So long Guam.

So this evening I will be leaving Guam and traveling to a new and exciting place called Chuuk. It sounds somewhat like 'chuke.' Chuuk is one of the four states in the FSM (Federated States of Micronesia). It is made up of hundreds of small islands but very few of them are inhabited. Weno, the largest island is where I will be spending most of my time at a size of only 7sq. miles. The approximate size of all of the Chuuk islands is only about 49sq. miles. The state has a very interesting geography being a lagoon, where there are mostly larger inhabited islands all inside of an atoll which is a string of protecting barrier islands similar to the outer banks of N.C. but much smaller and made up of corals. It is a complex process beginning with a volcanic island which begins to erode and sink into the ocean as the reefs form around the island. Sorry, I'll stop talking you to death about the geography of landmasses in the south pacific.
So other than that I enjoyed some snorkeling yesterday evening out in Tumon Bay seeing different kinds of corals and thousands of fish of many different varieties. One of my favorite experiences was diving down into a school of Blue Chromas. I would get down in the middle of hundreds of them just swimming around and the way they reflect light they are blue on one side and bight green on the other. There were also lots of Soldierfish, Damselfish, Sea Urchins, Needlefish, Porcupine Fish, Wrasse and much more. Apparently snorkeling is much better in Chuuk than in Guam, we shall see. I should have access to a camera down there I can take underwater so watch for those pictures.
Thanks to Bruce Best for showing us around Guam and hosting us in his house and letting us use a car. He works here at the University of Guam doing all sorts of things with communication systems, news and weather on low frequency radio out to all of the pacific, traditional style canoeing, and biological studies and whatnot. Quite a character he is "long live the navigators." The other goofy guy with his tongue out is my uncle Larry Bruton. Without his large amount of collected frequent flier miles I would not be out here right now. So thanks to him for that and a spare bedroom for me to stay in. As for now esta ki as the chamorro people say for see you later.