My expectations for turtle tagging couldn’t have been blown out of the water any more, it was all I hoped for and more. We started with a presentation by Joel Dore, a fisheries and wildlife conversation worker on the nearby island of Tortola, who explained to us what we would be doing and their work in general. It dawned on me about midway through the presentation that we were actually the ones to be chasing down and tagging turtles, rather than just watching their crew do the work like I expected. Bubbling with anticipation, our taxi driver Glenn took us to the habour where we set sail towards Little Dix Bay, about a ten minute boat ride away. Without fail, the island displayed its beauty proudly on shore of Little Dix, where a grand resort stood. So, three dive buddies and I set out in search for sea turtles via snorkeling behind our leader, Noel, who again exhibited this countries general kindness and all around awesomeness. Immediately we spot a huge barracuda checking out a potential meal in a school of baby jacks, followed by a sting ray scurrying ten feet below us and then soon there after a solid sized green sea turtle. We chased our turtle down for about ten minutes before Joel caught him and brought him up to the surface. Flopping around and slapping the water, the turtle took some energy to calm down. Once settled, I gave his flipper a nice handshake and we brought him on board Joel’s boat and set off in the hunt again. Almost instantly another turtle was spotted, this time taking out towards the depths. Unaware of how far I was venturing, I followed Joel and his co worker out into about 60 ft of jelly fish infested water several hundred yards out from shore. Out there, it was a blast to watch the two men at work. One would distract the turtle by getting in front of it and the other would dive behind and try to grab on. After several failed dive attempts down to attain the reptile, we decided to hop on the boat and tag our one successful capture, now named Trixie. Trixie turned out to be about a 20 or so year old green turtle, which is apparently pretty young for turtles seeing as they outlive humans. Measured, tagged, and finally released, we all cheered as Trixie swam swiftly away. Next we went back for a documentary on free diving and lunch, followed by a final exam, which my buddy Tanner and I dominated. After we all were tested we went back to guava berry to rest up before our final banquet and the conclusion of our marine biology class. The conclusion was emotional to say the least. Held in the awesome view of a sunset over the islands and water, we sat in the restaurant “Mermaids” and watched massive tarpon and jacks whip around the sea surrounding the building as we ate a full meal of salad, breads, fish, chicken, and ribs before Casey got us all key lime pie. Casey is a sweetheart. The dinner included talks from both Casey and Matt Mills concerning the week overall, it was obvious that the experience was truly felt by the group as a whole. After dinner we said our goodbyes to Brian and Laura and cleaned up back at guava berry, getting all packed and ready to go for our long day of travel ahead of us. My roommates and I spent a good amount of time on our porch saying our own goodbyes to the land and skies we won’t see again for a while now, but hopefully we will indeed see them again. The trip couldn’t have been a better one and my earnest gratitude goes out to everyone at Dive BVI, especially Jeff, Casey, Brian, and Laura, whom we all fell in love with and I hope to remain in contact with. This place and these people are unlike anything anywhere else, if you ever get a chance to get here…. Get here
Dragons rule
