Well, waking up on a beautiful island wasn’t the worst way to start the day:). Breakfast started at 7:15 at the teacher cabin with eggs/sausage, muffins and yogurt. After a quick meal we headed to the conference from to discuss sea turtles with a professional. We learned the threats posed against sea turtles and how to catch and tag them for further research. Team Sea Monkey headed to a new island to attempt catching a turtle first. Since this was my team, we spent about 2 hours swimming about the area using corralling techniques to attempt a turtle tag. This sounds like plenty of time to catch ONE turtle but it wasn’t at all. So we were unsuccessful turtle taggers but it was still an incredible experience. After tagging turtles we ate a cheeseburger and fries lunch that was really good. Following lunch we headed to Savannah Beach to find invertebrates and crustaceans. During this snorkel, the sea monkey crew and some of the Dive BVI staff found a giant sea cucumber, a brittle star fish, and a massive hermit crab in a conch shell. This activity gave us some insight on the other creatures that we are swimming around this week. Following this activity was a break and then the beach games. The beach games were a series of games and obstacle courses that were competed for to win $50 to the dive shop for each member of the winning cabin. The competing cabins were Plum, Lime(my cabin), Mango, and Jasmine. Of course the winning team was my cabin:). Following the games was a lasagna dinner on the beach and a wonderful conclusion to a great day. Throughout the day, I learned so many new things about sea turtles, crustaceans and invertebrates. Overall, the day was fantastic and this trip continues o build upon itself with its amazing experiences. There is no better place in the world to learn about incredible animals and spend time with my Jesuit brothers. Can’t wait for another day in paradise!
