Jocara Newsletter
August 22, 2005

Dawn not so much broke as crept over the horizon to reveal the mountains 
of Sumatra shrouded in haze this morning; Jocara has re-crossed the Indian 
Ocean and is now at the eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal at 6 deg. 00'N, 
95 deg. 36'E, just off the northern tip of Sumatra.  

It was a joy to see land again, after 11 days at sea, but tinged with 
sadness as the gathering light revealed the barren torn swaths of cleared 
tropical forest and our nostrils filled with the acrid scent of burning.  
The haze caused by so much destruction of tropical forest to fuel the 
ever-ravenous demands for land blurred the dramatic outline of the 
mountains, making everything look grey and depressing.  A bitter reminder 
of our collective pillaging of this planet's resources.  Then, as if to 
balance this somber message with one of hope, we came across a pod of 12 
Sperm whales with 2 calves.  We were able to cautiously approach to 
observe them milling about at the surface before grouping together to dive 
for food, leaving the calves at the surface.  As the adults dove, we heard 
the characteristic codas of their echolocation clicks on our hydrophone.  

With 260 n.m. to go we anticipate arriving in Langkawi late in the 
afternoon of 24 August where we'll refuel and proceed on to Singapore.

Our website has just been updated with the latest material on the 
dismasting and Maldives experiences, including lots of chatty log and a 
piece by Casper on the dismasting, so please visit and check it out.

>From the crew of Jocara.

P.S. Don't forget to check out our website at http://www.jocara.net for 
updates, pics and short movies, also archived newsletters.  Anyone can 
join the list or unsubscribe by sending an email to mandar@arl.nus.edu.sg 
with the subject line 'subscribe jocara newsletter' or 'unsubscribe Jocara 
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