Yesterday was such an action packed day we were not able to blog so I will do both day 5 and 6 today. Yesterday morning started particular excellent because Miles Burrow selflessly cooked eggs for the entire group. The protein was much needed because in the morning we dove the Rhone which was a real wreck. This wreck was huge and it is one of the most popular Caribbean dive sites. It was incredible to experience because it was crazy to imagine real people actually dying at that site. We saw some incredible things when we dove under the wreckage like a humongous barracuda. This dive was one of my favorites it at the next dive site we got to experience shark infested waters. We dove down and basically got to hang out with two Caribbean Reef Sharks. These sharks swam around us and got close enough to take some good pictures with. I was surprised at how beautiful those animals are under water. I falsely expected to be scared of them but was actually truly amazed with them. After hanging with the Sharks, we got to eat lunch and snorkel at Cooper Island (not affiliated with Cooper Marshall). This island was one of the most beautiful ones I had seem yet and me and Jack even found a Hawksbill turtle while snorkling. The sea life that lived in the sea grass around cooper island was divers and interesting to see because special species live in that different environment. We got to see a Eagle Ray which was a very beautiful animal. After hanging at the Island we went home and got to work on the finishing touches of out project. We put in good work and were able to reach a comfortable stopping point pretty soon. Then we had some nice Mexican food which had me missing home a little on the beach. It was a fun and action packed day that left me pooped. I went to bed very early because I knew we had turtle tagging in the morning which I was very excited for. Day 6 was very fun (it helped we got to sleep in for an extra half hour). We had breakfast which my cabin prepared then we went to listen to Dr. Gore who helps out with the conservation of turtles. She gave us a talk that really helped me realize how important turtles were to our ecosystem. Then we went out to the boat where Reece, Jack, Cooper, Luke Gomez and I got behind the boat where we were towed through jelly fish infested water until we saw a turtle. After a long 20 minutes, we finally spotted a Hawksbill. We chased the turtle and I will never associate turtles with slow again. That thing was so fast but after a long battle Cooper Marshall was able to capture the turtle. We brought the turtle up and then tagged it. It was cool to see the process and nice to know how much it would help the turtle population. We named the turtle Francis and we hope it lives long. After turtle tagging we went snorkling and learned about invertebrates. The creatures were weird feeling but really cool to learn about. After lunch, it was strictly business and we got to work to present for our project. We nailed our presentation and our entire group did well. I hope we get a good grade and I am glad that it’s over. All the Dive BVI staff and even Doc told us we did good so I am confident in my team. Then, we had our last dinner on the beach and enjoyed some delicious pizza. It’s sad to know our time is coming to an end but I am looking forward to helping out the BVI by cleaning one of their beaches tomorrow. I want to positively impact the community and hope everything goes well.
