I spent the majority of the day on the Seadragon. We drove straight to the marina in the morning, and had breakfast on the boat while readying our scuba gear in preparation for our two tank dive around and in the RMS Rhone. The Rhone was a British ship that sank in 1867. I have never seen so much life down at the wreck site. The abundance of vibrant sea sponges, corals, and fish made me feel like I was swimming in a saltwater aquarium. I saw many new organisms including a flounder, squid, and purple tube coral. Our first dive concluded with an exhilarating swim through the hull of the ship. We ascended back to the Seadragon for a snack and for a history lesson on the Rhone given by Casey. I learned that the Rhone carried hundreds of passengers, and it sank because the hull was punctured by a rock during a violent hurricane. Fun fact: the RMS Rhone is the only other ship that claimed to be “unsinkable,” besides the Titanic. During our second dive, we explored more of the ship, and we saw a silver spoon, a set of wrenches, and we even rubbed the port hole of the only surviving passenger’s cabin for good luck. After our dives, we had authentic fish and chips at the Cooper Island Beach Club, and we took a tour of the extremely Eco friendly resort on that island. I found it fascinating how the manager of the resort wasted nothing. He gave his scrap foods from the restaurant to a pig farm, and he even designed the roofs to collect rain water and sunlight. After our lunch, we snorkeled in the sea grasses just off the shore of the resort. You can see some really cool creatures that you couldn’t see while scuba diving because you can maneuver really close to the shore where you will see barracudas, crabs, and rays. I was told that I even could have seen an octopus, but I was not lucky enough to see one. Hopefully I will see one before I leave because the octopus is my favorite marine creature.
