Synopsis: We had breakfast at Robbie’s and Charlie’s casa this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a pathway onto a balcony that you could see the ocean from. I ate breakfast up there and enjoyed the wonderful view. Skipping ahead to the boats, we loaded up the boats with two tanks and a hearty lunch. Our plan for the day was to do two dives and a snorkel, including eating lunch on the boat. We were all ecstatic about the first dive, the reck dive. We would be exploring the s.s. Kodiac Queen. While unknown at the time of sinking, the Kodiac Queen was one of the five surviving ships from the attack on Pearl harbor. It was discovered by a random diver who recognized the name of the ship and identified it. The bottom of the ship sits at around 60 feet, the inside at 40, and the top at 20. Before sinking the ship, artists constructed a giant octopus on the top of the ship with tentacles that wrap around the port and starboard sides of the ship. Also, a number of school kids were permitted to draw art and sign their names inside of the ship. Our group first circled around the bottom of the ship and saw some really cool fish including a dog snapper. Then, we travelled up the starboard (right) side and into a open panel and into the ship. We were immediately surrounded by the artwork including a welcome sign for divers. We explored the inside of the ship for a bit and then headed up into the head of the octopus. Unexpectedly all of the other groups from both boats entered at the same time. Seeing the opportunity, we all took a group photo. Then we excited the ship and went through the panel and ship again. After reading the surface, we had a snack while we travelled to our next location, the reef nursery. While unknown at the time, this would be the worst experience of the dive. We buddied up with another student and were assigned a coral tree. Our job was to clean the algae off the pvc so that the algae would not affect the coral growth. At the last minute, they mentioned that there would be some fire coral that we had to watch out for, but because it was last minute we shrugged it off. We headed down to the nursery with nothing but a steel wool ball and a grater. What we didn’t realize when we went down, however, was the sheer amount of fire coral on the PVC pipes. Since it is a growth coral and takes the shape of the thing it covers, it was wrapped around the pipes. I did not see this at first when we started cleaning, and it wasn’t until I had grabbed it that I realized it was fire coral. The pain lasted for ten minutes, but I continued cleaning, much more meticulously, after five minutes. The worst part about scraping the fire coral off the pipes was, when you scrapped off a bit chunk of coral, it would split into tiny bits and flat around the water. These bits would get on my face, neck, and hands. It would have gotten on a lot more places if I wasn’t wearing a wetsuit. We worked an hour before we were finally allowed to go back to the boat. After reconvening on the sea dragon, it turned out that everyone had gone through the same experience I had. We all agreed that getting bombarded with fire coral was inevitable. We also all agreed that it was the worst experience of the trip. I had red marks all over my face, neck, and hands where I had gotten touched. We had a long lunch and an even longer break while we hosted to our snorkel location. After we digested, we swam from the boats and jumped off the side. Then Ms. Beth gave us a short lecture on mangroves and how there are four different species, they remove the salt from the water going into shore, they act as a nursery for juvenile fish and baby sharks. We then went into the water and snorkeled alongside the mangroves, looking at the baby fish, large anemones, and shrimp and other crustaceans. After we reached our stopping point, we swam back to our ships. On they way back, we saw an anemones that had a little shrimp living inside of it. After that, we got back on the boat and went back to shore. That was about it for the day.
What I learned:
I learned about how much fire coral hurts when you touch it. I also learned how annoying it is to clean the reef nurseries, specifically, trying to get clams off of the PVC pipes. I learned about the history of the Kodiac Queen, its value coming out of pearl harbor, and the importance and anatomy of the mangroves.
What I look forward to:
I look forward to working on my service project tomorrow at the local high school. Not specifically with the kids, but for the school, getting it ready for the school year. I am also looking forward tofinishing up our project and presenting it to the instructors.
Me saluting aboard the Kodiac Queen
