By: Nisa Syahidah (WWF-Indonesia)

Spending two weeks on the boat, for Kusnanto (WWF-Indonesia) was anything but boring. Taking benthic data and deploying a metered roll for observation transects in three to four dives underwater each day was not tiring for one reason. A ritual he performs every time there is a signal, calling his girlfriend.

"Your voice, it's like the waves crashing," he says with his hand on his earphone, sitting near the wheelhouse looking out to sea. But the ship's hallways aren't the only place where he can catch up with the woman on the other end of the line. The Labuan Bajo-based WWF-Indonesia Biodiversity Monitoring Assistant turns every corner of Menami into a place for two, no matter how many pairs of ears are around.

"Come when you cry, tell me all you want, trust me I'm your man," she maneuvers one night, singing Aku Lelakimu. "They sang it together, a duet version," Kasman (Reef Check Indonesia) said passionately in his signature Makassar accent.

Kasman is one of Kusnanto's most frequent mosquito repellent. Including on a bed in front of the television in the briefing room, when he and Prakas (Reef Check Indonesia) tried to sleep, but were interrupted by Kusnanto's croaking voice, who also buried his body next to them, while saying softly, "Yang, want to hear my story today?"

For us, Kusnanto is a source of laughter every day, apart from being the leader of the six o'clock gymnastics. He's more of a Marine Literature graduate than an Aquatic Resources Management graduate. There's always a new joke that makes you laugh until your stomach hurts, until you forget that we're all far from home - even land.

Perhaps Kusnanto is the one who most embraces the romance of the Menami. This ship and the vast sea it sails, and the pods of dancing dolphins, the early morning rain, the colorful reefs, the stars above us, the high-jumping manta rays, the black tip and white tip sharks they encounter - it's Kusnanto who reminds us that it's all not beautiful if it's not shared. And this ever-smiling Kusnanto decided to share his happiness with us too.

"It's not just the stars on the boat that accompany my Sunday nights, but also you," Kusnanto said on another night. "And it's not just the morning exercises that make me fresh every day, it's you," he continued, which immediately made me and Irwan (WWF-Indonesia) sore. Because we were sitting in a threesome, but for Kusnanto it was just him - and the waves crashing in his ears.