Today we started out by going to breakfast just like a normal day in the BVI. After eating we went onto the sea monkey, where we were briefed on what we were going to be doing for the day. Today’s main mission was coral replantation. Our objectives were to find the staghorn coral fragments from the previous Jesuit reef, bring them back to the new reef and prepare them for a new environment, and finally put them down into the reef with special putty epoxy to create a new environment for marine species to inhabit. When we arrived at the previous jesuit reef, we saw the devastation that anchoring can attribute to the utter destruction of a reef. Many corals were all over the place, some being extremely healthy. It brought a great deal of sadness to the group and I, but in that sadness we saw joy in the way that these corals I’ll be put to a new purpose in their new home. After collecting the coral pieces, we arrived at the new reef where we connected boats with the already anchored sea dragon, which is the marine biology boat for the advanced marine biology students. We cleaned and separated the corals followed by eating lunch, swimming around for a little bit, and putting the corals in their places. Each scuba buddy team was placed with an advanced marine biology student and we swam out to the reef to plant the coral. The camera was extremely cool and it showed me how marine life protection is moving forward rapidly and helping the planet everyday. After the planting, we lodged excess corals in crevices to give them a chance in the wild. After that we snorkeled around the reef where I saw a school of tens of thousands of minnows. It was absolutely surreal how endless the school was when I navigated through it. After that we returned to the marina, followed by out cabins where we were given a break before we headed to a pizza dinner on the beach. The dinner was delicious and the ocean beautiful. Today was fantastic and I cannot wait for our community service and beach day tomorrow!
