7:00 AM breakfast came nice and early this morning. We were worried about our dive to begin the day because of some tropical storms that rolled through the night and into the morning. We drove 5 minutes to the other cobalt coast site to begin our adventure to the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper dive was going to be the deepest dive I have experienced. The max depth was 100 feet, but I reached a max of 107 without even realizing. This was one of the coolest dives I have been apart of. The large plain of sand that we saw painted the picture of s frontier. This symbolized the ocean being the biggest frontier in the entire world. Next to this huge plain, various types of coral such as brain coral and sheet coral covered the floor. Living in these corals were Black Durgon, Blue Headed Wrasse, and Blue Tang. The interactions amongst the Blue Tang and the Durgon is super interesting. The schools of Blue Tang swim around and appear black from the eye. The Durgon, having the natural black color, swim with the Tang, blending in and using it as a guide for food plus protection. The most significant fish I found from the dive was a Lionfish! The Lionfish is an invasive species as it was brought over for its desirable color and patterns. This was a super cool site to see because of the significance within the ecosystems of the Cayman.
After Big Dipper, we sailed to the Chain Reef. The Chain Reef was a much shallower dive site as the max depth was around 35 feet. Chain Reef was home to very similar sets of fish. The most interesting find was a Nassau Grouper. The Nassau Grouper was tucked into hiding behind a rock structure. We began traveling back to the main dock and prepped for our trip to the Turtle Centre. The Turtle Centre was awesome. We were able to see some 300 pound sea turtles raised in the centre. The sea turtles are born and raised in the centre for research and ecotourism. Also in the centre, an aviary and crock exhibit could be found. Lastly, the centre had displays of baby turtles that can be held and seen swim.
