Seagrass Systems Under Nutrient Loads and Grazing

And now a horror story about infections and dangerous animals, which combination was still lacking on this blog. Halfway my experiments I got stung by a stingray when I walked to the experimental site (knee-deep water). I felt something very sharp and hard stinging 5 cm into my feet, 3 cm under my ankle, resulting in a lot of blood. I wore booties but it stung right through the neoprene and rubber. At first I kept thinking it was a sharp shell or glass and not a stingray because I did not notice any pain from poison at first and I expected to feel something moving if it was a stingray.

I had some visions about me unable to come back to the field so we continued and harvested the experiment for 2 hours. Already halfway I got some suspicion that I maybe was a stingray, I was in a lot of pain and an hour later I was experiencing the most pain ever. Looking at the 400m distance that I have to walk back to the shore made me feel hopeless. The pain was up to my knee. Off course I know that the stingrays are there and I always walk with sliding movements, which scarred them away 300 times before when I walked in the same area but I was just unlucky this time.

And know the worst part….. Read the rest of this entry »

I just want to let you know that me and my bagage arrived safely in Jakarta after a 23hr trip. The last 6 days (with much more to come) Wawan his daugher and I spend many hours arranging documents to get my Research Permit for the next 6 months. This picture gives you an idea of the daily panorama that I have to observate. When I finish this procedure I will publish a manual how to get this visa, because the procedure has changed after 15 december 2007. Sampai lagi!

Welcome to Lamun.wordpress.com. “Lamun” means “Seagrass” in Bahasa Indonesia and is the main subject of my PhD project. The tropical seagrass which I’m going to study in the Berau delta in front of the island of Kalimantan, Indonesia.

I will add more information on my project and other nice things to know very soon, so come again!