Today began as a déjà vu, with an early morning and a light breakfast here at Guavaberry. While we ate our breakfast, Doctor Shannon Gore talked to both classes about sea turtles. She went over the types, nesting areas, threats, and techniques we can use to catch them. When she finished, everyone got there stuff, loaded up into the taxi, and headed to the dock where we, the Marine Biology Two class, were dropped off and the other class continued to Savannah Bay. At the docks we had a brief period to shop before heading out to Guana island and White bay to catch turtles and tag them under the supervision of Doctors Gore. When we reached Guana island and later White bay, we set out two lines for people to hold onto while the boat moves. This technique is known as mantle towing and it is used for spotting sea turtles. While people were being towed, I and a couple of my peers went for a snorkel in which we saw many fish including a shark, lion fish, and group of tarpon. It is safe to say that spotting the shark was the highlight of that snorkel and although I could not get it to come completely out from under a rock, it was still an extraordinary sight. We left White Bay empty handed but we set our sights for Virgin Gorda in a move of desperation to capture a turtle. Unfortunately the tide had not turned and we left Virgin Gorda as turtle-less as when we set out to Guana island. After returning to the docks, our spirits were lifted when we were served juicy burgers at the marina. After lunch, we loaded the boat back up and set out to the reef that we have a place for in our hearts, the Jesuit Reef. When we arrived at our reef, we quickly suited up and got into the water. While inspecting our reef, we measured and recorded the height, base, and number of points. When we were done inspecting our glorious reef, we got back into the boat and headed back to the dock we were so familiar with. Once we reached the docks, we unpacked the boat, loaded up the taxi, and headed back to Guavaberry. We showered in preparation for our feast at Mad Dogs which was set up by the wonderful staff of Dive BVI. After we finished choosing down on our Italian feast, we played frisbee for a little while and then headed back to our cabin to do our blogs and catch some Zs in preparation for another great day. Overall day 3 was definitely another succesful day in the BVI.
