Fred and Friends

My life changed this past summer after a wonderful visit to Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. There were the albatross, one in paricular that haunts me. Then too, the dolphins, many honu, and great new friends who I now call on to help teach ocean to kids around the world.

The little baby albatross, the one I say haunts me, was an individual among the million or so living out there in the middle of the Pacific. Each morning, I would get up with the sun and walk to a place I call Monk Seal Point. Many mornings, I had to circle wide, giving space to the resting seals. Sometimes, Annie Bell and Walterbea came too. It was a good place to visit in the first hours of our days together and I cherish every moment.

The first morning I photographed my young albatross friend, she or he, I never learned which.........was right at the very edge of the Naupaka. I've always loved this plant and use it for clearing the lens of my mask each time I snorkel. Nenes really like its berries that remind me of snowberry back home. Soft, round, smooth berries that puff when you pinch them.

Little albatross walked down to the water's edge on the second morning I met this special bird. Fred was with me and somehow that moment became a special time of bonding between bird, monkey, and me. Fred, you have to understand, is a very special monkey. A gift from my friend Paula. She let me on to him the year before when she was teaching kindergarten and told her kiddos that a monkey named Fred was causing any kind of missing marker, messed up desk, or any other major kindergarten tragedy. But, she never ever let the kids see this magical monkey. He remained a mystery creature until shortly after my last visit to her school.

Fred, I decided, would come with me to Piheman. To Midway Atoll. And so the story began as Fred snuck into my suitcase when I stopped by the kindergarten room. I soon wrote to the kids, drawing a picture of Fred as if being xrayed at the airport within my suitcase. I told them Fred was coming with me and before long, postcards were flying to kids, chronicling Fred's journey and soon to be, journeys around the world.

I shared the idea of postcards from Fred with other teachers, including my friend, Debbie Charna at Columbus School for Girls. I asked her and others to see if students might have questions for Fred to answer while out at Papahanaumokuakea. Little did I know where this would lead; how charming and intellectually challenging the child originated questions might be.

I prepared for the journey, packing my alloted 40 pounds of camera gear, clothing field guides, and little more into a backpack and suitcase. Soon, I was off with Fred poking his head out from a zippered pocket of the pack. He was now free to be seen by one and all and before I even left Seattle Tacoma International, he was obviously making a mark on the world. People seemed to love the idea of a monkey traveling with an old guy like me.

The first to really take notice were the gals at Dilletante, a Seattle chocolate shop I've known since it opened its doors up on Capital Hill where my family and I lived when I was going to college at the University of Washington. They make the best chocolate on the planet and their small coffee stand in the airport rises above all other for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is virtually plastic free. Fred noticed this when I bought a treat enroute to the Hawaiian flight to Oahu, first leg of our journey.

Fred demanded a photo with the more than cute and friendly girls and we were off on our first plane ride together. Several days later, after great learning experiences on Oahu to prepare for Papahanaumokuakea, Fred and I were becoming intimate friends with a baby albatross about to attempt to leave its island home. All around the bird and the two ape friends, fairy terns hovered and frigates dove, while the offshore lagoon waters painted a scene you know from any dreams you might have had of the most diverse and soft blue of any water on planet ocean.

White sand beneath our feet was painted a deadlier red, blue, and green. All plasticized by incoming debris from every corner of the globe. Plastic so pervasive it was impossible to scan an inch of sand without seeing micro pieces of a world so far removed from this otherwise peaceful and idyllic place. 

to be continued............