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June 7, 1999
Hawaii to Tarawa Voyage, Update #36
Day 35. Monday 7 June 1999 0310 GMT
Wind ENE 4-5. Heading 210M.
Latitude: 09deg 52.145N
Longitude: 173deg 16.622W
Ditto yesterday for Sea State. Last night the horizon to the starboard beam was lit intermittently by flashes of lightening from a thunderstorm no doubt many miles away. Still, has me wondering what weather changes we can expect from here on into the ITCZ. Already the water feels a little warmer and the air has that saturated, electric feel to it like just before a storm.
Late yesterday afternoon a small brown bird - some kind of Turn I think - was struck by one of the wind generator blades. By the time I managed to make a loop in the boat back to where it lay head down in the water (not an easy task with these seas), it had regained consciousness enough to lift its head, and was floating with its wings splayed out on the water recovering from the blow. Drifting alongside I managed snatch it up to make a quick damage assessment. At first glance it looked in good shape. Its wings were OK and the left side of its face all in one piece. Just stunned I thought. However, the right side revealed a hefty dent in its skull, which in turn had pushed the eyeball half way out of its socket. There was nothing I could do for it, so I placed it back in the water and watched it drift helplessly away, half hoping it might recover, but knowing realistically its chances of survival were slim.
The reason I'm recounting this story is because it's a perfect example for those classes that have been participated in the Classroom Expedition. The underlying core of all the activities is Mindfulness: developing sufficient awareness of the effects of ones actions on the surrounding world to make better decisions on whether or not a particular actions NEEDS to be performed, and if so, in what way to minimize negative and maximize positive impacts.
At the time the bird was hit by the turbine I already had enough power for the day and had left the generator running out of laziness to reach forward 6ft to the sleeping compartment and switch it off. These small birds often came near to the boat (why I don't know) so I consider the suffering and probable death of this intelligent animal entirely avoidable had I just been a bit more Mindful. It's a bit like running over a cat or a dog while driving faster that you actually need to in a built-up area. It's unnecessary and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
Lessons are learnt and then its time to move on.
Jason Lewis,
The Moksha motor
Posted on June 7, 1999 4:20 AM