This morning we awoke to a more exciting day in Cayman. At 7 o’clock we had breakfast then got onto the boat for our two tank dive. The first dive site we went to had an arch with coral growing on it. Looking up at the arch with the sea fans and the sunlight shining down was serene. On the dive I saw a peacock flounder which swim sideways and have two eyes on one side of their head to be able to bury themselves in the sand to stay safe and to hunt. In the middle of the dive we saw a small white moray eel with little back spots. Moray eels typically hide in holes and are distinguishable because they open and close their mouths to force water through their gills so they can breathe. At the end of the dive before we surfaced I saw my first tarpon. A tarpon is a big silvery predator. There was also a massive 3 foot long barracuda swimming above us. Barracuda are attracted to shiny objects and have large teeth. After our dive we ate lunch then immediately went to the turtle centre (previously the turtle farm). In the park there is an area to view the large breeding turtles and further along an area to go swimming in some very murky water with smaller turtles. In the farm there also was an area with small concrete basins for people to pick up and touch the turtles, who would either run or just give up immediately. The whole experience seemed immoral because the living conditions of endangered animals were cramped with little room to really swim around in. Another bad thing was that some of the shallow enclosures were not protected from the unrelenting sun. After we ate dinner and watched the sun set we went on a night snorkel together off the dock. We were give to powerful lights per two people and we swam in a big circle around to loop back to the dock. During the beginning a large 3 foot long tarpon joined us. I believe they swim near us because we were shining lights all around and illuminating potential food for the tarpon. Later near the end I caught a glimpse of the tarpon floating just in the darkness out of the reach of the light and as I moved the light and looked at it without moving my head to the side I saw it follow the edge of the light to spot prey. Finally while I was waiting to get out of the water at the end of the dock I had my light pointed down at the floor and I felt a prick. I looked at my light and it was surrounded by at least 20 2 inch long krill what were swarming to the light. These krill were completely transparent and I could barely make out their outlines and I could feel them swimming all around my hand. The krill were attracted to the light because they feed on phytoplankton, which I assume went to my light thinking it was daytime. The experience with the krill made me realize how much happens that we don’t see, for example coral feeding on tiny bits of food in the water or tiny shrimp cleaning fish. I am excited for tomorrow to see what else I can find.
