Today we went on 3 more dives! The 2 tank morning dives were at brand new coral reef sites. The first dive was very deep, with certain areas being up to 100 feet deep! After of course seeing some of the more common fish listed in my previous blogs, some of the highlights of this one included a massive brown and white striped Nassau Grouper, and the impressive coral architecture, including several underwater “canyons.” Seeing those kinds of formations made me wonder how they were formed. Was there a river off the shore thousands of years ago that carved that path? If so, it’s amazing how much the events of events years ago can affect the ocean floor of today. The second dive site was far shallower, and I saw far more schools of fish such as yellowtail snapper, French grunt, and schoolmaster. A surprising thing that I really liked at the second dive was actually inorganic. It was a sign, bolted into the rock, as a warning to divers not to touch sea urchins. It said quite a lot, but I couldn’t read it because there was a lot of organic growth on top of it. It made me wonder that, if I knew when that sign was placed, I may be able to track coral and other organic growth. But as it stands, that simple sign represents the adaptability of underwater life and their growth. (And, of course, an excellent reminder not to touch sea urchins.)
After a great Chinese lunch, it was time for the highlight of the day- Stingray City! Overall, this one dive may have been the highlight of this trip so far. On thing I really liked is that this area was a “dive-only” area of Stingray City. That means no over-tourism, crowds, or frightening amounts of boats. In other words: this site avoids most of the problems raised in yesterday’s debates. During the dive, we all knelt in a circle while the divemaster Lee led the rays with food to each and every one of us around 3 or 4 times each. There were about 5 Southern Atlantic Stingrays to begin with, but 2 left about halfway through the dive. It was truly a sight to behold: Lee feeding stingrays with squid from a bottle, while dozens of Sergeant Majors and Yellowtail Snapper swarmed around hoping for food as well. As the stingrays got close, we were able to touch them. Their tops were smoother around the edges and as you got towards the center, their skin got rougher like sandpaper. They also had a bony spine running down their backs that you could feel, and their bottoms were silky smooth. This environment made me feel a lot better than the one at the Turtle Center. The stingrays were not in captivity, and could leave whenever they pleased (and in fact several did). They looked healthy and moved around often, even seeking out others in the circle that didn’t have food. Even so, it did make me wonder what kind of interaction with humans they had in the past: Do these same stingrays also go to the more “touristy” Stingray City? Are they treated differently there? They certainly seemed accustomed to human touch. Anyway, I look forward to tomorrow’s adventures!
