Todays first dive had to be my favorite dive of the trip so far. Getting to explore the different species of beautiful fish scattered among the brightly colored coral was incredible at “Big Tunnels” dive sight, but the best part of the dive was swiveling throughout the tunnels and underwater canyons. The walls rose up on all four sides of me, looking like the skyscrapers of the ocean, reaching up to touch the surface. We passed through small tunnels and trenches, and I was able to capture a video of my first encounter with a wild green sea turtle just above one of the trenches. It swam very majestically, like an eagle gliding through the air. The turtle was distinguishable as a green sea turtle through its 4 lateral scutes and its 2 prefrontal scales. The other dives were all amazing, but this one was way beyond the others, which should describe my excitement and love for this dive sight; but like all things, this dive had to come to end, and after a 102 foot dive, I resurfaced and set of to our next dive sight.
Dive two was much more shallow than the first, around 35 feet. On this dive, I was able to see my first ever lion fish, but other than that, I saw the same kinds of fish and coral as Ive seen before. Surprisingly, every time I see these common fish, such as the parrot fish, the angel fish, or the grunt, it gets more exciting because of how much more I’ve learned on this trip just over the past 3 days. Within a short 35 minutes, I was up out of the water and hanging out on the boat, waiting for the others to finish their explorations. I couldn’t wait for what was planned next.
Stingray city had to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. After about a 30-40 minute boat ride through the most beautiful, blue water that I have ever seen, we arrived at the destination. From the moment we pulled up, I could see at least 5 Southern Stingray, a stingray that I have mentioned and described in previous blogs, all surrounding the boat. We got a quick debriefing about the anatomy of the stingrays and some other general information. As stingrays pass of the ocean floor, they suck up everything in their path, filtering it all in their mouths and out through two holes on their tops behind their eyes called spiracles. Also, they have a sharp barb about three quarters down their tails that acts as a defense mechanism. As we jumped into the clear water, the group descended down into the swarm of stingrays. We reached the bottom and formed a circle. Lee held a bottle filled with squid out for the stingrays, and immediately the stingrays bombarded him. Circling around the group, Lee passed by each member, given everyone multiple opportunities to feel the stingrays. They felt almost like wet, smooth marshmallows or mushrooms. After a few touches of the stingrays and an exciting 30 minutes, we ascended back onto the boats and took off for the shore.
After arriving back at Cobalt Coast Resort, many of the guys jumped in the pool and we began a small volleyball game. My team won according to the guys on my team. The other team disagreed; however, it was all fun and games and we finished up with laughs and smiles. We were called for dinner, and sat down at the table as the waitress began taking our orders. There was really delicious caramelized, sweet apples that I chowed down on, along with a big bowl of pasta with chicken. After dinner, most of us headed down to the beach to relax and watch the sunset, which was mostly covered by the clouds, but some pops of red, orange, and pink blasted through. After about 30 minutes of hanging, it was time for moving night.
To end the night, the group and I headed up to the conference room and watched an amazing documentary over Sylvia Earle and her unbelievable accomplishments. Not only has she dove in many places across the world and taken data and done much research over these area, but she has also worked with conservation companies and created new ways to explore, such as the creation of her submarines. The data and evidence that she has displayed for the world blew me away. I had no idea how horrible the fishing around the world has been and the torture that many sea creatures have faced because of our appetite. The populations of sharks, tuna, and cod have significant decreased and I had to turn away from the screen as two fishermen cut the fins of a shark off and threw the shark back into the water to die. This documentary really opened my eyes to the my own and the worlds ignorance about the conditions under the sea.
