Today started the same as yesterday with my alarm going off at 7am and a breakfast at 7:30 in the jasmine cabin. The marine biology 2 students hosted to breakfast consisting of a cereals, bagels, and other breakfast items. Once everyone finished eating breakfast we then went down to the entrance of the resort to wait for our taxi to take us back to the dock. At the docks we boarded the “sea monkey” and “sea dragon” which took us out to sea to clean the coral nursery. Once under the water we split into two different groups to clean any debris or algae off the PVC pipe that held the “coral of opportunity”. The process of cleaning the PVC pipe was very simple all we had to do was take a sponge and glove and wipe the off the PVC pipes. After we were done cleaning the PVC pipe we took a very short tour of the coral reef near the nursery. Once we were back on the boat we had a few small snacks and headed out to another reef where we would work on our group projects. This sight was by far my favorite sight. On this dive John, Henry, Marc, Wyatt, and I, led by Becca, swam through a canyon and under an arch, which I found really cool. Swimming through the canyon we saw a variety of fish including the trumpet fish, which is one of my favorite. After we were done recording data and ready to go back on the boat we got back on board and took off our scuba gear. Once we were all on board we drove to a bay and set anchor. At the bay we met up with the other boat and ate lunch together. After lunch was over, we snorkeled to shore and walked to a salt pond which was on a couple hundred feet from the water. On the snorkel to the salt pond I saw a sea turtle, barracuda, and other common Caribbean fish such as the blue tang. At the salt pond we were able to walk around the boundary and pick up some salt. Once we were done with the salt pond we snorkeled back to the boat and traveled back to the dock. We then took a taxi back to our resort and worked on our group project until about 6:15, when we had to head down to the beach to eat a hamburger dinner. After dinner we then went on our night dive, which was pretty fun and interesting; although it got a little frantic when our group lost a go pro, a fin strap, and when a scuba fin broke. Fortunately, everything was quickly found. Overall my day was very long and tiring, but I am looking forward to tomorrow’s activities.
