kherson seriously, shifting forces from its eastern front to prepare for an expected Ukrainian assault to reclaim lost territory in the south.

Ukraine is likely seizing the strategic initiative and forcing Russia to reallocate forces and reprioritize efforts, says the latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War. Russian forces are increasingly transferring personnel and equipment to Kherson and western Zaporizhia Oblasts at the expense of their efforts to seize Slovyansk and Siversk, which they appear to have abandoned.

Russian forces are also redeploying military equipment artillery and aviation in particular to Crimea from elsewhere in Ukraine, according to the Washington-based think tank. Ukraines preparations for the counteroffensive in Kherson and the initial operations in that counteroffensive combined with the dramatic weakening of Russian forces generally appear to be allowing Ukraine to begin actively shaping the course of the war for the first time.

UKRAINES SHRINKING WINDOW TO CHANGE THE WAR NARRATIVE AND PUTINS CALCULUS

CUTTING SUPPLY LINES: Ukraine continues to use the high-tech weaponry provided by the U.S., U.K., and Germany to effectively disrupt the ability of Russian forces to move ammunition and other supplies on the battlefield, according to the British Defense Ministry.

Ukraines missile and artillery units continue to target Russian military strongholds, personnel clusters, logistical support bases and ammunition depots, the ministry tweeted yesterday. This will highly likely impact Russian military logistical resupply and put pressure on Russian military combat support elements.

There's been a very significant indicator that the firepower of Russia, at the very least the ammunition, has declined precipitously because the rate of fire of the Russians in the offensive actions that they have resumed have been dramatically reduced, said retired Gen. David Petraeus on CNN.

CNN quoted Western officials as saying the Russian casualty count has reached 75,000, with 20,000 dead and 55,000 wounded and out of action.

Meanwhile, Russia is trying to raise additional forces by telling the republics in the Russian Federation to provide a battalion. I mean, that is not the way to effectively, efficiently develop capable forces, said Petraeus. It gives you an indicator, I think, about the state of desperation of the Russians.

RUSSIAS PLANTING FALSE FLAG: The U.S. is calling Russias allegation that Ukraine shelled a prison camp near Olenivka in eastern Ukraine propaganda, and it is warning that Moscow is preparing to buttress the fiction with planted evidence suggesting Ukraine targeted its heroes of Mariupol with U.S.-provided HIMARS rockets.

We anticipate that Russian officials will try to frame the Ukrainian Armed Forces in anticipation of journalists and potential investigators visiting the site of the attack, said NSC spokesman John Kirby yesterday. And we have reason to believe that the that Russia would go so far as to make it appear that Ukrainian HIMARS the High Mobility Advanced [Artillery] Rocket Systems that have been in so much in the news lately were to blame.

In his CNN interview, Petraeus reflected the view of Western experts that the explosion at the Olenivka camp which killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners but curiously no Russians did not bear the hallmarks of an artillery strike.

All of the evidence, and there is quite a bit of it in today's day and age you can get commercial satellites, you can get a lot of different information through open sources, and so far, it seems pretty conclusive that this was a false flag attack, said Petraeus. This was Russia carrying out a horrific action against individuals, prisoners of war, who are viewed as real heroes in Ukraine.

WHITE HOUSE EXPECTS RUSSIA TO TRY TO FRAME UKRAINE FOR ATTACK THAT KILLED POWS

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyres Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesnt work, shoot us an email and well add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo tonight (Japan time) as she wrapped up her Asia tour, the highlight of which was her stop Tuesday in Taiwan.

Pelosi noted that her visit to Taipei sparked a furious military response from Beijing. To that end, as you see, the Chinese made their strikes, probably using our visit as an excuse.

We said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo here in Asia and the status quo in Taiwan, It's about, again, the Taiwan Relations Act, U.S.-China policy, all of the pieces of legislation and agreements that have established what our relationship is. To have peace in the Taiwan Straits and to have the status quo prevail.

