Today was even better than yesterday. We didn’t do any actual diving but we did snorkel ALOT which I would say is actually better because you have more freedom. You can do more personal exploring instead of having to stay in a group. The day started out with waking up at 7:45 and heading down to the front where we wait for our taxi. We took the taxi to the same place as yesterday for breakfast which consisted of bagels with cream cheese, eggs, and sausage links. After that we had class which directly correlated with snorkeling. She was teaching us how to extend the amount of time we could hold our breath. I had the longest breath in our initial trial at one minute twenty five seconds. She then taught us some ,ethos to help extend our breath. She taught us that when our face comes in contact with cold water, our body will automatically start trying to conserve oxygen by slowing your heart rate way down. Se asked for someone to demonstrate this and I volunteered. I will attach a picture of me sticking my face in a bucket of ice water at the bottom. I was able to hold my breathe for about a minute in the water but had to take it out due to sheer discomfort. The bucket was a little tall and was crushing my adams apple which was not very pleasant. The instructor who had been told me that my heart rate dropped from about. 100 bpm (I was a little nervous) to an astonishing 42 bpm. After a few more people tried this (no one got as low as me) we went to the pool right out side and all tried seeing who could hold their face in the water the longest by using the techniques we learned earlier. I, again, held my breathe the longest but was able to extend it to two minutes ten seconds. The instructor kept telling me to fight the urge to breathe and as time went on, people started To joke that I had fought the urge a little too hard. After all that we got a lesson on turtles from a man in the wild life conservation agency in the BVI. I think that’s what it’s called, no one seemed to know when I asked around. We went over things lie, different types of turtles, methods of tagging them and the data adhered from aged turtles. Most turtles in the BVI are juvenile and leave for other water once they are older. We rode down to Little Dix bay in our boat and proceeded to snorkel around. Only four people actually got to go with the turtle guy and aide in the catching process which were me, Andrew Chittoor, Alex Cury, and Luke Curran. We looked for turtles for a good hour and a half but I only saw two. One I chased around the bay for what must have been a solid thirty minutes. The way you catch them is you seek up from behind and the part of the shell right above their neck hem grab the bottom part of their shell with your other hand and bring them to the surface. I got a hand on it once out there wasn’t as much room behind the shell as there normally is because it was young. It thrashed around a lot and managed to get away but was caught by one of the people from the turtle agency. The other one was easily 60 lbs and very large. The guy who presented to us after breakfast tried to grab it but even he couldn’t over power that thing. I spent the next hour swimming around looking for more turtles but didn’t see any. After that we swam back to the boat and watched the turtle that was caught be tagged. We rode back to the marina and ate burgers at a restraint that was right there. We then went to the baths after stopping at the cabins for a couple minutes. The baths are these massive boulders of granite and quartz that cover a section of beech. We explored them and learned about the history behind them which is when the Spanish would bring slaves, the would wash them, or give them baths, in these rocks before shipping them to he main island so the would look healthier. After that we hopped in the water and swam back to a beech right by our cabins. It was awesome. There was a ton of coral and marine life to look at. A couple of people managed to get wrapped up in jellyfish but I was able to avoid them. They were fine, only a few springs here and there, no major reactions. We walked back to the cabins, showered, and headed off to mad dog again for dinner. Tonight was quesadillas and nachos. Sean, Alex, Andrew, Killiam, and I passed the time by throwing around Sean’s frisbee. We then watched a video on whaling which I could really understand because it was filmed in the airport. They had to include random sound effects to cover up the sound of the intercom and other loud noises. I had a chocolate brownie sundae then headed ,back to the cabins to get my iPad so I could write my blog. So here I am, writing my blog in the common area and listening to music and typing away. After this I will head back to my cabin, hang out, read, and go to bed. Excited for tomorrow! Credit to doc for the picture
