To begin this morning, the group ventured off to the two morning dives along different coral walls of the island. The first dive was slightly deeper. However on the second shallower dive, I encountered something both startling and intriguing. As we were nearing boat, I swam just ahead to peer at a small group of fish huddled around a rock structure. As I observed the fish, I glanced just below me, and I instantly began ascending. Just beneath where I was hovering was a rather large scorpion fish, perfectly blended into its surroundings. Since these fish are very venomous, I was quite startled when I realized it had been right below me. Nonetheless, the perfect camouflage made me think about other species I had encountered on the trip. This being the trumpet fish. The scorpion fish was able to seamlessly match its surroundings. However, it was also unable to change its appearance. It had to find the right environment and stay there. While the trumpet fish could match whatever setting it decided to. Later on in the afternoon, we as a group took the boat to stingray city. When we arrived, we descended one by one into the water and formed a circle on the bottom. Stingrays began surveying the outside of the group, and as the boat crew came into the water with the squid, the stingrays and fish began to enter a frenzy. The experience was unforgettable. When the rays swam by, we touched their slippery skin. This reminded me of some of the facts we learned during the stingray city debate. I could see some more serious abrasions on a couple of the rays, but I couldn’t tell if the gentle touching our group was doing had any effect. The rays came up to each of us fearless searching for food. This desensitization to humans reminded me very of the turtles we saw at the sanctuary. They too were extremely used to humans. Each species, though entirely different, had developed a relationship with humans that was not one seen anywhere else in nature. This form of familiarization with humans changed the behaviors of both the turtles and the rays. This in turn effects how they treat each other, other food sources, and themselves. Another reference from the debate is that since male rays are smaller, the females are beginning to dominate the population. This is because their larger size enables them to bully the smaller males when competing for the human fed squid.
