Welcome back to the island life of us. Our home is a place of absolute magnificence.
We were recently reminded of the unique intensity of our surrounding natural environment here on Uepi
and how important it is to share our world with you. In today's episode we are taking you on an
incredible adventure away from Uepi to see a natural wonder but before we get to that we
would love to tell you a little more about us and what the ocean means to our family.
[Jase] My family has been in the Solomon Islands for over three decades running an eco-tourism operation,
SCUBA diving centre and solidifying our connection to these islands
our ocean, the people and the wildlife. While the pandemic has temporarily squashed our
business, Katie and I have found this incredible creative outlet on youtube to share our world ..
[Katie] Today is Earth Day and we've been thinking about our impact on the world. Personally, in
the choices that we make but also in our endeavor to share experiences to motivate change in others
How we might be able to use this platform to engage with you over the marine environment.
[Jase] We live to explore the ocean and it is our passion to protect the few remaining
untouched and thriving natural wonders we have here in the Solomon Islands
We are just a regular family, living in an insanely incredible place
protecting the environment, raising awareness and showing off the beautiful Solomon Islands
in hope that you see the beauty and feel compelled to protect it the way we do.
[Katie] It is our hope that our adventures show you just how easy it is to ground yourself in nature
Connect with your family through experiences rather than possessions and slow down to see the
true beauty of life on Planet Earth. Not everyone is able to live on a remote tropical island
so we feel lucky to be in this position where we can share this world with you.
[Jase] As we explore the ocean coming face to face with some of the most impressive creatures on this
planet, we are giving you the chance to do the same. We will strive to show you not only the beauty,
but the most significant threats to our environment because behind the elegance
of Mother Nature's surface there are crumbling ecosystems that need our immediate attention.
[Katie] Whether you SCUBA dive, free dive, snorkel or prefer to learn from afar, we want this community
our island tribe, to be a mechanism for you to be a part of it all.
[Katie] Not too far from us on the Weather Coast of Vangunu Island is one of the few remaining virgin forests
in the Western Province, Solomon Islands, a wildly beautiful place with dense tropical rainforests
fauna and flora, it is one of the most biodiverse regions of the Solomon Islands and the world.
The forests here provide habitat for vulnerable species found nowhere else on the planet,
the coastal marine ecosystems are rich and healthy with such close proximity to the
nutrient-dense water bodies surrounding Kavachi Volcano. The critically endangered leatherback
turtles return to this region due to that nutrient density in the marine environment
to feed on their favorite food, jellyfish, and to nest on their natal beaches. But, rising sea levels
are directly threatening the already endangered species as their nesting beaches are disappearing.
[Katie] We heard on the coconut wireless that there was movement at Kavachi ..
So can you guess what wild adventure we have in store for you today?
Good morning Grant.. oh good morning. Morning Otu - Good morning.
[Jase] We traveled 60 kilometers due south from Uepi between the two larger
islands New Georgia and Vangunu which make up the Southern boundary of the Marovo Lagoon
to the Weather Coast of Vangunu Island and then towards Kavachi submarine volcano
Conditions were manageable but sadly there was not a lot of sunshine.
To be honest it didn't really matter.
It didn't take long for us to witness the allure of the rich and healthy marine environment
attracting some gentle giants of the ocean
So we're pretty close to the actual spot probably two miles out and we can see
the green coloration on the water surface which is the sulphur that's coming up from the vent
so we're just trying to make sure we navigate to the right part of.. as close as we can to the vent
but being safe and then looking out looking out for anything that we can see on the surface
[Katie] Approaching the volcano the signs of life grew stronger and stronger. We began to see
numerous species interacting with the immense amount of nutrient billowing out from the vent.
[Jase] On arrival conditions were making it really challenging to see the defined edge of the
sulphur plume and the true location of the vent we couldn't see a lot from eye
level and there was no obvious eruptions so it was time to take a look from above.
[Jase] Having witnessed Kavachi erupting explosively multiple times in my life i knew that it
really could come at any time and all the signs were there to suggest she is active
[Jase] Getting this close to Mother Nature in her rawest form is eerie to say the least,
and even flying a drone over the vent makes your hair stand on end
[Katie] This incredible spectacle is at least a mile wide and four miles long
and the varied colour of the volcanic gases make such a beautiful, ever evolving site
Uh no eruption today so either
she settled down again or something else was happening when the guys are misinterpreting the
signs last week it sounds like it sounds like it was definitely going off but anyway really
quiet there's a lot more sulphur plume right now than when we arrived it was very very little when
we arrived so it was pretty quiet for that first hour or so anyway we're heading home katie's gone
you've done very well done very well but i'm just reaching my limit now
unless we see Orcas.. *laughs* now we just need to see some Orcas on the way home
[Katie] Did you have a sleep? Have you had fun with Nanny? [Jase] We are back from our volcano finding mission
we found it we found the volcano but it wasn't erupting yeah so it might have seemed a little
bit unusual that the day before departing for australia for the first time in two and a half
years that we drive out in the middle of the ocean and go look for an erupting submarine volcano
but this has been something we've been chasing for a very very long time and it's been dormant
and being really quiet for a long time now and we heard that there'd been a bit more activity
i was pretty unclear really what state it was at but we thought we just have to go
yeah and we didn't up until today we didn't really have a suitable weather window and even today
turned out to be quite rainy but at least the swell was manageable um and it was still an awesome trip
we saw whales dolphins the sulphur plume in itself is quite beautiful as well so that was good to get
out there and get some drone footage of that yeah now it was really nice being on the water early
start um well we're really matchy matchy i just noticed this is the volcano uniform um so now we
basically need to pack up and get ready to go to oz yeah but we will capture this volcano erupting
one of these days so we're gonna be away in oz for maybe a couple of months and when we get back
i reckon she's gonna blow and we're gonna we're gonna be there so stay tuned subscribe make sure
you're here as part of the tribe when it happens all right guys we'll see you soon. Bye
Try not to say, so, all right... one two.. one two three.. all right, so.. we are back from our volcano mission