CHINA SIGNALS PLANS FOR 'GRADUALLY AND CONTINUOUSLY' RAISING PRESSURE ON TAIWAN

PELOSI SANCTIONED: The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced today that it was imposing unspecified sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family members because of her disregard of Chinas grave concerns and firm opposition to her Taiwan visit.

This constitutes a gross interference in Chinas internal affairs. It gravely undermines Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously tramples on the one-China principle, and severely threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the ministry statement said.

BLINKEN: CHINAS RESPONSE SIGNIFICANT ESCALATION: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for a meeting of ASEAN nations, called Chinas military drills, which included firing almost a dozen missiles over Taiwan, a significant escalation.

Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that China was using Pelosis peaceful visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait, and that he had a vigorous communication with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was also at the meeting.

I reiterated the points that we made publicly as well as directly to Chinese counterparts in recent days, again, about the fact that they should not use the visit as a pretext for war, escalation, for provocative actions, that there is no possible justification for what theyve done and urge them to cease these actions, Blinken said, according to the Associated Press.

BLINKEN WARNS CHINA NOT TO RISK 'UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES' MILITARILY OVER TAIWAN

MENENDEZ, RISCH: CHINA BULLYING TAIWAN: In a bipartisan joint statement, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jim Risch (R-ID), leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Chinas live-fire exercises around Taiwan dangerous and provocative.

The extensive drills which essentially represent a blockade create immense risks for passengers in civilian airlines and ships on the high seas, the senators said, calling the war games yet another chapter in Beijings unrelenting efforts to bully and coerce Taipei.

To be clear, Speaker Pelosis visit to Taiwan provides no justification for this sort of measure. Beijing should not be under any false illusion that these military drills will lessen resolve in the United States or elsewhere, or erode our commitment to stand with the people of Taiwan and their right to determine their own future. Just the opposite.

ROGERS: DELAY OF ICBM TEST WEAK-KNEED PEARL-CLUTCHING: The White House announced yesterday that a routine test of Americas aging arsenal of Minuteman III was being postponed so as not to inflame the situation in Taiwan, where China is firing missiles and conducting live-fire war games to show its displeasure with Speaker Pelosis visit.

We do not believe it is in our interest, Taiwans interest, the regions interest to allow tensions to escalate further, which is why a long-planned Minuteman III ICBM test scheduled for this week has been rescheduled for the near future, said John Kirby at the White House.

The announcement provoked a biting response from Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, who said the pattern of suspending routine tests projects weakness.

Earlier this year, President Biden canceled a long-standing Minuteman III ICBM test as a useless concession to Vladimir Putin. Now, we learn that President Biden has postponed a second ICBM test to placate Xis tantrums, Rogers said in a statement.

These weak-kneed pearl-clutching attempts at appeasement hurts our readiness and will only invite further aggression by our adversaries.

NEW DOD SPOKESMAN: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has tapped a one-star general to fill the Pentagon press secretary post left vacant by John Kirbys move to the White House last May.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder is currently director of public affairs for the Air Force, and like Kirby, he has a long resume of public affairs positions and is generally well-regarded by the Pentagon press corps.

He will spend the next few weeks closing out his Air Force and Space Force responsibilities before assuming his new role later this month, Austin said in a statement.

No mention was made of whether Ryder would retire from the Air Force and serve as a civilian. Kirby previously served as Pentagon press secretary while an active duty rear admiral but was replaced by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who felt it was important to have a civilian serve as chief spokesperson, especially because the job requires defending administration policy.

Kirby went on to retire and then take a job as State Department spokesman in the Obama administration.

BRIG. GEN. PATRICK S. RYDER NAMED PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY

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1:15 p.m. 405 E 42nd St., New York, N.Y. Defense Undersecretary for Policy Colin Kahl participates in a virtual discussion: U.S. Nuclear Policy" at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Livestream at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1h/k1hev56ufq

These weak-kneed pearl-clutching attempts at appeasement hurts our readiness and will only invite further aggression by our adversaries.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), lead Republican of the House Armed Services Committee, reacting to the news the Biden administration has delayed a previously planned Minuteman III ICBM test to avoid provoking China.

