After a buffet breakfast, we all boarded the boat and headed off to the first dive site. The dive masters made everything easy for us by preparing our BCDs and helping us put them on. Our first dive was at the location called the “School House” not far from the hotel. I quickly all leaped into the water with our gear and performed pre-diving safety checks my partner, Nico Boyd. We descended to the depth of roughly 50-60 feet and swam along a “mini-wall”. Under a ledge, I came across a large lion fish, quickly recognizable by the large pectoral fins. The fins are extremely venomous and is covered with black, red, and white bands. Additionally, this particular fish is an invasive species first spotted in the Grand Cayman in 2008. Scientists believe the lion fish spread originated from Miami when threw the fish into the water. Since then, it has spread like a disease throughout the region. Lion fish cause detrimental damage, direct or indirect, to mangroves, coral reefs, and sea grasses as a result of their high rate of reproduction rate and growth. It’s voracious feeding capacity and lack of predators in the area add to the negative effects of the fish. Moreover, in the first dive, I came across a fish by the name Banded Butterfly fish. The fish had a disk-like body moved very fast around. They are diurnal animals, meaning they feed during the day and rest in the coral at night. They feed on small invertebrates, plankton, coral polyps, and occasionally algae. Then, we ascended back to the surface and got onto the boat to go to the next dive spot. After around 20 minutes, we arrived at a spot called “Rainbow Reef”. The water at this spot was more turquoise and cleared. With my partner, we jumped into the water and prepared for our descend. Immediately, I notice Rainbow Reef had much more organisms and appeared more colorful. The abundance of Rainbow Parrotfish found around the coral. These fish were much bigger than the other fish around it and was completely calm around all the divers. I realized the fish seem to swim with all the divers and came very close to all of them us. Parrotfish eat algae scrapped from coral with their beak-like mouth. Additionally, there are a initial and terminal phase and also they can change gender repeatedly throughout their lives. Also, near the end of our dive, a fish by name Black Durgon caught my eye very quickly. The fish is a blimp-shaped triggerfish with bright white lines running along its dorsal fins. From a distance, it appeared completely back due to the color changes in the deep water. However, under good lighting, the fish’s color becomes a dark greenish-black with purple overtones. They inhabit seaward reefs and are more common around oceanic islands, down to 75 meters down.
Finally, to end our night, we discussed and debated the eco-touristic aspects of Sting Ray City. Even though it is a major tourist attraction bringing a multitude of money for the island, we concluded that the sting ray dependency on human giving food is extremely negative especially if the constant food supply is terminated. Additionally, we concluded that a simulation that included the sting ray population over time in the Sting Ray City versus a population outside of it. Ultimately, strictly regulations must be put into pace in order to control and reduce overpopulation.
