After a breakfast at the teachers’ cabins, we ventured down to the dock to start the day with turtle tagging. Here, we listened to Joelle, a government official, describe his job. He explained the benefits of tagging turtles, such as allowing people to track their migratory, feeding, and reproducing patterns. He then explained our job for the day. This involved dragging ropes behind the boat, which we would hold on to. Once someone spotted a turtle, they would raise their hand, let go of the rope, and point out the location of the turtle to the other five people in the water. Everyone would then follow the turtle and surround it at all points. The person in the blind spot, behind its head, would then attempt to catch the turtle, grabbing its shell from both sides. The first group spotted two turtles, and Jeremy, one of the dive instructors, actually caught one. It was a hawksbill turtle, which meant it had a beak like structure, and it was also a little slower than most turtles. After taking it out of the water and placing it on the deck, Joelle tagged the turtle and recorded its measurements. As it was required, we gave the turtle a name, Krush, and then we placed it back in the water. My group was up next, and we also spotted two turtles; however, we weren’t able to catch any. We first spotted a hawksbill, but it was too deep to catch, as it was hovering at the bottom, which was around 50 feet deep, and we were only equipped with snorkels. Next, we spotted a green turtle, but it was way too fast for any of us to catch. Joelle told us the green turtles were aptly named “the Ferraris of the sea”. We then took a taxi to a beach and had lunch. After Jessica gave us a presentation on sea invertebrates, we snorkeled around the area, attempting to spot some of the organisms she pointed out. In addition to all these organisms, like fire worms, sea urchins, crabs, and sea stars, I also saw a really cool trumpet fish and a couple lizard fish. After I took a lengthy nap, we had dinner at the baths and then listened to a presentation about coral and what our school was doing to help replant it. This concluded our day.