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Russia abandons Donbas offensive to reinforce southern flank ahead of expected Ukrainian counteroffensive - Washington Examiner

Amid a high-level UN fisheries meeting in New York, there are accusations that New Zealand is failing to adequately protect seamounts in international waters from bottom trawlers.

Seamounts are underwater biodiversity hotspots and the meeting in New York will help frame changes to high seas bottom trawling in the future.

A vast array of incredibly unusual corals, sponges and creatures congregate on seamounts, often referred to as underwater mountains. Seamounts emerge from the muddy seafloor and are a magnet for biodiversity.

And almost always, new species are found when exploring them.

"We could find up to 10 percent of our biodiversity is comprised of either new species which haven't been seen before or they're new records for that location," said NIWA principal fisheries scientist Dr Malcolm Clark.

Dr Clark surveyed over 150 seamounts. He's been doing it since the late 80s and said damage to seamounts from bottom trawling is obvious and long-lasting.

"Work done on features inside New Zealand indicate that some of the deep sea corals will take decades, potentially even centuries, to recover to what they were before being affected by fishing."

The Louisville Seamount Chain, off the east coast of New Zealand, is another area he explored. The chain is made up of 60 features, spanning hundreds of kilometres, in the South Pacific Ocean. A New Zealand vessel got permission to trawl there last year and no other country's fished there since 2019.

Greenpeace marine ecologist Kat Goddard, who's in New York for the United Nations fisheries workshop, said that's not good enough.

"If protecting deep-sea biodiversity was a priority for the New Zealand Government then it would stop issuing bottom trawl permits to those vessels fishing in the South Pacific."

The UN previously called on states to "take immediate action to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and corals, from fishing practices with significant adverse impacts".

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Aotearoa accused of failing to adequately protect seamounts in international waters amid high-level United Nations fisheries meeting - Newshub

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The United States Coast Guard, charged with the mission of ensuring the nation's maritime safety, security and stewardship, was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton on this day in history, August 4, 1790.

Originally called the Revenue Marine Service, the Coast Guard was founded eight years before the U.S. Navy.

"The Coast Guard is both a federal law enforcement agency and a military force, and therefore is a faithful protector of the United States in peacetime and war," states GoCoastGuard.com, the service's recruiting arm.

"In times of war, or at the direction of the President, the Coast Guard serves under theDepartment of the Navy, defending the nation against terrorism and foreign threats."

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 2,1943, JFK SAVES PT-109 CREW AFTER COLLISON WITH JAPANESE DESTROYER

The service boasts 43,000 active-duty members, plus another 38,000 reservists and auxiliary members, according to USCGBoating.org.

Coast Guard maritime rescue missions save about 3,500 lives per year.

Hamilton, upon the founding of the service, issued a lengthy set of orders to its commanders in a letter dated June 4, 1791.

Packages of marijuana and cocaine during an offload at Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 22, 2021. The U.S. Coast Guard offloaded millions of dollars of drugs intercepted at sea at Port Everglades. (EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamilton reminded them that, in the new republic, their federal agency was limited in the execution of its difficult duties by the bounds of law a largely new concept in human history at the time.

"It will be your duty to seize vessels and goods in the cases in which they are liable to seizure for breaches of the Revenue laws, when they come under your notice," Hamilton wrote.

COAST GUARD OFFLOADS OVER $1 BILLION IN COCAINE, MARIJUANA AT FLORIDA PORT

"But all the power you can exercise will be found in some provisions of the law and it must be a rule with you to exercise none with which you are not clearly invested."

The Revenue Marine, later the Revenue Cutter Service, was renamed the Coast Guard after it merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915.

