We had an awesome day today. This morning we went on our deep dive off the edge of a sea wall. Swimming next to this wall, we were in about 4000 feet of water. Our maximum depth for the dive was 100 feet. One of the most interesting parts of that dive was the topography of the cliff. There were arches, crevices, caves, and small niches everywhere. Each place offered all kinds of shelter to different fish. Ironically, I saw the most interesting part of my dive right before I ascended. There was a very large Nassau Grouper at a cleaning station surrounded by Caribbean Gobies. It was fascinating to watch. This giant grouper sat very still with its mouth and gills wide open as about 5-6 fish pecked at its scales. These animals have a symbiotic relationship. The gobies get a meal from cleaning off the irritating parasites and dead skin from the Grouper. This is called mutualism, where two different organisms interact in a way that benefits them both.
Our second dive was on a reef that looked pretty similar to all the other ones we had dove. I chose to stay pretty shallow on this dive, so I didn’t get too close to the reef. At the end, we say these three giant rainbow parrotfish, much bigger than the ones we normally. They all were all swimming around nibbling on the excess algae, which is primarily what their diet consists of.
After we came back and had lunch, we went out to Stingray City. I have to say, this was one of the highlights of my trip. The water is crystal blue and shallow. Our dive master sat us all down in a circle on the bottom and did loops while feeding pieces of squid to the stingrays. Their tops felt a little bit bumpy and their bottoms slimy and smooth. The stingrays really seemed to like it when I massaged their nose. Stingrays are closely related to sharks and both have very sensitive noses. When I rubbed their nose they seemed to relax. They would flatten out and then sink to the bottom for a few seconds, and then swim on. I haven’t heard great things about the parts of stingray city that are close to the shore. People often say that they are overcrowded and can sometimes be littered with tourists’ trash. However, far from the shore where we were it was not crowded at all. It was also really satisfying to see that some stingrays saw us but did not choose to come over. It shows that they don’t have a complete dependance on humans, and it also is a testament to the fact that they are not confined to a cage but still free, wild animals.
When we came back we had some downtime until dinner. Tonight we watched a documentary about the marine biologist and conservationist Dr. Sylvia Earle. The work she has done is fascinating. I particularly liked her idea about creating “Hope spots” for the ocean and how it could help some areas recover. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s dives.
