First day in the Cayman Islands is done! We began with a long morning of travel, but it was certainly worth it for the first experiences from today. The main activity from today was having the opportunity to snorkel off of the coast of the resort in the afternoon. I was immediately excited to dive in the water and experience it for the first time. After we all got in the water and started swimming out a bit, I was simply taking in everything in a relaxed manner. I then realized that I actually recognized most of the wildlife that I was looking at. Some species that I saw included foureye butterfly fish, queen angelfish, and lots of blue-headed wrasse. It shocked me to see the actual sizes of these fish since I had anticipated them to be bigger. There was also one other species that I didn’t recognize, but was the most memorable. I saw it in the water and started to swim closer, and it vanished before my eyes. I then realized it was camouflaged with the ground around it. This was super cool to see how the adaptations of different species really do work to help the species survive. It was crazy to see the fish disappear amongst other species in a clear environment, yet the adapted appearance easily allowed it to shield itself from predators.
I am extremely excited to explore the underwater environment and use my new skills in diving and my knowledge from class to make new personal discoveries. Such a rich environment will help me to put my knowledge to the test and discern how the environment is affected by numerous different factors and why the effect is important. While the trip is going to be super fun and relaxing, I am still ready to learn from the experiences I will have on each dive every day, on top of any extra activities we may do.
