The student’s laboratory here at Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory. Tropical plants and animals can be found right off the dock in shallow water, or you can swim out past the mangroves (on your left) over the reef crest and dive and snorkel in waters about 25′ deep to see a larger variety of life.

Another beautiful day in Jamaica.  The sun was high and strong, temperature was in the mid 80’s, and the water was clear and warm.  Of course there was the 10 minute lunchtime sun shower but I think we’ve all come to expect that at this point.  And with all the beautiful sunny weather we’ve been having, we’re all understanding (even more than before) the importance of sunscreen!

Last night was the second night of project updates and all the projects are well underway.  Just about everyone is diving or snorkeling every day and there are quite a few experiments going on in the wet lab tables.  There are damselfish, brittlestars, urchins, and balloonfish, experiments with music, seagrass tethers, and groundwater.
All the projects are so varied, covering a wide range of interests and animals, it will be interesting to see all the final results.

Tomorrow is another day of fun diving in the fore reef, either at Pear tree or (insert Brad’s accent here) Rio Bueno.  No matter what site, the dives are always fun and exciting, with all sorts of fascinating creatures to see.
Hopefully there will be another sea turtle or with any luck, a spotted eagle ray.  And of course we’re all excited about the trip off the compound to the Cranbook botanical gardens on Tuesday.

Five more days in beautiful Jamaica….
– Marcy