Today was another fun and fulfilling day in the BVI. I got up at 7:45 again and got ready for the day. We met at our usual spot by the gate at 8:15. Then a taxi, driven by Glen, drove us to the marina. Once we got to the marina, we put our stuff on the boat and then went shopping at the dive shop there for about 10 minutes. I bought 2 shirts and some other little things. After we went shopping, we ate breakfast, where I had a blueberry muffin, banana bread, pineapple, and a grape Capri Sun. After breakfast at the marina, I got on my boat, the Sea Dragon once again, to go plant coral in the Jesuit reef. The boat ride there was about 20 minutes. Once we got there, we put our gear on to go snorkeling so we could get to know the area and maybe find some coral. During the snorkel, we saw a group of squid, a green turtle, and a nassau grouper. The snorkel lasted about an hour. After the snorkel, we headed back for the boat and had some snacks. Then, we got our first tank ready to go diving and retrieve the coral that we would plant. My dive buddy was Luke Curran again. On our first dive, we went to retrieve the coral. It took us a while to find the coral, but after 20 minutes we were able to find some stag horn coral. My group, led by Brian, retrieved 19 pieces of coral. This dive lasted about an hour and was at a fairly short depth. After we ascended and got onto the boat, I disassembled my regulator and BCD from the first tank and transferred it to the second. Then we ate lunch on the boat. I ate a turkey and ham sandwich as well as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After lunch, we got ready to actually plant the coral we had retrieved for the second dive. We got our equipment and ascended into the water. This dive was also at a fairly short depth. Once we got the coral, we had retrieved from the first dive, we used zip ties to fasten the coral to rocks in the Jesuit reef. Once we did this, we recorded how long the coral was and how many points it had, because we only found stag horn coral. We did this in buddy teams, so Luke and I planted 4 pieces of coral, and 19 overall in our group. After we were done, we ascended to the boat. This second dive lasted about an hour as well. Overall, we managed to plant 52 pieces of coral in the Jesuit reef. This coral planting that we did, benefits local governments, because it brings tourist attractions, which in turn brings in revenue for the area. After we disassembled our gear, we headed back to the marina on our boat. The ride lasted about 20 minutes. Once we arrived back at the marina, we were given some free time. My friends and I went to a shop and I had a drink called Jepiña, which tasted like a pineapple drink. Then, we took the taxi back to Guavaberry to get ready for dinner. I showered and decided to write my blog early tonight. After I wrote the majority of my blog and got ready for dinner, I walked over to the gate to meet everyone at 6:15. Then, we walked to Mad Dogs for dinner and I had two wraps and macaroni and cheese. After dinner, we played corn hole again. Then, we filled out our log books for the two dives that we did today. After we filled out our log books, I headed over to the wifi room to submit my blog.
