We started day 3 with breakfast and getting immediately on the boat. Our first dive was Bonnie’s arch, named after the late Bonnie who was one of the earliest videographers on the island. On this dive my favorite part was definitely the corals and sponges. I spent most of my time looking at and examining branching vase sponges. The unique colors of each branching vase sponges was mesmerizing. These sponges eat plankton and detritus. My favorite one was a large green group of 5 or 6 that were on the top of the arch. On the second dive at schoolhouse I saw many more colorful fish such as a queen angelfish, a French angelfish, and a queen triggerfish. These fish’s colors can be so beautiful and mesmerizing. These fish have colors for several reasons. A big one is to camouflage with The environment. A fish’s ability to blend in with the coral around it could mean life or death. Another theory is that bright colored fish can be an attempt to look poisonous or bad tasting to their predators. But a third theory was presented by biologist Konrad Lorenz in the mid-20th century: that fish have colors and designs for individual recognition and for species recognition. If a fish is able to recognize their own species in the crowded environment in the ocean, they can save energy by avoiding inter-species quarrels. These patterns can also be used for individual recognition where specific markings can allow fish to recognize each other.
After returning to the resort for lunch, we headed off to the turtle sanctuary. I really appreciated being able to swim with the turtles in the lagoon and the conservative breeding section of the sanctuary. Although I disliked the amount of turtles cramped in small concrete tanks. On an economic standpoint, people like to see the turtles and money is made from them but there was an unnecessary amount of tanks. There were at least 10 small tanks with several large turtles in each when 1 or 2 tanks would suffice. It’s sad that some of the turtles in the back tanks are living in miserable and cramped conditions and aren’t even being seen by tourists making their suffering for nothing.
When we returned to the resort after the turtle sanctuary we had our discussion on stingray city. I really did enjoy the debate and the points brought up by both sides of the debate. I think that stingray city does much more good than harm but I do feel that regulations should be put in place to reduce that harm as the negative side proposed. Stingray city helps stingrays in many ways from protection to food to publicity but excess people and boats can have a negative impact on them which is why I think more regulations should be in place such as a limit on boats and people at a time or maybe certain hours/days where boat traffic at stingray city is forbidden.
After dinner we had our night dive. I saw less fish than I thought I would but I really enjoyed looking at the glowing translucent creatures floating around in the water. I was fortunate enough to see the male stingray on the sand floor camouflaging and the large tarpon circling us. I think it is very smart of the tarpon to use our lights to find food but I’m surprised it wasn’t more scared of a bunch on thrashing teenagers. All the activities today were great and I am excited for tomorrow.
