Interns of the Coral Nursery

If you've met this gentle group of smiling, most welcoming youngsters with patience of gold, please know that they are not your regular hotel workers, but the brightest picks from the local Universities here on Internship.

Future Marine Scientists ,Oceanographers and etc etc in the making, they are what the locals would say

" bukan calang-calang" or not just anybody. 

That they're really good with kids , stumps me.

I don't know how they do it, but temperamentals incarnate, I mean , sweet little angelic kids we hapless adults love with all our hearts, seem to cave in to their dazzling wealth of knowledge, and pay full attention to whatever it is they have got to show and tell them. And they don't even need to shout to get their attention . Sigh.... what Moms like muah, would pay them , to teach us how to hold court like they can.

But if at first, I was a little worried about the greenness of the coral pool and whether it would be safe to step in or not, my fears were soon laid to rest. Apparently the colour is due to the algae that grows extremely well, given the condition in the enclosed space. 

And no, it's not stagnant. There is a filtration and pump system whereby seawater is pumped in  to replenish whatevers been drained off.

  

Well, now we move onto the  fun, yet educational, hands on activities for the kids, on site .....like snorkelling for example. With a gentle and patient guide in the form of the friendly interns on hand, to show them what's what, of course, that  inadvertly instills in them a deeper respect for nature.

I mean, how awesome is it for a kid to hear an adult take time out , point out and name the various corals underwater right ? Unbeatable

Let's say you're not so comfortable in the water, you can always get them to sit down by the steps and feed the fish. Always... check with the concierge with regards to the activities for the day, as they're not always fixed.

Guess we got lucky.

At first I thought these were Angel fish.

How ignorant of me. Upon checking with them, I found out that although they look similar to each other, this species is known as Butterfly fish .Identified by a thorn on the side of the gill.( So, that's how you tell them apart)

The koochi moochi told me they were pretty aggressive and I believe him cos one of the little girls in the group up there, suddenly stood up and said

" Baaaadd fish, nooootyy  fish "

Anyway, this activity is  something you cannot miss, especially if you've  got kids with you.

High informative and an eye opener, don't pass this one by when you're here, and most important of all, don't forget to engage these learned youngsters. 

You won't regret it.

Location : The Andaman hotel, Langkawi