Dr. Pepper Dan holding onto his afternoon snack

Yesterday, Dr. Pepper Dan went diving and was able to “almost” spear some lionfish. He brought two descent sized lionfish back to show the snorkelers and give them to the kitchen. [Editor’s note:  Dan has yet to successfully shoot a lionfish.  These were shot by an unnamed class instructor.] Rumor has it, hes really looking forward to his afternoon snack. During our lectures we learn lionfish are an invasive species and can easily prick and sting you! So watch out.

Morning snorkel to collect data for transect research project

This morning, Michelle and I went on a morning snorkel to collect data for our transect research project. This project is meant to see the grazing pressure that fish and sea urchins have on Discovery Bay. We accomplished this by measuring the abundance of 3 types of fish species being Acanthurids, Scarids, Damselfish and 3 types of sea urchins being Diadema, Tripneustes, Lytechinus in a 15 m transect line. We also had to map the ground data as well. This was a big pain in the butt. Especially if the winds picking up and waves are getting bigger. You are constantly getting tossed around. Michelle and I still had a blast, no matter what the conditions were.

The sunrise from the water.

It feels as if we just got here, but in reality we only have 3 days left. I’m very excited to see my friends, family and most importantly my 3 dogs. I’m going to miss Jamaica and all the fun and new friends I’ve made here. It’s been a blast, and the food was EXCELLENT. Thank you to all the discovery bay marine lab staff (and professors) who have helped all of us on this interesting, complicated, jumble of joy we have gotten our self into. Ps sorry for spilling the coffee all over :).

– Skittles 🙂