Today I woke up, having forgotten to set my own alarm, by my room mate Jackson White. Unbeknownst to all of us at the time being, Jackson would later stake his claim to fame in the afternoon to come. I immediately rushed to the coffee pot that Andrew had been working on for the past 15 minutes and made myself 2 full cups of coffee and sat on the porch, enjoying my view of the ocean as well as the many giant rocks on the island. We made our way to the internet cafe yet again to eat another breakfast with a giant donut. We then listened to Dr. Gore give a very interesting presentation on turtle species as we finished up our breakfasts; she explained the migratory patterns of the Hawksbill, Leatherback, Green, and Loggerhead Sea turtles. Her talk made us all dream of the possible glory we could achieve in catching a sea turtle. Much to my pleasure, we were all given an opportunity to do so. However, we first ventured to Savannah Bay after breakfast, and during the drive on the way there we came to a thin strip of land dividing the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. After we left our bags in a tree we headed into the water for an invertebrate search. My personal favorite of the invertebrates we collected was the West Indian Sea Egg, because it was an urchin roughly similar in shape and size to a snowball that could grab pieces of algae with its spikes for camouflage. After this we all had burgers at the Rendezvous Point for lunch. We then set out on one of the single greatest experiences I’ve ever had. While out on the Sea Monkey boat with our snorkel gear, Dr. Gore and Jeff dragged us, three at a time, behind the boat to look at the water below for turtles. Nick Byrne spotted one Green Sea Turtle early on and all seven Marine Biology 1 students were off to the races. Me, Nick, and Andrew chased it for at least ten minutes until it became exhausted and rested on the rocks below. Jackson white then stepped up to the plate and volunteered to dive down 20 feet to retrieve it. Back on the boat we tagged it near its neck with a syringe and let our friend Slappy back into the Caribbean. Exhausted from turtle tagging, me and Jackson went back to the cabin with enough energy to work out again in our room, which is now named The Gridiron. I Showered, ate lasagna for dinner, and came back here to the internet cafe again. That was Thursday, and I’m looking forward to Friday.
(I found the “Blue Tang Clan” during our snorkel at Savannah Bay)
Credit on that pun to Alex Curry
(Me enjoying the bay right before a rainfall)
(Zac’s photograph of our friend Slappy)
