I woke up Sunday morning with a burning desire to see sharks. We had the normal breakfast routine at the Mango house, and headed towards the marina afterwards. At the marina, we loaded up and headed for the RMS Rhone. Even though I had already heard the story multiple times, it still interests me. It was built in 1865, and sunk in 1867, crashing due to the worst hurricane that the BVI had ever seen and becoming an awful investment for the boat’s buyers. While in the land down under, we saw the reck and debris at an arms-length, including the state of the art propeller at the time and the rest of the bow. Upon our return, the sea monkey ventured off to to another dive site, the Ginger Steps, while the others remained near the Rhone. At the steps, our boat saw an assortment of exotic animals, including: pufferfish, flounder, and Caribbean Reef Sharks. After getting very low to the sand and having a savage run-in with fire coral, the sharks began checking us out and gradually coming closer and closer. After some very successful pictures, we re-boarded and headed off to the island with the namesake of my cousin, Cooper Island. The restaurant once again delivered the best Fish N’ Chips, and left me some room for gelato and a game of hackey sac. After the relaxing, we began our sea grass snorkel at the island where I saw turtles, tarpon, and even an Eagle Ray. Afterwards we went back to Guavaberry, where a key was broken and a conspiracy was created. We began finishing and rehearsing our projects, then followed that by having a Mexican Food dinner on the beach. After dinner I immediately returned to the Jasmine house and passed out. I awoke the next morning confused and hungry. I went to the Lime Tree house at 730, not knowing that Doc had given us a day to sleep in a bit because of a miscommunication. After breakfast we went down towards the commissary for a presentation from the Sea Turtle expert, Dr. Gore. When the presentation was over, we jumped into the taxi and headed towards the marina. When we arrived, my fellow Sea Monkey enthusiasts and I had to hop aboard the Sea Dragon, making me feel like the diving equivalent to Benedict Arnold. When we got out of the marina, we found a good spot to begin the sea turtle snatching. We were towed behind the boats, this time with less jellyfish, until we spotted one just chilling on the ocean floor near some Elkhorn Coral. Then, the chase began. After a long run, the turtle was caught by my cousin, Cooper. If you, the reader, have been avidly reading my blogs, you would know that I caught a turtle last year. I guess the sea turtle catching runs in our family blood. Afterwards, the seniors had the afternoon with Jeff. We ate lunch, had many talks about life lessons, dove at the jesuit reef, and finished off the outing with a cold, Texas made, Dr. Pepper. After the very fun afternoon, we returned to Guavaberry to present our projects. I feel very confident with our presentation, and believe all of the instructors felt that we did a great job, especially the Marine Biology 1 students in my group, Bobby, Jack, Reece, and Cooper. After that we had a pizza dinner on the beach, had some good laughs while looking at the sunset, and where I witnessed Jack Lynch perform a swift backflip. These past few days have been hectic, but I wouldn’t change a thing!
