Day 3 in Jamaica and waking up at 7am never felt better! With sunny skies, crystal clear water and over 80° weather it was a perfect day for some snorkeling and diving. Today was the first day of diving for some of us, which meant leaving the shallows of the lagoon and plunging into the open ocean. Those of us, including myself, who dove this morning, were able to see a stingray and a lionfish which many of us had never seen before, as well has hundreds of other organisms. Getting to see these animals up close totally beats the Discovery Channel any day. Every group continued collections for their projects, with many people finding some very cool creatures! Some of these were crabs, snails, fire worms, slugs, brittle stars and anemones.

Going from sitting in the sun and swimming for hours to sitting through 3 lectures is not that thrilling. Getting to see something you just learned about in the classroom, out on the reef, however, is very exciting and gets your curiosity flowing. For example, our first lecture was about the dangerous species on the reef, so the first time we went snorkeling and I spotted a Scorpion fish right next to me. It was awesome but I knew it was a poisonous fish and shouldn’t touch it. Finding new things is very exhilarating and everyone loves to share what they found. Everyday keeps getting better and better out on the reef, and I can’t wait to see what will happen tomorrow!

Debbie

 Can you find the scorpion fish?

Sharptail eel resting on the sandy bottom

 A very sunny day 3 at Discovery Bay Marine Lab began with my roommate Sumo using his finely tuned internal alarm clock to wake up about 4 minutes before our 7:30 a.m. breakfast was served. Why not use an alarm clock you ask? Well, our good friend Ian brought an alarm clock that seemed to have been purchased at a store which sells objects used to prank people. For some strange reason, for every hour that passed in our world, the alarm clock loses 10 minutes! Instead we rely on someone in the room waking up before 7:30 a.m. on their own and then waking the other roommates up: an obviously fool proof plan.

After devouring a tasty Jamaican breakfast, our class separated into a group of snorkelers and a group of SCUBA divers. As a SCUBA diver, I grew more and more excited as the time until my first dive, since 2008, came closer with every second. We loaded up the boat with the help of our local Divemaster Anthony: A man whose diving experience is only exceeded by his kindness and relaxed Jamaican demeanor. When we finally reached our diving site known as Dairy Bull, my heart raced with anticipation. The dive group was composed of Max, Bryan, Ian, Debbie, Nicole and myself, along with Anthony and our two professors Joe and Brad (who by the way have hearts of gold and who can teach as well as Usain Bolt can run). Anyway, flattery aside, the dive was absolutely amazing! Having the chance to feeling like aqua man, even for a short time, is every boy’s dream to some extent. Within five minutes of entering the crystal clear water, we were approached by a curious yet potentially dangerous stingray. As it glided gracefully just above the ocean floor, I gazed in amazement. The dive site exceeded my expectations as we were also fortunate enough to encounter the legendary Lionfish. A fish whose beautiful exterior should not be mistaken for harmlessness, as it is one of the only organisms that we will see here at Discovery Bay that could seriously injure someone! However, safety precautions explained by trusty Joe and Brad allowed us to feel out completely safe and appreciate the creature’s magnificence.

 
A lionfish, the King of the Jungle, and by Jungle I mean Reef [Photo by Joe]

As night arrived at this piece of paradise, some brave souls gathered and ventured off into the night in search of some adventure. We made the difficult one minute trek down to the dock area and gazed at the stars in peaceful serenity. However, there is something in the air down here, a sort of energy that brings excitement to all that encounter it. As you can see, it was not too long before the group circled around a violent fight that broke out between two sworn enemies. Just kidding, it was just Max and I attempting to imitate something out of Cirque de Sole and me hoping that Max doesn’t drop me on my head. The night ended with a deep sleep dreaming of tomorrow’s adventures.

 
The circus is in town and everyone is watching!

– Josh

Picture this, you wake up and all you hear is the sound of waves crashing on the shore and feel that cool Caribbean breeze. I have arrived!!! Participating in this course is more than an educational experience for me. It is a cultural and spiritual one too because my mother was born and raised in Jamaica. I owe it to myself to experience the natural beauty of the country for myself and take home the lessons I’ve learned. Anyhoo, enough of the personal reflection. Today was awesome!!! Those three lectures really made my day. :) And the food is so tasty. As a first time snorkeler, I was truly blown away. We snorkeled all the way to the reef crest at Discovery Bay and I was able to capture some wonderful footage and photos with my underwater camera. To go along with the Disney theme, I caught a photo of some orange sponge and it reminded me of Finding Nemo (which I think is a derivative of Nematocyst). I hope you like what I saw. That’s all for this edition folks!!!

~Ratatouille Rach~

My Finding Nemo sponge captured near the reef crest. 

   
Damsel(fish) in distress. I swear he was looking at me and waiting to pose for the camera.

Ever spent an evening relaxing on your couch watching Discovery Channel and in awe, completely mesmerized by what the camera lens is zooming in and out of? Well, imagine the same view experienced through your own eyes. LIVE. Barrier reef, finger coral, anemones, sea urchins, school of fish, and the poisonous lionfish… All of this, and much more, is Jamaica right before your eyes. I knew traveling to Jamaica to study coral reef ecology would be a vivid, opportune experience but not until I waddled in my flippers from the dock and dunked my head underwater to see did I realize that snorkeling through the Caribbean Sea was, in essence, the Discovery Channel Live. I saw the finger coral, which has finger-like branches that span out at you. Anemones, purple and green tipped, are pretty but will sting at the slightest touch. Black sea urchins, although beautiful and majestic, are best to look at and let be. Every single sight is rich and beautiful. In the clear blue, warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, to swim quickly is to miss picture perfect scenery. Glide gently, enjoy, and observe Jamaica in all of its diverse maritime glory and sustainability. One of the coolest things I discovered my first day snorkeling was that some of the fish will seemingly interact with you. A few that I came across would directly look at me for a good 5 seconds, swimming back and forth to keep afloat, as if checking me out or posing for the camera. I was able to capture a good portrait of a yellow-tailed damselfish this way.

First day in Jamaica: exhilarating. And many more days like these to come.

-Liza

Portrait of a damselfish.

Beautiful and majestic black sea urchins.

Me snorkeling for the first time in Jamaica.

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. We lost our internet connection here at DBML but it's come back tonight so we'll be catching up on posts over the next 12-24 hours.  We had a solid day of rain and wind here in Jamaica and are about to start our 4th lecture of the day. Hopefully the students will survive the deluge of knowledge that has hit them in the last 72 hours.

Prof. Warren

The class hit the water for the first time this afternoon. Due to low tide and sizeable waves, we didn't go over the reef crest today but students managed to explore numerous environments including mangoves, groundwater plumes, lagoon, and the reef flat.

In case you were wondering who the brave and hearty souls were who are willing to leave Long Island in January for the coral reefs of Jamaica, here's our class photo.

Stony Brook University's Tropical Marine Ecology course (MAR 388) has begun!  All of us (21 students,  1 graduate student, and 2 faculty) and our luggage arrived safely at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory last night. We left behind the snow in Long Island for the green-blue waters of the Caribbean which are literally a few steps from where we sleep. We started the class immediately after dinner with a lecture by Prof. Peterson. We've got 3 more lectures scheduled for today along with our first class snorkel. We'll try to have at least two blog posts each day that we're here so stay tuned for more updates…

Prof. Joe Warren

The snow in Long Island that we all miss very much.

Discovery Bay at first light this morning.

This morning's lecture.