Today I woke up at around 7 and took a nice shower before we had to head down to the internet cafe for breakfast. We were treated to a nice breakfast by Casey before we took our boat, the Sea Dragon, over to Deep Bay for a snorkel. At Deep Bay, we explored the mangroves system and mapped the area and recorded the amount of fish in the area using waterproof paper. Then, we took out the kayaks around the same bay and did essentially the same thing. We found a lion fish by the floating dock and Alex made a spear out of a stick in an effort to kill the invasive fish. His attempt failed, unfortunately. After the snorkel, a bunch of the guys played nuke em on the volleyball court just off the water! After our fun and games, we took the Sea Dragon back to the docks and Dr. Shannon Gore gave us a presentation on continental shifts and the process of climate change in the Dive BVI shop. We followed up this presentation with lunch on the boat and proceeded to head to our dive site near Cockroach Island. This was the first dive where we got to use our brand new cameras! My dive buddy, Gavin, and I descended down with our group and our group leader, Laura, to a depth varying from 25-50 feet. We took some great photos! However, we’d find ourselves staring at a photo for too long and then look up and realize that our group was gone and we had to scramble to find them. This dive was probably one of my favorites due to the amount of fish we saw and the enormous coral structures. After about 40 minutes of diving, we surfaced and got back on the boat. We then headed back to the cabins for showers before Mad Dog’s. Pasta and sandwich wraps were bestowed upon us for dinner. It was great! After a quick frisbee throwin sesh, we went back to the deck and listened to a presentation Casey had prepared for us about our coral planting project. We will be using cinder blocks and cement to create an artificial reef. Can’t wait! I’m feeling tired from two long days and I can’t wait to get some rest for another big day tomorrow.
