Today was a full day of snorkeling. Immediately after breakfast a couple of us practically ran into the water and went out to the reef crest. The visibility was perfect and the water was calm. There was so much life and color. It is amazing how diverse such a small area can be. During our swim we encountered a Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), Balloon fish (Diodon holocanthus), Peacock Flounder (Bothus lunatus) and many others. After two hours of snorkeling, we headed in for a perfectly scrumptious lunch. After inhaling our food, we had our tropical reef fish lecture where we learned about all the fish we had seen that morning. Fun fact, some fish have bones (Osteichthyes), and some have cartilage (Chondrichthyes)!

After the lecture it was time to snorkel again. We swam over the hole which is a very deep section close to shore. All of a sudden the sand dropped into darkness and the comforting sight of the bottom was gone. I became completely still and floated in the blue. Suddenly a long skinny tail caught my peripheral. It was a beautiful Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinar) gliding through the water. It was small, only about three feet long in diameter but it felt massive. We swam with it for over three minutes watching the way it flew. Eventually we couldn’t keep up and had to stop.

Afterwards, we started identifying everything we had seen and began to compile a slideshow will all the organisms. As of right now my group has photographed and identified over 70 different species. The day was filled with amazing discoveries and I’m excited for what has yet to come.

Pictured left to right: Rose, Sarah, Emily, Christine, Camille, and Paxton at the reef crest.

A Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinar) that we spotted which caused a multi minute swim along.

– Raspberry Rose