On day three of our trip, we explored the wreck site of a luxury ship from the 1860’s called the Rhone. The Rhone sank in October of 1867 due to a massive hurricane that ran the Rhone into land. The steam engine room was the first part of the ship to make contact causing an explosion that divided the ship in half. While snorkeling over the Rhone, I was able to see one of the huge propellers and the marine life that calls the Rhone their home. Next we went to Cooper island to enjoy the legendary fish and chips for lunch. We then returned to Guavaberry for dinner on the beach, and a night snorkel. During the night snorkel my group worked on our project which is the study of if the bioluminescence of plankton is affected by the temperature of water. We had some difficulty catching the plankton, but finally caught some and found out that in colder water it takes longer for the plankton to illuminate.
On day four of our trip, marine 2 was treated to a visit of Richard Branson’s Necker island. The island is a wildlife preserve and private resort consisting of different species of lemurs, tortoises, flamingos, and parrots. I had never seen lemurs, besides in the movie Madagascar, but they were so interesting and friendly. On our tour of the island we also encountered huge 600 lb. tortoises that looked prehistoric. The island also had two tennis courts because one is simply not enough. After our visit to Necker island, we headed to Saba rock for lunch, where I had the best fish tacos…ever. Saba rock restaurant and resort was started by the man who was in charge of collecting the artifacts from the Rhone, and in the gift shop they had several of the artifacts on display. We ended the great day with Jeff grilling out on the beach.
