Since my last post, we have experienced so many new and wonderful things that it was hard to choose just one to write about. So, I decided to write a follow-up to the first post since we were finally able to go night snorkeling! As soon as you look into the water at night, you see so many creatures that never come out in the day, but snorkeling in it is like stepping into a whole other world. So many types of sea cucumbers were scattered across the ocean floor, such as the beaded sea cucumber (Evapta lappa), each more unique than the last. That was only the tip of the iceberg, as Guava Gaby and I soon discovered when we ventured over to the rocks lining the bottom of the jetty. We shone our light into the crevasses to uncover what was hidden there, not expecting to see dozens of crustaceans tucked in the cracks!

In this photo, you can see one of many of the Caribbean Spiny Lobsters, Panulirus argus, staring at us from its hiding spot.

But the night swim was not over yet, as we decided to head over to the reef crest, an area that neither of us had explored very much prior. On the way, we saw multiple creatures, including porcupine fish (Diodon holocanthus) and berried anemones (Alicia mirabilis). Suddenly, as I pointed the dive light toward the sand, we saw a vividly blue Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)! It was barely three feet below us and began to change colors (process–crypsis) as it snaked through the grass and coral. We spent several minutes following it while recording its fluid motions, but eventually thought we should head back to shore.

As the octopus moved across the sand, it stretched its tentacles over a rock and began to change to a similar color.

As we laboriously swam back to the dock, exhausted from the long day, I decided to sweep the perimeter with my light to see if anything was approaching. That’s when I saw the shadow of a turtle not very far to our left. I yelled (or more likely screamed) into my snorkel to get Gaby’s attention, and we swam as fast as we could to catch up to it. As it came into view of the cameras we had at the ready, we recognized it as a large Green Sea turtle! We were able to catch a few wonderful seconds of video before the turtle made a sharp turn and sped away into the darkness.

On the turtle’s shell, you can observe that it has three scutes along the back and lacks a dorsal ridge, which helped us identify it as Chelonia mydas.

All in all, this night snorkel checked off quite a few animals that are on my marine bucket list!

–Avocado Ariana