19 Jan AM – Look Ma, I’m a real diver now!

After a late night game of volleyball after dinner the previous night, I was not sure how I was going to wake up for my very first not-in-training dive before breakfast this morning. Luckily I managed the getting up part and let the water do the actual waking. Megan and I had the pleasure of having Snow (one of the dive masters) show us around dive site LTS. We saw a moray eel, a lionfish, and I finally found a flamingo tongue!

Julia_flamingotongue

Cutest little sea creature, second only to…

Julia_benny
 

…Benny (Taylor named him), the lettuce sea slug in our collection. 

Later, we finally got to go on the night dive. I was pretty nervous because we were told that we would probably get stung by the jellyfish that hang out at the surface and I only have a shorty and also because we only had about eight lights for 14 divers. It was pretty cool though. It was a full moon, so even at 30ft, while we were waiting for everyone else to descend, we could see each other without any light. I didn’t see an octopus or a sea turtle, like when I went on the night snorkel, but it was fun seeing the bioluminescence every time we moved around under water.

As for the research project, it is going well. Jose and I are studying the mutualistic relationship between Upside Down Jellyfish and Zooxanthellae, which are photosynthesizing organisms that reside in the Jellyfish’s tentacles, and how that relationship changes in the absence of light. After a slow start in trying to figure out our methodology, we were finally able to extract the Zooxanthellae and start counting them.

Julia_zoox
 

So many Zooxanthellae for us to count.

– Julia

 

 

8 thoughts on “19 Jan AM – Look Ma, I’m a real diver now!

  1. Taylor, how is Benny the best name for a slug you came up with? I taught you better than this. Stop clownfishing around.
    Kudos to the photographer, though.

  2. Julia,
    Yeah, you’re a real diver! Diving under full moon must have been pretty cool. You all are having a great (and busy) time. Nice pictures, btw.
    Speaking of snow, we got about one inch here this morning. I miss Jamaica…
    Beijos,
    Papi

  3. Taylor I can’t believe you named it after our building. I mean it’s not bad, but you cod do better. Just kidding it’s adorable 🙂 I hope all of you have fun and be safe!

  4. Volley-ball… diving… full moon…
    What a great time. Enjoy.
    Great photos. Did you take them?
    Vo Ze’

  5. Julia
    Seu comentário sobre a luminescência no mar, com lua cheia , me fez lembrar o que vi em Cabo Frio há meio século atrás. E’ um espetáculo único! Imagino como deve ter sido para voce under water! As fotos sao suas? Muito boas.

  6. Super cool! I remember seeing the bioluminescence ages ago and it was magical. I think I would have a hard time diving in the night, but it must be a spectacle in itself. You ARE a real diver! I’m very happy for you! 😀 Good luck with the counting! Love, mom.

  7. Benny is a great name, not after the building, just after a character in a show i love (ew Benedict! Lol) He is perfect and I love him.

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