This morning I arose from my slumber at the obscenely early hour of 6AM. After waking up and getting dressed, I fueled my body with some eggs, bacon, sausage, and cereal. After that, we boarded the boats and got ready for the 2 dives. The first dive at a dive site called “Big Tunnels”, where we reached a maximum depth of 100 feet. The second dive was at a site called “Bonnie’s Arch”, where the maximum depth I reached was 70 feet. Some of the coolest things that I’ve seen while diving came these dives. I had my first encounter with tarpon. We saw 4 of them. They were all around 3 feet in length. I was able to identify them based on there large size, large eyes, silver color, creepy swimming pattern (in which they seem to somewhat stalk you) and there large mouths. We also saw a school of horse eye jack. There large eyes, football shaped bodies, silver coloring, and forked tails make them very easy to identify. The first dive was also the first time we saw a coral called the Gorgonia ventalina, or the Sea Fans. We found them on the sides of the mini walls, sticking out into the open water. They are flat like a plate, have lots of branches like a tree, flow with the waters current, and can be many different colors. After this we returned to Cobalt Cost for some lunch and valuable lessons. We then got some rest and I realized that I was extremely dehydrated. I drank a lot of water and rested some more which helped this quite a bit. Then we ate dinner and watched a documentary about renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle and the devastating effects that humans have on the ocean and the inhabitants. This documentary really painted a picture about the tragic effect that humans have had on coral reefs just in her lifetime. Reefs that were once pristine and untouched are now bleached from the insane amounts of CO2 that enters the water (which causes the pH levels and temperature of the ocean to change). Not only has the coral been effected, but marine animals that were once extremely abundant, such as cod and sharks, are now down to as little as 5% as what they once were. I learned that if we keep treating the ocean the way we do, not only will we lose marine life and coral reefs, but we will be far more susceptible to harsh storms and further global warming, as the ocean is the worlds largest carbon sink.
