Island Times Blog

A short rain shower got everyone up early and got us going (continued…)

We ate a quick breakfast and got in the water for our next dive as soon as we could. We dove at a site called Barracuda Shoals. We saw so many different creatures, including 4 large stingrays, 3 lionfish, several grouper, 2 large lobster, arrow crabs, and all kinds of different corals and reef fish. Some students even saw a four-foot reef shark! For many of our students, this was their first encounter with a shark in the wild. We enjoyed the site so much that we decided to dive it again before lunch. We also took some time to get the spear guns out and capture a couple lionfish. We then removed the spines and dissected them, talking about their biology, adaptations and what makes them such successful predators – and, unfortunately, a threat to the health of the reefs. After lunch we went to the Southwest Allens for some beach time and to interact with some local wildlife, resident iguanas. We then took a walk across the cay and checked out the intertidal zone. A few of the students practiced some coral monitoring methods for their Introduction to Scientific Diving Specialty Course. Afterwards, we motored a few more hours south where we ended up finding a nice, protected spot to stay for the night. Our evening presentations focused on species identification. Chad, our other biologist and dive master, presented reef fish and I presented corals, invertebrate and algae. Before we knew it, we were showered and headed to bed after another great day!