Everyday right after breakfast we go out for two to three dives. During this we not only observe the underwater world because we enjoy it, but we also are collecting photos every day for one of our class assignments, and then we have to identify the common and scientific names of each organism. For this assignment, we have to collect photos of roughly 33 vertebrates, 33 invertebrates and 33 plants (algae, sea grasses, etc…).

One of the plants my partner and I had to identify.

Between each dive we have to take a surface interval for one hour, where we eat biscuits, tea and coffee, snorkel if we want to and just hang around. For me, the surface interval is one of the most fun aspects of the day socially because we all mess around with each other so much. Our dive master Iso has this really fun habit of pushing us (mostly me, I feel) off the side of the boat. This has escalated so much so that we have begun turning against each other. Yesterday Tracey, one of the graduate students on this trip, tried pushing me off but I had latched on to her, so she sacrificed herself and jumped off just to take me down. This is all in good fun, and its honestly going to be one of the things I miss most when our trip ends.

– Erin