Today the diving was equally as incredible as our first day, as we encountered an abundance of marine life and even ran into new creatures that we previously only imagined. Our first stop was further out than Saturday’s excursion, bringing us all the way out to Ginger Island, where we descended at a location known as the ginger steps. The first ten minutes yielded an incredible site: Caribbean Reef sharks, which circled us while we made it across the sand bar. They ranged approximately 3-6 ft. long and came within five feet of us which was an insightful experience to say the least. The remainder of the dive consisted of amazing views with many brain coral specimens and even a lion fish that our guide pointed out to us under a rock and incredible large lobsters that hid near the sand bar. Overall, the dive has been my favorite for the fact that we learned about the history of the island and the beautiful views that embellished the area. Next up was ginger backside, the otherwise of the island with a peculiar name. Here, the real challenge began as we embarked on our groups first project dive. The goal was to study the frequency of three herbivores (Blue Tang, Damselfish, and Parrotfish) compared to various densities of staghorn coral in a 10*10 area. My job was to mark off the area, which proved to be a challenge while using body measurements as a tape measure. The first stage of the project went very well, as we were able to record data from four different sites, doubling the amount of sites we predicted to record. After lunch, the real party started as we relaxed and swam at the beach and even had a series of competitions in order to with prizes. After this grueling endeavor mass ensued which proved to be very relaxing and included a tropical mix on the stereotypical Catholic mass. The conclusion of today climaxed with an incredible Mahi Mahi dish and to top it all off we had the luxury of watching three inane fire dancers that really flamed on. The night ended with then last flame and we headed off to our huts for sleep.
