Today we woke up early, ate a delicious breakfast, and made our way to the Zodiac Boat Tour. Zodiac Boats are raft like boats that is mainly used by the Navy and can cover a lot of ground in a small amount of time. Once we were out in the pelagic zone and the island was barely in sight, our tour guide pointed out a dorsal fin in front of the boat. As we got closer we discovered that the dorsal fin was that of a pilot whale. The first pilot whales we saw were just one male and female, but later on we ran into an entire group. Also out in the pelagic zone were spinner dolphins. We got the chance to get in the water with them and I managed to get a good video of them. We also found a Portuguese Man-O-War in the pelagic zone which was accompanied by two very small fish. On our way back from the pelagic zone we stopped by some rock formations and learned that the lava flow created some lava tubes and also a unique formation which looked like Pele, the goddess of lava. The native Hawaiians feared Pele and they would constantly sacrifice things to her out of fear of destruction. Some priests that lived near the Pele rock formation would put wood covered in oil in her rocky eyes and set them ablaze to scare local fisherman into sacrificing their fish for her, which the priests would take and eat. After the Zodiac Boat tour we went back to the homes for a two hour break and then we departed again for the Manta two-tank dive. The first dive on the Manta two-tank was during the day and we found many eels such as Moray Eels and Garden Eels. Before our second dive, which was the Manta dive at night, we were briefed on Manta and learned that their wingspan can be anywhere from four to sixteen feet wide. While I was down with the Mantas I was able to capture some amazing footage of them and the Manta all got very close to me due to the amount of plankton swarming around my light. Today was amazing and an experience I’ll never forget. Tomorrow I am eager to learn about OTEC more and to see if I can blackwater dive tomorrow night.
