Dr Alvin Monroe seen here with a spotted hump-back whale June 2005
I was up until last year the head of Aquanautic Research in the field of squid dam technology at the Chelsea School of Marine Biology. I was rescued last week thanks in part to the tireless petitioning of the RM coast guards by my esteemed colleagues and supporters to whom I owe a massive debt of thanks.
This is my story.
Last August I was involved in a research trip that was being conducted in the Pacific Ocean. Along with 9 other colleagues, including noted Marine Biologist and CSMB fellow Dr. Samuel Jacobs and Indian celebrity marine life expert Gurvinder Patel, I was researching a large squid damn that was dangerously close to rupture. All of a sudden five nights into the voyage we hit a terrible storm, a storm that would eventually sink our boat and kill three of the crew.
Gurvinder Patel
All I remember of that night was pelting rain, howling wind and a darkness the likes of which I have never before seen. I can remember clinging desperately on to the life boat as we were hurled around like a rag doll in the ferocious wash. The next morning the seas had calmed and the sun rose on a beautiful but desolate ocean. We drifted for 2 days and cautiously ate some supplies that were packed on the raft. On the morning of the 3rd day we spotted land, a medium sized island with white sand and lush green trees was approaching us on the horizon.
A desert island much like ours.
As soon as we hit the Island, Dr. Jacobs split us into two teams, one to survey the land and find food and one group to create shelter and start working on rescue plans.
We found food, plenty of it, the tastiest fruit and berries I ever ate but there was no meat to be found and fishing was proving trickier than expected. We distilled sea and rain water in stills made from coconut husks and created adequate shelter.
At first it seemed like paradise, of course I knew that we were lost and had little hope of rescue but I always kept my hopes up and my spirit high plus I like a nice deep tan. It was after the second month that things started to turn sour. With hopes of a rescue diminishing petty arguments and fighting erupted between the men. At this point I would like to say that what happened from here on out was caused by a desperate situation and until you have experienced such a situation you cannot hope to understand our plight. After a particularly viscous moment 2 of the men who had been fighting on a raised platform 30 meters from the beach both fell to their deaths in the ravine below. Starved for the taste of meat and slowly wasting away somebody suggested that we should not waste the meat of our colleagues and let them die in vain. I know now it sounds insane but when faced with such a predicament insanity takes on a whole new meaning. So we ate. I went to sleep that night feeling physically ill, repulsed at the creature I had become. I had vivid dreams of all manor of exotic human hors d'oeuvres.
An hors d'oeuvre from the wikipedia entry on hors d'oeuvres.
The next morning the mood in the camp had shifted drastically. For a start Dr. Jacobs had disappeared along with the life raft and morale was at an all time low.
We soldiered on day and night passing the time as best we could, longing for salvation. Finally after 5 months a boat was spotted on the horizon and we fired 2 flares into the evening sky. The flares illuminated the island in an eerie light but I was sure that the boat could not miss them. Four hours later we were safe aboard a US marine boat heading back to South America and to normal life.
Dr Jacobs has not been seen in months and his whereabouts are currently unknown. At this point he is missing presumed dead. Gurvinder Patel was one of the men who tragically perished on the island may he rest in peace.
I will be continuing my post at CSMB and hopefully blogging on lighter subject matter related to my course and marine biology in general.
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