July 17
Today we woke at 7:00 and ate breakfast at Jasmine cabin, the marine II cabin. There was no mil for cereal, but since it was the last cabin breakfast, the teachers provided donuts, chocolate and glazed that were about two or three times the size of a normal donut. After that, we got onto the taxi and went to the beach outside the water treatment facility to clean the shore. It is important to clean as the rope and other pollution gets stuck in the filter that goes into the sea where they get their water from. We spent about two hours cleaning the beach, clearing multiple pickup truck loads before we stopped. We went to the dive BVI shop to get some souvenirs and I got an exquisitely detailed map of the Virgin Islands as well as some gifts for my family. We then ate at the marina restaurant andI had the burger again and it was just as good as before. We returned to the cabins to put the finishing touches on our projects before presenting them to the teachers and all the dive staff. My group went third or fourth and I believe we did fairly well. The presentation lasted about ten minutes and there was about five minutes of questions, most involving our project, which was on the effects of long spined sea urchins have on the health of the reef. We then had about three hours to rest, and most people went to the beach. At 6:30, we walked over to the Top of the Baths Restaurant where we ate fish, chicken, ribs, macaroni, and some other sides buffet style. The ribs and fish were my favorite and the lemonade was delicious. Casey made a speech thanking the dive staff and teachers, as well as sharing her joy of being with our group. Bryce and Jake made speeches thanking the teachers and dive staff on behalf of the juniors and seniors and we watched a slide show Casey had made. After thanking our group leaders and the staff on our boats, we left to pack for the return trip.
