Today the main activity was the snorkeling excursion of the shore of the Cobalt Coast, the dive resort we are staying at. I was fortunate enough to see a multitude of fish that I studied. One of the popular fish that I saw today was the blue headed wrasse. The family of wrasse contains over 600 species all unique in their own way due to the difference in their environments. The blue headed wrasse specifically is a salt water fish with a blue head (hence the name) and usually a yellow body. The initial wrasse however is all yellow, which makes identifying the fish difficult because the lack of blue. Another fish that was present was the hogfish. This fish gets its name due to its long snout which it utilizes by digging through the sand to uncover food. All hogfish start out as a female and some form into males with maturity. It was really interesting seeing the true size of the fish we studied in class because pictures don’t convey it accurately. All in all the first day was very fun and I can’t wait to dive twice tomorrow.
