Island Times Blog

Today was the start of our NAUI Intro to Scientific Diving Specialty Course.

This course was developed by SeaTrek as a unique advanced diving and research component of the FATHOMS program. Today students completed two dives: 1) General scuba skills assessment at Salt Island and 2) Species Identification/Monitoring at Diamond Reef. They also began learning species identification and the monitoring methods they would be using throughout the course. After lunch we headed to Marina Cay where we met up with the other SeaTrek boats and stayed overnight. Our first guest lecturer from the University of the Virgin Islands – St. Croix, Marcia Taylor, joined us and began talking to students about her research and career as a marine biologist. For our evening activity, we continued discussing coral monitoring and also talked about the many ways human activities are impacting the marine environment. We used local BVI case studies to explore these impacts further. We’re looking forward to seeing what adventures are in store for us tomorrow!