The first student blog posts are due this evening (Jan 9th) and will be posted throughout the following day. But today, we get another faculty post while the students are figuring out what they're going to write about.  Breakfast was this morning and one of the true highlights of teaching this class (other than working with all the great students) is the giant urn of fresh, Blue Mountain coffee in the cafeteria in the morning. There's nothing better to start your day especially when you're going on a pre-breakfast dive (as some of us are doing tomorrow).

Yummm. Coffee.  Breakfast was also delicious (fresh pineapple and mango amongst other delights).

Then we continued our lectures with an introduction to coral reefs.  After that the DBML (Discovery Bay Marine Lab) Dive Safety Officer (Mr. Scarlett) gave a safety lecture, everybody filled out paperwork, and took a tour of the dive locker and waterfront.

The red tape that has to be dealt with before hitting the water.

And then we got in the water.  I'll refrain from mentioning that the water felt somewhat cool (as opposed to Great South Bay which was covered with ice when we flew out of JFK yesterday). We divided the students into groups and led them around the reef lagoon area where they got see ~ 100 different species of plants, invertebrates, and fish.  Now they just need to start learning the latin names of all those organisms!

Snorkelers popping out of the water for a photo. 

Prof. Warren