The southern side of Mieni Atoll's main island was the most built-up area of the islands. During World War 2, the Japanese had some minor port facilities both on the lagoon side and the seaward side, mostly to feed the base that had been there. After that war, the US had improved some of the facilities, but didn't necessarily expand them all that much as Mieni had only been needed for rather basic anti-submarine activity patrols. It's only when the atoll became Animalia's first colony that things really began to change, largely as the atoll with its tropical setting was bound to be a site that tourists would want to come to, and with a major military no longer using the atoll, the attraction would be there.
Harold wasn't the colony's first resident, but he was the first that Horizon sent to set up the immediate research facilities on Mieni and provide help for when proper medical facilities would be added to the atoll. It let him see everything that had come as Mieni went from a forgotten and out of date outpost to a thriving tourist colony for Animalia. The tourist business had brought in a fair number of cruise liners, many of which having home ports of registry in California and even Australia, and these ships proved to be bigger than the modest merchantmen that had resupplied the bases. They also found that the areas of sea between the islands were also shallow enough that their drafts were too deep to easily enter the lagoon, which then required the harbor facilities be built up on the seaward side. It made some things tougher with regard to dealing with potential storms, but Horizon had hired enough contractors to make sure that the new harbor facilities on the south would be quite stable.
They also helped allow for the protection of the specific beaches on Mieni where Topanga had noted where Leatherback Sea Turtles came to lay their eggs. For with the cruise ships harboring on the seaward side, that left the lagoon side easily open and easier for people to get in and out of the water, without the risk of being taken out to sea. This let Topanga protect the beaches on the seaward side where the Pacific Leatherbacks contributed to their efforts to save their species, which were highly endangered. Harold found that to be a good thing, as while he wasn't a specialist in environmental sciences, he had studied enough to want to be able to protect the natural world, which in a way had also contributed to his work with Horizon and Animalia.
Though the biggest development there was ultimately in falling in love with Kirana and having their hatchlings. Harold had never expected to be part of the Animalian Colony, but after having Kirana be by his side for so long, he wouldn't have it any other way. The only times he'd left Mieni for things that didn't relate to his work for Horizon had been to introduce Kirana to his parents and again to present his and Kirana's hatchlings to them. Outside of that, Harold found himself content to keep at his work and look after his children with Kirana, but it also let him see how Mieni expanded. When Mieni got started, the colony's population was under twenty Animalians and twenty Humans as permanent residents on Mieni. However, as the colony expanded, be it from new sea animals uplifted that chose to live there, or the birth of children to the original residents, or some new Humans who became Animalians and then moved to Mieni, that presented a need for more living space that wouldn't interfere with the areas devoted to the tourist industry that Mieni served.
As this happened Mieni now needed additional space, as many of the original residents had small homes along the north side of the main island, or one of the others near it, but these wouldn't fully accommodate all the children, let alone some of the others that were moving to Mieni. The result had Horizon and Mieni essentially spend a lot of money, more than the tourists paid to visit Mieni to buy and older cruise ship and refurbish it completely, which would then provide for a residence for both those moving to Mieni and those who had already been there. Harold and Kirana had been tasked with looking over the designs, and while Harold had voiced that his field of expertise was in science and specifically with the genetic science that Horizon worked with regarding the Animalia Virus, not engineering and architecture, he was still the first choice to review things. Now, with the ship arrived at the docks on the south side of Mieni's main atoll, Harold and Kirana were then picked to look the ship over while work was being done to build a cradle that could hold the ship up and prevent it from drifting away on the north side of the atoll, and they soon saw the last person that would be joining them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Lexia spoke as the Yellow-Headed Amazon Parrot came in for a landing with a small handheld camera in her hand, "I had to wait for the camera to fully charge its battery... and I thought it was fully charged."
Harold noted the camera, "that looks like one of the cameras that the original Animalia Ambassadoria crew had. It may be possible that some of the systems have aged a bit over time. Thus, its battery may not be as good... or the systems that run the camera aren't as efficient as they were. Mostly a result of the age of the equipment."
