Today’s Events
Today after we woke up we headed to the cabin of the teacher’s for breakfast where there were eggs and sausage as well as cereal. Then we met at the cattle guard as the taxi arrived to take us to the boats. The boats took us to the first dive site which was ginger hole where we readied up and descended. The dive was about 32 ft deep and we began to work on our group project for the first time during this dive. We setup the lion fish markers that marked the boundaries of our 10 by 10 square. Then for 10 minutes we observed this square and watched for blue tangs, surgeon fish, and Doctor fish. After writing the observations and amount of fish that passed through the square on underwater paper we began to swim around to see more fish. After scoping out the coral reef our instructor Becca pointed out some shrimp that were hidden under some rocks. Then as we went under the boat there were two squids that were near the anchor line. After surfacing and taking our gear off we headed to the second dive site called back ginger and got in the water to continue our project. We set up the same 10 by 10 square and watched for 10 minutes for the tree certain fish and documented our findings. After that we searched around for more time and saw a shark, a barracuda, and a few crabs. I finished both dives with a psi of about 900 and they’re ally tired me out. When we surfaced we met the second boat and ate lunch and swam in the water for a bit before heading to the salt island where there is a salt lake in a crater of sorts. We hiked to the top of the mountain and looked at the view. Then we returned to the dock and helped to put the gear up from the boat and went back to the rooms
What I LearnedI learned how the salt islands are named after the massive salt deposits that were mined in colonial times. The settlers that first found the island created a settlement that is now all rubble and they stayed there until the last settler’s descendant died on the island in the 1900s. The salt deposits caused by the particles on the bottom of the little lake being sifted and the salt being left behind in a thick layer that settles on the bottom. Then the salt miners were to grab a tool that resembles an upside down shovel to scrape the salt off of the bottom that would be sold for preserving meat because there was not refrigeration back then and for flavoring. The salt was major export for the settlers and it caused the livelihood of many of them. There is a grave site on the island that is marked for the settlers and there is a mass unmarked grave that belongs to the people that were on the famous Rhone shipwreck. Their bodies washed up on the shore of the beach and the settlers put their bodies into a grave. The island is now deserted and the salt lake is a gross looking thing, all of the money that was in the salt mine now is gone. I also saw a interesting rock formation on the way back to the docks that Becca said was called the Sphinx because it resembles the Sphinx of Egypt.
What I Am Looking Forward To
Tomorrow we have the turtle tagging activity that I am really looking forward to because I think that they are a fascinating creature that I really enjoyed learning about in class. The study on the coral nursery and how to bring back the coral is really cool. The free time to play in the water and on the beach is fun as well. This day was enjoyable as well and I hope to see more interesting creatures like the ones I saw today such as sharks and squids. The project begin gin went well and I hope that it continues to do as well. I am excited for the deeper dives that we get to go on later in the week that reach around 80 feet.
