Coral Reef Therapy

Episode 16 in the Lymp Duhdashian series

Olympia was frowning and scrolling her iPhone. “Those numpties at COP27 don’t seem to know anything about Jim Lee’s 10 ways to own the weather!” She complained to Khan. “Are they taking the proverbial piss, or what?”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/cop27-climate-talks-slow-progress-122150836.html

Khan laughed. “I think some do and some don’t!” he guessed “This sort of information is available in the public domain but you really have to dig for it, like Jim did. Otherwise you just get a briefing from the UN IPCC and take it as gospel!”

Khan was amused by an article he found citing concerns about the official COP27 phone app which required access to all photos and emails. He read a comment he found on it to Lymp. “The whole thing is a total charade. 1st class travel via a fleet of private jets, with exhausts emitting toxic fumes, to attend an all expenses paid shindig preaching to the rest of us about a two billion year old atmospheric process human beings can never stop. Ridiculous!”
Olympia shook her head. “Obviously we are not the only ones disgusted. That is something I suppose….” and she repositioned her Raybans so that she could survey the lovely views as the charter yacht slowly progressed around the coast of Guadaloupe. For the first time in her privileged life, she wondered what impression the local people had of her. She felt distinctly uncomfortable to realise that she had so frequently been one of the deluded elite preaching over hors d'oeuvre while swanning around the world flashing the cash.

The crew were complaining that getting news about the cross Atlantic sailing race was difficult unless you speak French. Olympia had taken a glance at the list of competitors and squirmed slightly. She knew a few of the names and they were all from very wealthy families. Rich boys racing their toys, she thought and compared it with various other sports like Formula One and skiing. She was musing about competition among rich females and realised that hinged on who could afford the best plastic surgery or designer frock.

“Woz up?” asked Khan, “You look like a grey day in London!” and Olympia, shaking off her gloomy self criticism, suggested that they snorkel for a bit.

Khan was always keen to go swimming. He liked to treasure hunt and he told Olympia that 4,000 unfortunate Spanish galleons, victims of bad weather, battles and pirate attacks lie at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and the Western Atlantic. “It’s no secret that Spanish treasure lost from sunken ships is literally waiting for people to stumble across it or swim over it.” he enthused “One lucky American couple on vacation in the Cayman Islands in 1970, were snorkelling near Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman island when they found a gold cross encrusted with emeralds. They rented some diving gear and searched the area more thoroughly, hoping to find more. And they certainly did: a 13 foot gold chain, a platinum bar and 300 lbs of gold objects! As it turns out, the loot came from a 450-year old ship that had disappeared in 1522 en route from Mexico to Spain.” Olympia squinted at him in the midday sun.
”Yeah, and I bet they had a helluva job in messy court cases trying to keep it from being swallowed up by the authorities!” she said as she pulled her flippers on.

Inside her head she was discovering a cynical rebellion, pacing backwards and forwards like a caged tiger, ready to pounce and claw the eyes out of any convenient victim. Everything she was seeing and hearing confirmed centuries of looting, slavery and blatant exploitation. The beauty of the Caribbean was cruelly marred by neglect.

“C’mon, let’s swim!” she muttered. “I am in such a bad mood that it is best if my mouth is out of action for a bit….” and she dived overboard.

The beauty of a coral reef is a form of therapy that ought to be prescribed by mental health professionals for their clients. Words, not even those in French, can convey the iridescence and contrasts of colour among the teeming life that silently coexists there. Olympia let the complications of humanity drift away as she glided down to nature’s secret gardens.