I have not read the blog yet, so I have no idea what has been written. I assume that  you all know about the many early mornings the people getting certified have endured! But, today was our last day of classes as six of us got certified (and four to follow tomorrow).  The morning started with a wonderful gray sky and rain.  We slugged our gear on, dribbled on the boat and got started.  I hate to complain, seeing how we are all in Jamaica, getting dive certified, in waters that are only a few steps from our bed but its been a very long 8 days (or so, honestly I have lost count) and we have been all pretty maxed out.  So, in any case, we had two dives which officially completed our dives, but we still had to pass the test. 

The rest of the day was spent by everyone working on the very beginnings of their projects.  My research partner is Colleen, and we put a lot of thought, work and sweet and finally decided to study sea grass! Actually, I am very excited, it’s just both Colleen and I are Marine Vertebrate Biology majors, and here we on, living on a reef and studying sea grass! So, here is the base for the study; as I am sure you have read, there is a huge source of ground water coming into the part of the bay we are on.  This water brings with it HUGE amounts of nutrients, and what interest us is the nitrogen it carries.  It is thought that this enriched water is taken up by the sea grass, and in turn makes the sea grass a better food source for the lovely fishes that reside here.  So, to make a long story short, we will trying to help support this assumption with the transplanting of sea grass from our side of the bay ( the west side) to the east side of the bay.  We spent the day making our equipment, as did every one else.  I was impressed how focused everyone is, knowing what they wanted to do, and using their imaginations to come up with a solid way of during it, even the pouring rain didn’t damper the days energy. 

Later on, the 10 wanna be divers took the final PADI test, and became actual certified divers (yes, every one passed).  So, it was all worth it! And I can’t wait to take my first dive deeper than 20 feet, which if the weather clears up, will be happening tomorrow morning! So, I love and miss you all, and hope that you are all surviving that New York weather!!!