Today was another great day. We woke up and worked our way down to the cattle guard to get picked up by the taxi. Although my group and another group were the only ones on time, we still managed to get to olde yard, where we met our dive instructor for our daily lesson. We learned how to manage our breathing while snorkeling, so we could hold our breath longer in order to see cooler things deeper in the ocean, such as coral and other types of fish. We practiced this in the pool, and although I am horrible at holding my breath, others figured out the key and were able to hold their breath for up to two minutes! From there we waited for Mr. Joel Dore, from Conservation Fisheries BVI, to come teach us about turtle tagging, and the near extinction of the turtles. I was quite surprised how entertaining his talk was! We learned all the steps to tagging turtles, then we went out on the Sea Dragon and reached Little Dix Bay to put our newly learned skills into action. As we jumped off the boat and ventured it further away we saw a sting ray trying to find food. This sting ray was followed by another fish, also trying to find food. As we continued further away, we encountered reefs close to the surface of the water. Some were a foot from the surface, which made snorkeling very difficult. I think I managed to kick my team in the face a few times trying not to harm the coral. We then had to make the very long swim in because the other group had managed to catch a turtle. Tucker and I made a competition of the long swim back, in which I lost. As we entered the boat, a three and a half foot long barracuda was waiting for us underneath the boat. On the boat, Joel measured the shell, head, fins, and tail. Alex and Luke tagged the turtle on the fins by putting metal pins into its fins. Joel and his crew then gave the turtle a shot into its neck to ensure others know this turtle has been tagged, just in case his pins fall out of its fins. They then allowed the turtle to gain its composure and then put it back into the ocean. We then rode the boat back to the main dock, and we went to lunch at a place on the dock where nobody appears to know the name, but anyway, it was good. From there we took a taxi back to the villas where we played frisbee for a little before taking a great tour of the Baths, and heading into the water for some snorkeling. The snorkeling was great, and again we were able to see so far. We saw many different types of coral. We saw squid, and a sea turtle just chilling on the bottom. There were again many different types of fish that we encountered. Avoiding the jellyfish to the best of my abilities, others were not as lucky and received a few small stings. Joe and I stopped Dylan from running face first into a jelly fish by splashing him on the head. from there we worked our way to the Guavaberry beach (the resort beach we are staying at), and went back to the cabins to shower to get ready for Mexican food at Mad Dogs. We then walked up the hill to Mad Dogs and enjoyed our great Mexican food. From there the dynamic duo, Tucker and I, returned to the corn-hole playing field behind Mad Dogs. We again asserted our dominance and won all the games we played. The champions were once again rewarded by another coke float. We then returned to the cabins to write our blogs. Tomorrow we look forward to the chimney, and a cook out on the beach.
