Today I was awakened by the sharp cockadoodledoo of a native BVI rooster at the crack of dawn. We quickly packed our bags and were off to the docks where we were fed a light breakfast that consisted of cereal, poptarts, and fruit. After our early morning meal, we boarded our boat and were off to our dive spot wreck alley/ cooper island. After our brief briefing of the dive spot, we were into the water and observing the four wrecks that were below us minutes before. Seeing sunken ships is always cool whether or not they were sunken intentionally or not but the plethora of fish that we spotted only enhanced the experience. After our eighty foot dive, we got back onto the boats, had a quick snack, and headed to our next dive spot. Once we were there Casey and Laura went over how to correctly do a coral coverage using transects. After this quick lesson, we were off the side of the boat to apply what we had just learned. Guy and I worked together to lay down our transects and measure any coral that the line lied on. When we finished measuring and recording the coral, Guy and I set off on an exploration to see what the ocean had in store for us. After Guy and I were done exploring we headed back to the boat and undid our gear. Since we finished diving early, we were unable to immediately dock our boat at Cooper Island Beach Club but we hooked up to a buoy and a couple of guys and I swam to shore to toss the frisbee. Once it was time for the boats to dock, we sat down to eat and had the best lunch of the trip, which consisted of fish and chips. After being the most full I have all week, marine bio 1 stayed at Cooper Island while my class got back onto the boats and headed back to the docks to begin building the structure that the marine bio 1 class will plant coral on. In this construction, each person made their own little structure that consisted of the stacking and zip tying of cinder blocks. Once an individual came to a final decision on their structure they put cement in the holes of the cinder block that will be used to put the coral on. In order to make the cement, we mixed the cement mix with sand and water and mixed it until it was ready. Once it was ready we did what was previously mentioned but once we filled the cinder block holes, we placed a five inch dowel rod slightly into the cement. We did this because the dowel rod is a good place holder for the coral the other class will be planting. This dowel rod and cinder block will give the new coral the best chance to grow and flourish. When we were finished we got back into the taxi and headed back to guavaberry to shower up for our last night at Mad Dogs. When we got there, we had quesadillas and nachos. When we were finished eating, we tossed the football around, and then before parting, we gave Inge a big thanks for putting up with us for the last four nights. Day 4 was another great day in the BVI and I didn’t expect anything else.