"It still works," Lexia pointed out.
"Of course," Harold nodded, "it's age may not be enough to prevent it from working at all. But it could be old enough that some things are in decline. It's just how things go."
Lexia nodded.
"In the meantime, why don't we get started," Kirana commented.
Lexia nodded and set up the tripod and set the camera on it. She then hit the record button and stood before the camera and aimed it toward Harold and Kirana. Shen then walked to stand before them and with her wings caped to her back so that none of the three would be blocked by the coverage.
"And for the continuing Spring Break coverage," Lexia spoke, "I am meeting with Mieni's leading scientists, Harold and Kirana."
"I'm just Harold's wife and bond-mate," Kirana spoke up, "I help him... but he's taught me more about science than anything else."
"I see," Lexia responded, "well, we're meeting to look over this old cruise ship, which I'm told is actually here for the colony, and not the summer tourist season, and what groups are out here for the spring."
"Yes," Harold nodded, "Mieni has been growing as a colony and is something that will need something that can be used for housing for the atoll's residents, as well as dedicated space for things like a school for the little ones that have already been born or hatched here. Thus, we've purchased this ship, the SS Joyous Bounty, to serve that purpose."
"Though it's also required massive reworking," Kirana spoke, "to fit with some of the larger sizes for some of the Animalians that live here, or may live here in future, the interior had to be completely reworked in order to put in apartments and residences on the ship, along with other facilities. And that's what we're here to inspect to make sure things work."
"Rework the floors... so, would that include the bridge and the engine room areas?" Lexia asked.
"Some of the wiring from the bridge to the engine room had to be changed and refitted," Harold answered, "but the lowest decks of the ship and around where the main engine room is, couldn't be altered so as to avoid having to rework the engine and control surfaces. It will mean that whenever the ship has to move, the "crew" would have to be smaller Animalians, but with the cradle that is presently being built, we are not expecting to have to move the ship all that often. Certain things like refuse and waste removal may take some pumping to remove them... but that would be about the same as what these ships would go through when they return to their ports of origin."
"So the ship would still be moved?" Lexia asked.
"Once a year to go to a drydock facility to make sure the hull is clean and isn't leaking," Kirana answered, "and would give the residents on the ship time to be tourists in their own right."
"Interesting," Lexia spoke, "and right now you're just inspecting the work?"
"Correct, particularly while we're waiting for the cradle to be built," Harold nodded.
"And how long will it take for that cradle to be built?" Lexia asked.
"The cradle likely won't be finished until June," Harold spoke, "for they need to put in a specialized set of flooring that will be level and anchored. Much of the rest must also be sturdy enough to hold the ship's weight... and all things considered at this time, it will take time to get the materials needed to assemble the cradle."
"I flew over the construction area, they got a lot of cranes and things there," Lexia commented, "have you gotten a chance to inspect the work there? Or?"
"A lot of that probably won't be ready until the cradle is ready by the summer," Kirana answered.
From there, Lexia then collected the camera and then followed after Harold and Kirana. It was something that let her look over the inside, and they found and could test that the flooring was of good quality. Things didn't creek or groan as they moved in any way, and when going down into the engine room areas, they were able to see that the base floors where much thicker than what they would have been before, and which Lexia figured would apply for supporting some of the larger Animalians that resided at Mieni full time, like Ran and Gaz. There were some that could be even bigger and that made sense to Lexia as she covered the inspection. They also looked through other levels that would mostly be apartments and other related facilities. This included a large area on the middle levels of the ship that was marked as "Mieni School District" and seemed to cover a large area of the ship's space The top decks included additional restaurant and other assorted accommodations.
"There is a lot that would stand out here with regard to supply," Lexia commented as she noted things.
"Yes, but that's also something that works with the colony to begin with," Harold answered, "these things would still be there..."
"And it is interesting," Lexia nodded.