It’s 7:00 A.M. and the Marine Biology gang wakes up to a thunderstorm and rain. Too sleepy to care they all wander to the the breakfast table to enjoy eggs and French toast. After breakfast, we made our way to the docked boats and we were off to our dive sites Big Dipper and Chain Reef. On Big Dipper, our depth was 100 ft and we saw plenty of coral and fish. In particular, our group saw a school of blue tang swim through over the reef and beside our group. Shortly thereafter, our group saw a Lionfish, which is an invasive species that wreaks havoc on the natural ecosystem. Lionfish are able to eat multiple times their body weight and are a widespread problem throughout the world. They are distinguishable due to their large spines and prickly pines. As we learned in class, there are many different ways that humans combat the problem of invasive species; however, because the Lionfish has no natural predators in the caymans and other areas so they become rampant. After surfacing from the Big Dipper, we climbed aboard our trusty vessel, Twin Sister, and we were off to Chain Reef where our max depth was 30ft. Chain reef gets its name from the long chain that sits besides the reef. Next to chain reef our group saw a lawn chair that we posed with and took pictures with. While taking pictures with the chair was fun, it opened my eyes to how all of our trash can end up in the ocean. Later on in the dive, our group saw a large Nassau Grouper which can be distinguished due to their stripped bodies and large mouths. After chain reef we went back to the resort to eat lunch and prepare for the Sea Turtle Centre. At the Turtle Centre, we saw Green Sea Turtles, which only have one pair of prefrontal scales, as well as the endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle. We were also able to hold juvenile Green Sea Turtles and take pictures with them. After playing with the Turtles we went to the aviary where a bird landed on my head (see picture below). We saw birds like doves, pigeons, peacocks, and the ibis, which looks similar to a flamingo. Unfortunately we had to leave our new bird friends and go back to the resort. At the resort, we had more free time to explore the rock formation near the beach. At the rock formations, I had the opportunity to photograph a lizard as well as many different hermit crabs. After exploring the rock formations, we ate dinner and an hour later we went on a night snorkel at 8:00 P.M. On the night snorkel my dive partner, Aidan Hoofard, and I saw two lobsters and two pufferfish. Afterwards, we relaxed in the hot tub for a few minutes and went back to the room for much needed rest. I had a great time making new animal friends today and can’t wait for the dives tomorrow!