Leaders of the Continental Congress (from left to right) John Adams, Robert Morris, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, from a drawing by Augustus Tholey, 1894. Hamilton, as first Treasury Secretary, created the Revenue Marine in 1790, renamed the Coast Guard. (Interim Archives/Getty Images)

The Coast Guard counts among its heroes Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro. He earned the Medal of Honor for his dauntless courage in leading the evacuation of 500 Marines from a beachhead during the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II.

Munro risked and gave his own life in the effort.

He was shot in the back of his skull by a Japanese bullet and died a short time later as the last Marines were pulled from the beach to fight again.

Medal of Honor Coast Guardsman Douglas A. Munro "gallantly gave up his life in defense of his country."

Among the Marines Munro saved: Lt. Col. Chesty Puller (later lieutenant general), a hero of three conflicts and still celebrated in military lore as the most decorated Marine in American history.

Puller himself nominated Munro for the Medal of Honor.

"By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished," reads Munro's Medal of Honor citation.

The Coast Guard rescued Race to Alaska sailors off the Washington coast after boats capsized. (U.S. Coast Guard Northwest Pacific)

The Coast Guardsman "gallantly gave up his life in defense of his country."

It remained under the Treasury Department until 1967, when it was moved to the Transportation Department.

The Coast Guard joined the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

MEET THE AMERICAN WHO HONORS THE MEMORY OF 200,000 FALLEN WAR HEROES

The Coast Guard has served many of the nation's most important and most dangerous missions.

When the U.S. abolished the import of slaves in 1808, the Coast Guard was charged with enforcing the law and ending human trafficking on the high seas.

United States Coast Guard commander and former heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey (1895-1983) and his crewmates are shown in a landing craft as they head for the beach, Okinawa, Japan, April 13, 1945. (Interim Archives/Getty Images)

The Coast Guard has served numerous combat missions overseas, most notably in the many amphibious landings of World War II.

Hundreds of Coast Guardsmen have been killed in combat through the years.

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Fifteen Coast Guardsmen were killed on D-Day alone, the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy, according to the Coast Guard historian's office.

Six of these American heroes are buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

A long list of famous Americans have served the nation in the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard today is charged with lifesaving operations in American waters and with enforcing U.S. immigration and drug laws.

The Coast Guard offloaded a record haul of $1.4 billion in marijuana and cocaine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,in August 2021.

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A long list of famous Americans have served the nation in the Coast Guard.

Among them: newscaster Walter Cronkite, actor Humphrey Bogart and heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, who participated in the Battle of Okinawa, the last pitched battle of World War II, in 1945.

Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

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On this day in history, August 4, 1790, Coast Guard is established by Alexander Hamilton - Fox News

Netflixdoesn't have a massive collection of fantasy flicks, but you can find several charming (and eclectic) gems. Many combine the fantastical with real-world struggles, including the remarkable Closet Monster. Or dive right into the high fantasy realm with The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullman's classic novels.

Hopefully you'll find an intriguing gem below.

The Sea Beast joins Netflix's collection of stellar family-friendly animated adventures. A young girl named Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on the ship of sea monster hunter Captain Crow (Jared Harris), becoming wrapped up in a thrilling journey through uncharted waters. Bringing originality to the high seas and swashbuckling characters, The Sea Beast is a must-watch chapter of enchanting fantasy.

From Christmas, we head to Halloween: Errementari, translated from Spanish as The Blacksmith, is a horror fantasy about a deal with the devil. In northern Spain during the 1830s, a blacksmith holds a demon in captivity, until an orphan girl unwittingly releases it. War, murder, kidnapping, suicide and more await you in the furnace of this hellish horror with surprising lashings of dark comedy.

Settle in for a fantastical tale that may or may not be true. Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) visits his dying father, whose exciting, impossible stories about his life begin to take on credibility. This sprawling, Tim Burton-directed adventure takes us back to Edward Bloom's (Ewan McGregor) youth, where we see his stories play out for ourselves. With witches, a circus and bank robberies, Big Fish is a charming prize catch.

