Back to the Sundarbans – State of the Planet

The next day, February 26, we headed west from Khulna to Baintola in Assasuni District to service my GNSS measuring land subsidence, make elevation and sedimentation measurements on the RSET-MH (rod flooring elevation table-marker horizon) and take core samples using an auger. Collectively, these will contribute in direction of understanding the steadiness of sea stage rise, land subsidence and sedimentation, important for the low-lying delta in Bangladesh. That’s the fourth of 9 web sites in coastal Bangladesh that we’re visiting all through this part of my journey.

It was as soon as extra a protracted drive so we started at 6 am stopping for breakfast and tea.  On this house, we handed many shrimp farms the place the soil is simply too salty for rice.  Many fields had been fallow and used for grazing cattle throughout the dry season. Rice can solely be grown by means of the monsoon season. Nonetheless, we’d typically see rice paddies that used a selected salt-tolerant choice. After hours of driving, we stopped about 5 km north of the positioning.  From proper right here on the freeway is so harmful that we couldn’t take the van.  We switched to 2 electrical bicycle vans.  And the freeway was as harmful as marketed.  The monsoon had taken its toll and the bricks of the freeway had been misplaced, washed away or upturned.  It took most of an hour for that remaining stretch.  We did lastly attain the school/cyclone shelter with the GNSS on its roof. Joined by Sakib from BRAC, the world’s largest NGO.  BRAC is part of a mission I’m involved with designing interventions for adapting to native climate change is SW Bangladesh.  

We lugged the batteries and equipment up the ladder to the roof.  As a result of it turned out, the batteries had been nonetheless good. Nonetheless, the modem was not connecting.  I downloaded the data, and with help over the phone from EarthScope, I logged into the modem and upgraded its settings, however, we nonetheless couldn’t be a part of.  We hoped it was merely the poor cellular signal, nonetheless this one didn’t be a part of later.  I hope I can return ultimately with an EarthScope engineer.  Within the meantime the RSET crew can get hold of the data every 6 months, if needed.

From proper right here, we took the van over a good worse freeway to hitch the RSET and auger teams, measuring shallow subsidence and sedimentation at their second web site. This one is exterior the embankment, nonetheless at the moment disconnected from the Kobadak River on account of it’s being dredged.  In 2019, we sailed up this river to establish this web site.  Now south of us it’s totally decrease off by shrimp farms.  To the north, the dredging has been completed and new embankments are being constructed alongside the now smaller channel.  Thankfully, after we had been carried out, the bicycle van driver knew one other route all through the river that was good, and we sped alongside it once more to our van.

Sakib took us to the BRAC office and one different 5 pm lunch, then tea and snacks with members of the BRAC crew that I had met in Dhaka.  By the purpose we accomplished and drove once more to Khulna it was successfully after 10 pm.

Thankfully, the subsequent day was very simple.  Zohur and I had a GNSS web site at Khulna Faculty, quarter-hour away. It was in good situation and needed no work.  We toured the school and went to lunch.  Then Masud and I went to a gathering with the highest of the regional Forestry Division, who could possibly be very enthusiastic about our work and its implications for sustainability of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest.  

Now it was time for us to go to the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. Inside the night time, we went to the ghat(dock), the place we had been met by the crew of the M/V Bawali.  They loaded all our bags and equipment onto the picket nation boat and sailed all through the river to the Bawali.  There are a collection of acquainted faces for Masud and myself, nonetheless for the other members of our crew, it’s their first time on the Bawali and to the Sundarbans. Masud’s partner, Afroza Mim, moreover joined us as she have on no account been to the Sundarbans. 

As we ate dinner, the crew started crusing down the Pusur River sooner than stopping for the night.  By the purpose we awoke, the Bawali had resumed its journey in path of Katka and we watched as a result of the world’s largest mangrove forest handed by.  We arrived throughout the early afternoon and went to the RSETs, accompanied by an armed guard in opposition to tigers.  I don’t want a GNSS proper right here, so I tagged alongside, primarily serving to the auger crew.  Inside the delicate muds of the forest, we reached 4.4 meters, or practically 14 ½ toes.  

After ending our work for the day, we had time for some sightseeing.  We took the nation boat to the comment tower on the east facet of the river.  As a result of it was late throughout the day, we observed quite a few the observed axis deer. In precise reality, there was a herd of ~200 south of the tower.  And a great deal of monkeys as successfully.  We watched them and took footage.  After we had been glad, we went all through the river to the Katka forest stroll.  As soon as extra quite a few monkeys, and a variety of different small groups of deer.  As a result of the photo voltaic set, we crossed to the seaside for the stroll once more.  We handed the ruins of a 300 12 months outdated salt kiln.  These have been used to measure subsidence as they’re not at or above the Spring Extreme Tide stage.  We moreover handed the ruins of the forest service buildings destroyed by Cyclone Sidr in 2007.  Prepared for us by the picket walkway to our boat had been two wild boar, calmly grazing on the seaside.  It was an unbelievable first day throughout the Sundarbans. 

In the middle of the night the Bawali sailed west to Tincona (Triangle) Island. We missed attending to see the Sundarbans transfer by, nonetheless this put us successfully ahead of schedule.  Inside the morning the calm local weather enable us to cross the 10-km huge Pusur River to Hiron Stage.  Like many tidal channels, the Pusur widens in path of its mouth on the Bay of Bengal.  Hiron Stage is alongside a smaller tidal channel, nonetheless not too way back it has been accreting new land.  We’ve bought to adjust to the marked channel to technique it.  As we do, I observed that we forgot the GNSS toolkit on the Bawali.  After dropping off the RSET/auger teams, we would have liked to go once more to the Bawali. To save lots of a number of time, the speedboat bought right here out to meet us, so the delay wasn’t too prolonged.  

Thankfully, we solely wish to differ the batteries at HRNP.  It has remained on-line, so all its information is collected day-to-day by the use of the online.  The monitoring moreover confirmed that the battery is shot.  That went shortly, so we had been able to be part of the others all through the channel.  Zohur joins the RSET crew and I joined the auger crew, which now incorporates Mim.  After we accomplished, we had a snack of bananas and guava, then a protracted stroll on the elevated walkway by the forest.  The broken and crumbling picket walkway I visited sooner than has now been modified by concrete.  Near the tip, there was an comment tower, nonetheless as a result of it was midday, no animals had been to be seen.  Nasser and the nation boat sailed spherical to pick us up on the far end of the walkway.  We then had a cruise by s prolonged winding tidal channel sooner than meeting up with the Bawali.  

Our stations throughout the Sundarbans are carried out.  We stopped for the night throughout the Sundarbans, nonetheless tomorrow we’re going to sail out of it. Our subsequent stations are at villages that border the Sundarbans, and a variety of the RSETs are throughout the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans are a magical place and might we I miss it.  We are going to even miss all the lack of mosquitos on account of saline to brackish waters of the mangrove forest.