Today was easily one of my favorite days here in Virgin Gorda. We didn’t have to wake up for a class but instead for our very last fun dive for the trip! We went to Mountain Point for the dives for today. The dives today started out very rainy at the surface but as we descend to the ocean floor that rainy feeling starts to go away. There was so many moon jellies today. Everywhere I looked, I saw these translucent jellyfish that glow in the dark. It was a really cool sight to see.
The second dive was at the same location but this time we had the Reef Check to do. This has been something we’ve been learning about and preparing for the entire week. The Reef Check was a study we were doing at Mountain Peak was to test the different fish species, invertebrates, algae cover and coral bleaching. This compares with a study Dive BVI didactic few years ago at the same location. This helps the BVI know if their fisherman are overfishing and even if the new development on the island is affecting the reefs with their runoff and pollution.
After the second dive, we went to have lunch and have our final discussions and presentations. My presentation was about the Reef Check we had done this morning and the importance it could give to BVI. We had about a two hour break in between the presentations and dinner. We had dinner at Mad Dog again but this time we had lasagna. After dinner, we had birthday cake for me and this senior Sean who happens to have the same birthday (he’s seventeen too). It was a lot of fun and I’m stuck in this weird position where I miss my friends and family back in Dallas but at the same time I don’t want to leave this island of paradise.
Tomorrow marks the last non-traveling day here and we are going to start off the morning with a service project with the island’s Search and Rescue team. After lunch, we hopefully will just have the rest of the afternoon to relax at the beach and just do what we want before the banquet dinner.
It has definitely been a birthday I am sure to remember!