It's not the greatest Tim Burton entry, but Dark Shadows offers another opportunity to admire the director's trademark gothic visual style. Based on the soap opera of the same name, the comedy horror follows a rich playboy who unwisely breaks the heart of a witch (Eva Green). She turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas (Johnny Depp) emerges, discovering the world of the '70s while harboring a taste for revenge. Though the characters and plot could be fleshed out significantly, Dark Shadows boasts a stellar cast, including Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter. Plus, it gives you Barnabus' hilarious fish-out-of-water reactions to '70s pop culture.

Unlocking multiple genres, Closet Monster uses its fantasy elements to open the door to a fresh and moving coming-of-age tale. Scarred by witnessing a homophobic attack, closeted and imaginative teenager Oscar must grapple with his feelings for Wilder. Be warned, Closet Monster splices David Cronenberg levels of body horror into its bigger picture about internalized homophobia. Capped by Connor Jessup's superb performance, Closet Monster an indie gem.

The Golden Compass (2007)

Fans of Philip Pullman's classic fantasy novel series are probably better served by HBO's TV show adaptation. But The Golden Compass, based on the first book, is a solid chapter with generous doses of fantasy escapism. Follow Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards), a young adventurer who embarks on a journey from the esteemed halls of Oxford colleges to the kingdom of the Ice Bears in the frozen north. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green round out a rich cast.

Co-produced by Sam Raimi, this dark fantasy is inscribed with top horror credentials. Still aimed at younger viewers, Nightbooks leafs through a mystery about a young boy who must figure out how to escape a magical apartment owned by Krysten Ritter's witch Natacha. A tomb of fun.

This dark fantasy drama comes from Spanish director J.A. Bayona, who's since branched off into huge franchise chapters, including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the first two episodes of Prime Video's upcoming Lord of the Rings series. But perhaps his best work is centered on coming-of-age tales; A Monster Calls follows a troubled young boy who encounters a tree that promises to tell him three stories, as long as Connor tells him one in return. With roots in darker themes, one of them being death, A Monster Calls is a smart, moving fantasy tale.

This 2015 movie dove into the origin of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. It features Garrett Hedlund as Hook, and High Jackman as Blackbeard the pirate.

Technically a superhero film, The Old Guard brings a swath of impressive action scenes, popping off with each of star Charlize Theron's gunshots. Theron plays Andy, leader of a group of immortal mercenaries, including a knight who fought in the Crusades. The centuries-old warriors head out on a revenge mission, bringing progressive heroes and slick fights, although it can't dodge every clich.

The Water Man won't be for everyone. More drama than pure fantasy, this family friendly adventure deals with themes such as grief, loss and friendship. Eleven-year-old Gunner and his family move to a new town, where the bookworm must deal with not only a lack of friends but also a harsh father and a mother suffering from leukemia. His escapism takes him to a fairy tale forest, where his imagination comes alive. An adventurous tale dealing with bigger issues.

A Boy Called Christmas (2021)

A Christmas cracker delivering heapings of holiday spirit. A Boy Called Christmas won't win any awards for originality, but it certainly delivers what it says on the tin. Young Nikolas embarks on a quest to find the fabled village of the elves, with his pal Blitzen in tow. No prizes for predicting the gift-giving shenanigans that ensue.

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The Absolute Best Fantasy Movies on Netflix - CNET

When I travel abroad, I think of Mr. Magoo. Like him, I am often at risk of falling. In open water I swim like a kayak that has lost its rudder. Swimming with my wife stronger in the water than I, a former breaststroke champion I keep her fins or feet in view. That pattern continues out of the water when we travel in tandem. She sets the fine itineraries and I follow along. The goofy Magoo to her silent guidance, the bumbling blind man to her keener foresight.

We are bound for an island governed by Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Patience and time have carried us this distance, far south of Bangkok on the Malay Peninsula. Muslim headgear mingles with Buddhist statues. Many of the people blast by on scooters. The womens garments flap and flow at highway speed, like actress Sally Fields in The Flying Nun. Helmeted toddlers, balanced on gas tanks, hold tight to handlebars. Their parents outstretched arms surround them.

Where we stop the chartered car for lunch, our servers honor us with the wai the bent head and prayerful hand gesture available today as a telephone emoji. The intricacies of this gesture, this silent expedient for gratitude and social leveling, take some time to master. We travelers may return a wai whenever one is shone upon us, but we ought not instigate it with anyone but elders. Thailand is principally Theravada Buddhist, and the greeting originated in that strain of faith, likely to show no ill will was in the offing, no weapon being concealed.

The smidge of island where we will lodge, named Koh Lipe, is the only inhabited spot allowed within the Tarutao National Marine Park. Tourism drives the economy of Koh Lipe. Tiny and remote, sheltered by the marine park in whose boundaries it lies, it accommodates no cars. A motorbike taxi takes us on a rutted road past dwellings of the Urak Lawoi people. Known as chao ley or chao lair in the Thai language, they are Koh Lipes micro-minorities. These lands and waters have nourished them for millennia, this Adang Archipelago on the Andaman Sea.

The bungalows of our Serendipity Beach Resort sprawl along a hillside. The open-air waterside restaurant below the bungalows has been scooped from among smooth stones. Its a wayward place to have built, but so it goes. Johnny-come-latelys have been buying up every worthwhile building site. Religious icons animate the restaurants shadows. Carven Buddhas in shady niches peep like bracelet charms. Large Buddhas, small ones, etched from stone or native hardwood. Tiny baby Buddhas, like so many stilled GIFs, creep on hands and knees.

Nothing is not to love in Thailand, apart from jammed Bangkok, Chang Mai, and Phuket. The beaches are powdery white. The food is prodigious. The baggage handlers, housekeepers, drivers, and cooks so sweet in disposition and visage. Just as Costa Rica has its verbal brand Pura Vida, underscoring an ethic of sustainability and health, Thailand has its own verbal logo: Land of Smiles. Sincere, lovable, unforced smiles summon our sympathetic beaming in return.

The smile is the idle the people return to between gears. They know which side their bread is buttered on. Their economic interests lie in being kind. We come to share a sense of shame if we do not repay their every beaming. We taste disgrace if we have no proactive smiles ready for every chance encounter. They have yet to experience the burnout of overtourism. Or if they taste its burn, they constrain themselves by the device of jai yen, which translates cool heart.

The practical boat to get through sea channels, the shore craft of choice, is the longtail. It gets its name from an improbably long propeller shaft at the stern that resembles a stinger on a wasp. Like a setting pole on a keelboat, the shaft is spun or elevated to clear flotsam or coral. The boat itself has a high bow. Paint, fabric, or flowers ornament its proud bowsprit. The boats serve much the same purpose as the herds of semi-wild horses did for the American Plains tribes.

If one buys into geographical determinism the notion that environment shapes human nature, just as it shapes the evolution of other species then genetic disposition has equipped the Lawoi to navigate these seas. Seascapes and landscapes craft character, or so hypotheses go. The Lawoi have a keen ability to hold breath underwater for minutes at a stretch, accounting for how they can spear-fish so well. More remarkable, they can see, can keep eyes open wide in salt during underwater work or play. A pupillary reflex gained by training, or nested deep inside the genome by now, has bestowed on them a full-immersion vision, a keen marine ability to see.

We hoof it to the town center for our evening meals. At our favorite open-air restaurant, Ja Yao, we arrive early for some lunch. Most of the staff appear sexless. Scads of gender non-conforming individuals spice this microcosm of the world. One waiter near us strips basil leaves from stalks. Then they rise, lift a water vessel, and bear it to the roadside. Our reverent waiter, at a shrine that fronts the restaurant, performs an upright bow. Then they fingertip-sprinkle the pathway that runs out front.

In the islands center, rutted roads weave through Lawoi lodgings. Motorbike taxis fast on errands storm past the dwellings built from thatch and corrugated tin. Stilts raise the dwellings against floods, tsunamis, and monsoon mud. The Lawoi gaze from hammocks or from pallets, from beds that invite cooling air beneath them, and regard the taxis and the tourist blur. The nearby equator radiates heat. Their dogs dig burrows against high temperatures and steam.

