Today began with another early morning. After eating breakfast at the bottom of the hill, we had a great presentation about tagging turtles. We learned about the different types of turtles in the BVI. We also learned that turtles do not stay in one place all the time, they are constantly changing locations and nesting on different beaches around the entire Caribbean. We then learned how to actually tag the turtles by putting a metal tag into their fin and putting a chip into the back of their neck. Next, we were supposed to measure the shell vertically and horizontally, then measure the fins, tail, and head. After the presentation, we took a taxi to the marina to hop on the boats to put our new turtle skills to use. We went to Guana Island near Tortola at the beginning. There I jumped in the water and grabbed a rope attached to the boat. The boat towed about five of us all around the bay while we searched for a turtle to try and haul in. Unsuccessful, we moved locations. As our boat conquered the high seas, we were pelted by rain drops that surprisingly hurt when they collided with our skin, which we endured because we are all resilient. After reaching our destination at White Bay, we again searched for turtles, but instead we all snorkeled instead of being towed by the boat. After another n successful snorkel, we returned to the marina for a delicious lunch at Bath and Turtle. We then took the boat out for a dive at Long Bay to check on the Jesuit Reef, or the coral that we replanted last year. When we got there Casey and Laura briefed us on the dive. We were supposed to search for coral that we tagged last year. Once we had found and identified the coral, we were supposed to measure the length, height and base of the coral. next we count the number of points on each coral. After the briefing, Tucker and I hopped into the water, but this time it was just us, no dive leader needed (we have really matured). It took us a while to find our first coral that was actually tagged, but eventually we succeeded. After getting the first coral under our belt, we really began to find some tags; although, half of the tags we found did not have coral to go with it. After finding all the tags we could, we returned to the surface and got on the boat and headed back to the dock where we caught the taxi back to the cabins. At the cabins we showered and got ready for dinner at Mad Dogs. Before dinner we had a quick, intense athletic “sesh” with Señor Nevitt. At Mad Dogs Tucker, Gavin, Nick, and I enjoyed a delicious dinner then displayed some incredible football skills. Overall, today was just another great day in paradise, and I am really looking forward to have some great learning experiences tomorrow and the days to come.
