Today was the first day of my aquatic adventures here in Jamaica. It all seemed very intimidating at first with warning coming from our professors, “touching is the root of all evil”. But even that couldn’t restrain my restless curiosity for experiencing everything the coral reefs of Discovery Bay had to offer. As I traveled down to the docks with my group I couldn’t help but look out to the ocean and feel like the luckiest person on earth. The hot weather had guaranteed my destination for the day. My first trip out into the crystal clear waters had me mesmerized by the abundance of life that could be found everywhere on the sea floor.

A hidden point in Discovery Bay.

The most plentiful of the organisms was the Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber, a long brown invertebrate deserving of its name. Other creatures like the West Indian Sea Egg and the Long Spined Sea Urchin could be found everywhere hiding in coral knolls and crevices. I spotted a few squirrel fish and bicolor damselfish seeking shelter in the some of the Staghorn Coral as well as French Grunt and occasionally a Needlefish and Balloon Fish. The most impressive find of my watery escapade was a sizable Lizardfish lying prone in Seagrass as I was SCUBA diving. The coloration was absolutely gorgeous and it didn’t budge even though I was less than a meter from it.

The wildlife is teeming both at sea and on land.

The most exciting experience I had was diving at night after our last class. It was a bit scary at first not knowing what lurked in the dark so I and a few others that went stayed close to the docks. After a short while our confidence returned and we began swimming further away. It was incredible how much the environment changes over night compared to the day. I collected many samples of fish thanks to the help of my classmates and established a diverse tank of which I am very proud of. I’m sure it’s not the last of the truly exciting experience I’m going to have here in Jamaica.

– Brooks