Information about the Lawoi people proves scant and erratic. The original inhabitants of the island, they are the smallest ethnic group in southern Thailand. An inborn savvy helps them survive the frequent storms and interpret tides. Geographical determinism again appears to have favored them. Preternaturally, they foresaw the 2004 tsunami that devastated the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea. Dodging in time to higher ground, they lost none of their members.

They did lose prime waterfront parcels. Only a monopoly on longtail services that move tourists between the beach and offshore pontoons allows them to stay afloat economically today. Disruption brought about by tourist traffic intensifies distresses. In 2020, sovereignty activists asked the government to pass the Ethnic Groups Protection Act on Koh Lipe. The Bangkok Post reports that the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is trying to reclaim part of the land occupied by local people and new investors. Amid such reclamation, the Department hopes to secure protections for Lawoi homes and restore some ways of life.

Ensnared in webs of misinformation, the Lawoi used to be nomads of the sea. But tourism so far regulates the Thai economy that communication about the people has become propaganda, misinformation, unreliable lore. Even though Thailand is the worlds second-largest rice exporter, tourism earns it far more money. Tourism equaled propaganda from the start. The World Tourism Organization, before it joined the United Nations a century ago, went by the name of the International Union of Tourist Propaganda Associations.

Sovereignty activists are trying to reclaim the role of art for cultural preservation. One Lawoi painter, hoping to reestablish some lost autonomy, has depicted people dancing in a jinx-dispelling ritual. The jinx they reference is industrial tourism. In a twice-yearly ritual during the full moon, the people build a model boat to carry their misfortunes out to sea. In the enacting of that ritual, they aim to regain a measure of the independence they now lack.

No matter how left-behind they might seem today, the Lawoi are not relics on the march toward civilization. They will prove lasting and dynamic. Ebbs and flows will recur. Peripheral people like theirs get drawn into, or hover on, the edges of the urban landscape so that they may savor its abundance.Other far-flung Lawoi might set out by design to flee from their own kind.

A generation or more later, if exploitation and indebtedness have confined them, they or their descendants can trickle back from the margins. They can relearn how to thrive. They can rejoin those who remember. We are lucky to have them still to preserve the ancient skills the fishing, sailing, reading tides, so much more. They alone uphold the old attachments to natural forces. The identities of those whom we consider the other often prove more complex than we know. People can get lost in our modern world. Get lost, persevere, and display great resilience.

Our resort employs a lot of people. The meal server toting breakfast to us rings the outer bell and awaits our call to enter. Inside, he kneels at our low table. Balancing the tray on table edge, he lifts bowls and beverages plastic-wrapped to shut out bugs. What keeps him and the others going so long and strong? Gratuities from patrons? An inborn desire to please? Hope for advancement? Or a tacit recognition that their fortunes are more blessed than many others?

Up and downhill from restaurant to bungalows, the service people tread the twisty stairs above the jungle floor. Beneath them, great creatures slink unseen. A horned striped lizard with red head. Massive black and yellow millipedes. A rat whose eyes reflect at night. Geckos that chirp and twitter so shrill they stymie sleep. Four-inch grasshoppers at the bottom of the food chain, deep-fried in markets alongside crickets and other insects, twenty grams of protein per.

In our privileged lives, we journey above the hidden circumstances of our destinations. Monsoons bathe us. Mosquitoes sing. Landings below each set of stairs give walkers opportunity to pause in Serendipity, to catch breath and gain perspective. Step a few more stair treads down. Level the head to the falling water puddled on the landing. Watch raindrops bounce and roll like ball bearings across each living puddle before they merge, return, and become part of the whole.

Paul Lindholdt is professor of English and Philosophyat Eastern Washington University and the author of Interrogating Travel (2023).

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Nomads of the Sea - The Spokesman Review