Like any typical morning here, waking up at 6:30, and eating breakfast at 7:00. Since the waves were very choppy at our resort, we took a bus instead and went to another dock. Kittiwake, our first location, was about 5 minutes away from the dock.
Kittiwake is the name of a ship that sunk very close to 7 mile beach. The USS Kittiwake is one of the most known recreational dives in the world, having tourists check it out daily. There were many ships when we arrived, all for the ship. The ship is about 251 feet in length, which is a pretty big ship for its day. The ship was launched in the 1940’s, and then became decommissioned in the 1990’s. The purpose of this ship was a submarine rescue craft. Our dive master said that the Kittiwake did save a submarine that was really deep, but did crash into one. Once descending, the size of the ship was shocking. There were not many fish to be seen, but there were some blue tang. The thing that interested me was the amount of coral life that was all over the ship. There was tons of algae and coral. While researching, I found out that there is a law that states to not touch the coral so that it grows, explaining the massive amount of life. We went around the whole ship, and even got to spin the wheel that steered the ship. This whole thing was a very fun, and hope to come here in the future.
The second location was named Doc Poulson. This name comes from a doctor that provided free healthcare to dive masters and brought the first hyperbaric chamber to the Cayman Islands. His acts influenced people to name a dive after him. The reef consisted of small coral head and another wreck site, which about 60 feet. The ship has been there since the 80’s, and the ocean has taken over the one stable vessel. Once again, I did see that many fish. The one fish that stood out to me though, was the Barracuda, which was easy to identify. The Barracuda, is long and slender, which is easy to identify.
After diving, we went to a beach and picked up some trash. The obstacle was that there were some spiky balls that hurt once you stepped on them. Other than that, it was very fun and a very good experience. We did clean up a good amount of trash, but unfortunately, we did not pick up the most. Today was a very fun day and hope to experience this tomorrow.
