It’s hard to believe that the course has wrapped up, but the shockingly cold temps getting us on the return to NY are definitive proof that we are no longer in Jamaica !

We are grateful to the staff of the Discovery Bay Marine Lab for welcoming us so soon after the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.  It was great to see the resiliency of the country as they continue to recover.  We reached out to the several hundred alumni of this course over the years and from them and students in this year’s course, we were able to bring a variety of supplies and donations (solar powered chargers, school supplies, baby clothes, and more). As well as a financial donation of just over two thousand dollars (US).  We think it speaks volumes about the special relationship that our students acquire with this location during the course, which obviously is still strong even years later.

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   Thanks to the current and former students of MAR 388 for their generous donations of supplies and money for the local Jamaican residents who have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa. And for carrying items down in their luggage !

The professors also want to think this year’s class for working hard, working well together, and taking advantage of their time here at DBML.  They are tanner, more bruised and bug bitten, and certainly much more knowledgeable about Marine Tropical Ecology.

Mar 388 2026 “after” picture, to be compared to the first blog post this year.

Profs Butterscotch Brad and Java Joe

“WAIT! They don’t love you like I love you~ WAIT! They don’t love you like I love–” THE OCEAN!! WAIT!! Don’t take us away from Jamaica yet!

From our cool cave trip, the A-Z volleyball rally, and to totally beating Dr. Warren at ping pong, my body is so physically fatigued these days on top of the snorkels I’ve been cramming in before the ocean will no longer be my backyard. *cue the sobs*

Yesterday morning we went out to Rio Bueno for my last 7am snorkel – you know you’re in the right major if you don’t see anything special and you’re still having a blast just simply swimming through the miles of blue (hint: this is me coping. I really wanted to see a nurse shark or a spotted eagle ray, and considering that probably half the class got to see them, I should seriously consider investing in a genie’s bottle). I did see the biggest Atlantic needlefish (Strongulora marina) I’ve ever seen so far on this trip during my morning snorkel, though:

An award-winning, Nat Geo-approved picture. Please trust me, it was pretty big

Underneath the waves

The boat ride back for the morning snorkel was beautiful; Sparrow conquers the waves at 100mph (for legal purposes, this is a joke), but since I was on Snow’s boat this time, I was able to watch the surface for flying fish. We even saw one of our resident brown pelicans take off by the dock when we pulled in!

We’re all going to be shocked by the dreary cold when we land in NY!

On that same day, I went out for my last night snorkel, which was also a blast but no special sights from me. My friends saw a huge lobster (where was I when this happened?), some people saw a green turtle (again, where was I???), and others also saw a spotted eagle ray. Anyway. It’s fine. They’re just playing hard to get with me, surely.

Not to change the tone and be all soppy, but I’m getting a little nostalgic already as I write this. My time here has been an experience of a lifetime. I’m going to miss the snorkel adventures, strolls along the boardwalk, hunting for coral fragments and shells, and simply staring at the beauty of nature. Even though there are so many more marine animals out there waiting for me, I made lots of memories that I’ll keep with me forever. I really hope I can stay in touch with my new seawolf as well as our non-seawolf friends, and I REALLYYY hope I can come back here again sometime in my future!

Signing off,

Cheetos Chiho

This is it. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. My third and final blog in the species series. My last two focused on three unique species of sea urchin and sea cucumber, respectively. For this blog, I am going bigger. Rays are some of the most mesmerizing fish you can find in Discovery Bay. These guys are cartilaginous, under the class Chondrichthyes, like sharks and chimaeras. Without further ado, here are three of the species of ray I found:

The Yellow Stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis, with its vibrant patterns and cryptic coloration

The Lesser Electric Ray, Narcine brasiliensis, which can shock other organisms using its electric organ

The Spotted Eagle Ray, Aetobatus narinari, in all its glory. This giant was found foraging in the turtlegrass within the backreef area

Finally warm and dry, Dunkin’ Donuts Demo

As the trip comes to a close, my friends and I decided to embark on one last dive into the beautiful Jamaican waters. The early sun rose up above the mountains leaving the sky a watercolor orange and pink. We set up our gear, headed to the boats, and drove out to a spot called “The Canyon”. Our group rolled off the boat and reminisced about our first boat dive just a couple days ago upon our arrival before submerging to see the amazing schools of fish and coral that lined the walls of the ocean canyon. As we got back to the surface we entered the boat and diced to jump off the sides and have a little fun. This dive was the beginning of the end of our journey through MAR 388, and I am sad to say goodbye but happy for the friends and memories I made along the way.

The beginning of the end.

Thanks for reading, it’s been an amazing experince. Goodbye!

