Thursday 26, 2018
Our day consisted of hoardings a Zodiac boat and diving at night to see some Manta Rays. The Zodiac boat was a small rubber boat with two twin propellers, allowing it to cover a lot of ground in no time. This boat took us out to the Pelagic Zone of the ocean, thousands of feet deep, allowing us to see some incredible wildlife and cetaceans. In total, we saw around 12 pilot whales, which look similar to dolphins. These whales are colored completely black, and the males and females can be distinguished by their dorsal fin. Males have more curvature to this fin, while females have a much straighter fin. The most amazing part of this tour was that we were lucky enough to see a whole pack of ten whales at the same time! Mothers were nursing their babies, and the males were close by to protect them. After viewing these incredible creatures, we moved around the outside of the island to view some incredible geological structures. We saw some fire hose lava tubes around the outside of the mountain which could spew red lava almost 80 feet! The most interesting part of this geological tour was the formation of Pele, the goddess of the volcano. Around one of the coves we explored, there lies a hill coming out of the water. Staring right at the hill are two lava ducts which look like eyes. Around the eyes, the red rocks of the cliff form what looks like her body lying down. Thousands of years ago, the natives believed that fishermen needed to make a sacrifice here in order to please the goddess. As we passed through her gaze, we finally ended up back at the harbor. Luckily for us, we got one last show with a Tiger shark swimming beneath and beside us. This one last spectacle captured all of our attention. Once we finished following this huge predator, we spent some time to eat and rest before our Manta Ray dive. After the sunset, we prepared for the experience by listening to Mrs. Hansen about these creatures. Originally called “Devil Rays” by pirates because of their capes and horn-like features, Manta Rays have been a topic of mythology and science for many years. Today, we would dive with them to view their spectacular movements underwater. We created what divers called a “campfire” which consisted of some very high power lights set at the bottom and top of the water. This column of light would trick plankton into coming out of its rest at the bottom of the ocean, and the Manta Rays would swoop in to feast. As we placed our own lights above our heads, these mantas would swim over our heads and do flips to eat as much as posible. One brushed my hair with its tail while swimming over me! All in all, today was an incredible day, with multiple once in a lifetime experiences. Tomorrow, we will brave the black water dive, and I couldn’t be more excited and nervous. 
