Today was our fourth day here on Virgin Gorda. Our activities scheduled for the day included tagging sea turtles and observing marine invertebrates. After we ate breakfast, we headed down to the main room at which Dr. Gore, a scientist with the government, gave us a presentation on the history and classification of sea turtles in the BVI. She also taught us how to properly catch and tag a sea turtle, if we caught one. As we got to the beach, our group was chosen to tag sea turtles in the morning and observe invertebrates in the afternoon. We headed out and landed at a local beach, looking for sea turtles. For the 45 minutes we looked, I personally did not see any sea turtles, but three were reportedly seen between the ten of us guys. We soon figured we would not find many turtles at this spot, so we relocated. We decided that the best idea to spot sea turtles would to be to constantly be on the move, so we attached ropes to the boat and hug about 100 feet behind the boat as it dragged us across the ocean. Within the first five minutes, one guy spotted a turtle, but it darted away before any of us could reach it. We continued being dragged behind the boat for the next 15 minutes, waves splashing in our faces, making it hard to breathe. Finally, we spotted another turtle, the last of the day. Out group followed the turtle for about 10 minutes, keeping track of where it went whenever it darted away. Finally, we gave up and headed back in for lunch. We ate at Bath and Turtle, a local restaurant, and headed off to our next activity of the day. Our group went to a local beach, where our dive instructors waited for us. They gave us a brief overview of invertebrates and what they look like, and they sent us off into the ocean to look for these animals. We looked for about 45 minutes, and my partner and I found a clam, sea slug, and sea pearl. As we came back onto the beach, the dive instructors gave us a detailed overview of the animals we brought back. Finally, Glenn, our bus driver, brought us back to our cabins, and we began working on our presentation for our sponge research project. We finished the basics of or presentation and now just have to finish some more details. Overall, the day shifted from being tiring catching turtles to being relaxing looking at invertebrates and working on our research project.
Today, I learned more about endangered species such as BVI sea turtles and ways in which research through tagging can be helpful to the species. Collecting tags on sea turtles provides new measurements of the animal, which can be recorded and used to find the growth patterns of sea turtles. I also learned more about invertebrates and the ways they act and where they are located in the ocean. Tomorrow I am looking forward to our rhone dives, which we will get to visit a sunken ship site. The days left of this trip are dwindling, so I am trying to make the most out of every day. 