-Dark Chocolate Dakota

Image showing shrimp alfredo and jerk chicken

On this day we got a chance to get outside of the lab after completing our research data collection by exploring some caves, that I’m sure other posts have mentioned, but also by going to a local restaurant! The restaurant is called the Ultimate Jerk, and as the name would imply jerk is their specialty! I ordered the shrimp alfredo along with the jerk chicken as after the cave exploration I was rather hungry. I was also the last person to get the shrimp alfredo before it ran out, so sorry to everyone else who couldn’t enjoy this wonderful meal!

I can’t believe we’re leaving tomorrow already! It feels like we’ve been here forever, yet it feels like just yesterday that we landed in this tropical paradise. We’ve all been hard at work on our research projects, taking meticulous data of the habitats on the reef, and racking our brains to make connections between herbivory and macroalgae bottom cover, but we took a break to explore the local Green Grotto! Plenty of animals call the Grotto home, including bats, frogs, and, as much as we tried to get away from the ocean for a moment, crabs!

A crab living in an underground lake in Green Grotto!

The rock formations were beautiful, oxidized copper contributing to the Grotto’s “Green” name. We had to step carefully to not disturb the slow formation of stalagmites and stalactites (to remember them, think ‘c’ for ‘ceiling’ and ‘g’ for ‘ground’!), and the taller of us (not me) had to watch our heads at some points!

The oxidized copper within the rocks gives them their green color!

Of course, we’ve been hard at work, taking surveys at various locations throughout the bay of fish, corals, and invertebrates! The data we collect will go to a reef health database run by the Smithsonian! While collecting this data, I found a balloonfish (Diodon holocanthus) grazing, and had to appreciate how relatable its blank stare was.

This balloonfish (Diodon holocanthus) is just like me after staring at spreadsheets for three hours straight.

Dreading the New York cold, but itching to go to a hockey game,
Alfredo Sauce Alexa

Once again, a few of my fellow classmates and myself departed the docks in search of the night critters of the reef, in hopes of witnessing creatures such as the octopus, skates, eels, and lobsters. Much to our fortune and well sighted peers, we encountered an octopus straight from the dock/boating around, showing off a beautiful Display of colors and movement across the turtle grass bottom.

Not only that, but towards the end of our struggle, we encounter a lesser electric stingray, which is depicted with three dorsal fins along its tail and a orange-brownish body. Truely, it was an incredible night on the reef, and one I hope to remember.

A picture of one of the octopus seen throughout the night snorkel.

A picture of the lesser electric ray seen just before ending the snorkel.

Lucas

Many years ago at the Green Grotto, tourists would take boat trips on a lake at the bottom of a cave. The path down to the lake was well lit and cleared from debris. However, one night all the lights went out and the boat overturned. One little girl died that night. It is said that the spirit of the little girl came back to haunt anyone who was to come out onto the lake thereafter. Now, when the tour guides lead groups into the caves, they turn the lights out to replicate what happened that night, and to tell the story of the little girl. With just enough light from the top of the cave it is possible to find your way out in the dark, but the boat trips are no more.

The lake at the bottom of the cave.

Spooky wishes,

Eggnog

We have all been busy conducting and analyzing our research for the final two assignments. Even after six 15m transects and one 50m transect, we still have time for fun dives and field trips. The past two days I have gotten up bright and early to visit two new dive sites where I was able to see a lot of new things. One trip was to the “Bathtub” or Pear Tree and one was to the Canyon dive site. The Canyon site had a lot of schooling fish that would swim right around you.

Picture of the coral at Pear Tree dive site.

Picture of the schooling fish at the Canyon dive site.

We also took a trip to Green Grotto Caves. Our tour guide taught us a lot about the history and interesting facts about the caves. We ended the night with dinner at a local restaurant and are soaking up our final days here.

Picture inside of Green Grotto Caves.

-Sydney

Today, we went through 2 different caves, seeing some bats, a haunted grotto, and a 50 foot drop “wishing well.” The light at the end of the tunnel was a wonderful dinner at the Ultimate Jerk Centre, where we celebrated finishing all of our data collection. We returned to the lab, after a satisfying meal and we were all dead set on completing a game of “A-Z,” which is where we keep up a volleyball and recite each letter of the alphabet for each hit. After a long struggle, with multiple refusals to back down, we completed the game twice with our excellent teamwork, in addition to being carried by Zoey and Chiho in the endgame. We concluded our work-free [ed note: what ????? pretty sure there are some anlaysis reports due pretty soon.] day by playing the intense card game, “Egyptian ratslap.” After this well-deserved break from doing lab work or studying endlessly for ID test, we were able to continue enjoying the tropical weather before coming back to our New York Winter

The beautiful, yet apparently haunted grotto deep within the cave system

Signing off for the last time,
Nacho Noah