The last day in the BVI began with an exciting snorkel in Little Dix Bay. The purpose of the snorkel was to find turtles to tag. By tagging turtles, other marine programs around the world can track how far the turtles have come, their migratory patterns, and their population size. Our snorkel consisted of teams of 4 who would surround a turtle on all sides and lift its head and fins out of the water. By doing this, we are protecting not only the turtle, but ourselves because of the harm the turtle might inflict on us while under the surface of the water. An adolescent green sea turtle, whose sex was undetermined because it was still too young, was captured during our snorkel, and brought up on the boat to record its body measurements and to insert the tags on it. Metal tags with unique numbers are attached to each fin, and a very small tag is injected into the shoulder of the turtle. It was important that the turtle be kept wet as to insure that the turtle didn’t over heat and boil from the inside out. We finished our final snorkel of the trip, and ended the week with some delicious west Indian barbecue on the dock of the restaurant “Mermaids.” We enjoyed the sunset, and reminisced our favorite moments of the trip, mine being the Baths, the barbecue, and the boat rides to the dive sites. We said our final goodbyes and thankyou’s, and we headed back home early the next morning.
