This morning, we woke up and went directly to the marina to get started on a long day. We had two dives this morning followed by lunch on Cooper Island, and in the afternoon, we snorkeled off the coast of Cooper Island. In our first dive, we dove a wreck site for the first time, and learned about the history of the R.M.S. Rhone. The Rhone was an old iron ship the crashed off the coast of Salt Island. It was the second ship ever to have a propeller on it. It crashed on October 29th, 1867. This ship was deemed unsinkable, as was the Titanic. Anyways, we saw different parts of the ship, and saw several different kinds of fish, including, a trumpetfish, several snappers, a lobster, and of course a lot of butterflyfish and angelfish. On our second dive, we kept track of what we saw. The majority of what we saw were stoplight parrotfish (both male and female), and a lot of yellow tale snapper, as well as four-eyed butterflyfish. We also saw a 4 foot tarpon and a 3 foot snapper. However, my favorite part of the day was snorkeling. Originally I had planned to sit out of snorkeling due to a headache and drowsiness. I fell asleep and was awakened to the sound of my classmates shouting about finding some stingrays. I decided I have to take advantage of every opportunity and got into the water. I am happy about my decision. Right from the get-go, I see a hawksbill sea turtle. I then proceed to see a very large stingray. And finally, I see 5 stingrays all traveling together. Naturally I got some great pictures! We ended today with a delicious Mexican food dinner at mad dog’s and watched the sunset over the sea. Tomorrow, we will be doing our transect. The data that we record will be used to further study these coral reef ecosystems. Unfortunately my camera just broke. Someone accidentally knocked it off the table that it was on, and I am no longer able to take pictures. But, here are some of the pictures I took today:
