The day started a litter later with breakfast at 7. Just like yesterday, we hopped onto the boat at around 7:45 after a quick briefing and went to our first dive site. The dive site wasn’t far and we were there in no time.
The first dive site was called the Big Tunnels and consists of multiple coral fingers which forms a trench-like reef. The bottom of the trenches is around 100 feet down, while the tops of the walls were around 75 feet. Upon entering the water, we could see the top of the bright coral and hundreds of fish swimming around it. Throughout the dive we followed the canals trying to see the more hidden fish. During the dive, near around 90 feet down, below me I saw two tarpon. The Tarpon is a prehistoric fish usually caught as a game fish. It’s ancient features include silver reflective scales, a hard and bony jaw, and a very sleek figure. Both the Tarpon stopped and looked at me, a typical behavior found in Tarpon. Carrying on in the Big Tunnels me and my dive buddies encountered a Nassau Grouper. The brown and white striped fish was near 80 feet below and was alone. Although I didn’t see it, Grouper are cleaned by other smaller fish. This symbiotic relationship is crucial to the survival of both the organisms involved, and hopefully I will encounter this interaction later in the trip. The first dive ended after 31 minutes and me, Carlo, and Aidan returned to the boat. While waiting on the boat however, a massive turtle swam past, showing once again how diverse the ocean is. We then drove to the next site, Bonnie’s Arch.
Bonnie’s Arch, our second dive site is known for the arch found right upon entering into the water. The arch exits at only one side and looks similar to an “L.” Very quickly, while under the arch, I noticed Royal Gramma Basslets. These small, blue and yellow fish live inverted under the arch. This odd behavior is what makes them so unique and fun to watch. After exiting the arch, we further traveled around the dive site. This site also had similar fingers to the first site, just at a shallower depth. The lively terrain was home to many fish, however one of the most noteworthy is the Foureye Butterfly fish. The Foureye Butterfly fish is a medium white fish with black spots near its tail fin. These black spots can scare predators and add a nice visual too look at. They stay very close to the coral and I saw them throughout the dive. The dive overall took 41 minutes and during the last 10 minutes we explored near the base of the boat. While exploring the ground, Carlo and I found a crab. The crab was around a foot wide and seemed as if it were dead. Even if it was, it was still interesting to look at and was a nice conclusion to our second dive.
After the second dive, we headed back to the resort for a calm afternoon. The wind was too strong so the journey to Stingray City was postponed. During this break however, we ate lunch and went for a snorkel. During the snorkel I saw another flounder and another lionfish. The lion fished seemed as if it were hunting so we watched it for a while. We however left when we got tired and returned to the dock. Despite being exhausted from 2 dives and a snorkel trip, 7 of us decided to play some water volleyball. This went on for an hour or so and was a great addition to the day. It did however tire me immensely. I decided to take a nap for 2 hours and woke up for dinner. Dinner was delicious and afterwards we watched a documentary called Mission Blue.
Mission Blue is a documentary that talks about the life of Sylvia Earle, a well renowned marine biologist from Florida. She pioneered early diving and has been thousands of feet below water. She explained humans effect on the ocean and how our selfish nature has harmed the very beautiful and necessary creatures. It helped to put more emphasis on being environmentally friendly in order to ensure our future as a race. The movie was a wonderful conclusion to the day and helped illuminate on one of the biggest reasons to study marine life, to help save it. Day 3 was wonderful and hopefully the journey will continue to improve.
