Yesterday we took a trip to Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios. Although being able to snorkel and SCUBA dive everyday has been nothing short of incredible, having a day filled with adventure outside the water (kind of) was something we all needed. We spent the morning racing up the river with heavy hitting water and slippery rocks trying to wash us away, but despite that, we all successfully made it to the top. We collectively decided to start again at the bottom and race to the top, but in true marine science student fashion, we all darted to the ocean, where we took turns getting thrown into the air by Jason and Jeff- with some doing backflips before splashing into the water (definitely not me). Once we realized we only had 10 minutes to meet our professors, we all darted up the waterfall, only tripping a few times- which is a success for someone as clumsy as me.

After conquering the falls, we all loaded back into the bus and headed into the main strip of Ocho Rios, where we got some free time to wander the town, collect souvenirs, eat great food, and immerse ourselves in the Jamaican culture. The streets were filled with music and merchants trying to persuade you to buy their products, where I learned I am a terrible bargainer.

This past week has been life changing. From getting open water dive certified, spending every possible second I can in the water searching for a wide variety of species (my favorite thus far being the Octopus briareus- or Caribbean reef octopus), and learning all about the reef in lecture-I’m excited to see what this next week will bring and what adventures awaits for me.

Until next time,
Avocado Ashley

ACT I
SCENE I. Montego Bay. A tank in a wet lab.
BEIGE BIVALVE at his post. Enter to him CROWN CONE (Conus regius)
BEIGE BIVALVE
Who’s there?
CROWN CONE
Nay, answer me: stand and unfold yourself.
BEIGE BIVALVE
I mustn’t. A clam’s shell is its only protection from predat’rs.
CROWN CONE
Beige Bivalve?
BEIGE BIVALVE
He.
CROWN CONE
Thee wilt treadeth carefully at this hour.
BEIGE BIVALVE
I shall not treadeth at all. I has’t nay legs, thee seeth.
CROWN CONE
Thee needeth not forks to walketh, a foot shall doth fine!
CROWN CONE advances towards BEIGE BIVALVE at a rateth of sev’ral centimeters per minute
BEIGE BIVALVE
Thee villain! What treach’ry is this? What art thee doing with thy radula?
CROWN CONE
(Stabbing him)
What, you West Indian Sea Egg?
BEIGE BIVALVE
Dies, unhinges to bewray barren shell.

CROWN CONE
With the Beige Bivalve gone, mine own progeny and I shalt ruleth the wet lab! A new era em’rges!

Written by Samuel

Before coming to Jamaica, I made sure to get scuba certified so that I could participate in all of the dives. I had already heard about the diving experiences of my friends who took this course the previous year, but I was still not prepared for just how incredible diving would be. On our second dive, we went to the M-1 reef site outside of the reef crest and dove down around 50 feet. I do not have a lot of diving experience, so I was nervous about going down so deep. However, when I saw the array of different organisms on the sea floor, I was so amazed that I completely forgot about how worried I was. The corals, sponges, and fish that we saw while diving were very different from the ones that we could see while snorkeling. One sponge was neon green! Going diving in Jamaica was so different compared to what I had done for my diving certification back in the United States. It was such an incredible experience, and I had so much fun drifting peacefully above the reef and admiring the vividly-colored fish that swam by.

It was such a bizarre-looking fish that I had to just stop and appreciate it for a good few minutes. There was no way that I could have seen that fish while snorkeling up at the surface, and I am so glad that those weeks of frantically studying for my scuba certification are paying off!

Another tip that my friends gave me was to go night snorkeling as much as possible. Different animals come out on the reef during night than the ones that we usually see during the day. Night snorkeling is also quite different because you cannot see anything other than the area where your flashlight is facing. Many sharp sea urchins come out at night, and it is easy to kick one accidentally. Despite all the dangers, it was definitely worth it to go out snorkeling at night.

We are only a few days into our trip, and I have already seen so many interesting corals and reef fish. I can’t wait for what we are going to find next!

Nancy (Nigiri)

Hey guys, this is Apple/Arugula. When I left New York there was snow on the ground and now I find myself in this 80° Jamaican weather. Everything is so green and beautiful here.

I came a couple days later than everyone, so my first days were a bit hectic as I learned what everything is called and what not to touch. I finally went night snorkeling for the first time yesterday, we found a couple octopuses and a sting ray. While everyone was scuba diving Joe shot a lionfish [Ed: an invasive species here that the government encourages us to hunt.] with his spear. When they got back to the lab, he cut the lionfish open and showed us its last meal.

Other than our normal schedule of snorkeling/diving and lectures we also find ourselves doing flips, splits, and handstands.

• Ariadne

In Jamaica the weather has been beautiful and we have started to snorkel. Some of us have gone out to the reef crest and the deeper waters. At first I was a little nervous going out far to the deeper parts and the reef crest. But I opened up and went to the deep part of the water and made it to the reef crest. When I got there it was worth going out there I got great pictures of fish, corals and urchins. 

[ryan_urchin1] Caption: This is an urchin message

– Ryan

Coming to Jamaica my main goal was to become a certified scuba diver, a goal which I have quickly accomplished. Although I was able to complete my certification in four days, this didn’t come without its struggles, ranging from not being comfortable with breathing through a regulator to acclimating to only breathing through your mouth (which is harder than most would think).

Waking up at 6am everyday was well worth it as I have seen some incredibly vibrant creatures, while also being provided a firm grasp on the magnitude of the relationships many organisms have established with one another. So far my favorite find while scuba diving was out on the eco reef, uncovering a massive lobster tucked into an unsuspecting hole beneath some coral.

– Jason L.

Prior to my visit, Jamaica was merely a word that all but aggravated my passion for ichthyology, and like anything else in life, lacked depth without a framework of experience. I’ve heard stories of Jamaica; of friends escaping to somewhere tropical during the colder months, and of all of the things I’ve never touched with my senses. Perhaps the biggest lesson that I learned, and keep learning with each new experience, is that I can truly never understand something without observing it for myself; without being able to feel it in my hands or see it in the sun’s natural light.

In spite of all that I just told you, please believe me when I tell you that there is not a single dumpier-looking fish than the Balloon Fish. I cannot explain how absurdly dumb this thing is. I absolutely refuse to believe that this species was able to outlive the dinosaurs. When the Balloon Fish and I first met, I was apprehensive, and it, a flailing idiot with a level of confidence that high school me could’ve put to good use.

It greeted us, a large group of human snorkelers, unyielding, and lacking any consideration for itself and for its wellbeing, as though the fish received pleasure from being digested—as though evolution worked backwards to this fish, and as though fitness was defined by how many people it could bring down with it.

To say that I love this fish is an understatement.

With love and grace,
Jason M.

Jamaica has been good to me thus far; the weather is always nice even when its cloudy it’s still warm. However, the days here are long and exhausting, being here only a couple days has easily felt like weeks! The second day here we took a snorkeling tour of part of the bay and saw so many colorful fishes, sponges, corals and so much more. By the third day the certified divers were able to go out and do their checkout dives, which was SO fun because we went to 60ft and swam around Eco Reef.

Later that night we were able to go night snorkeling for the first time and got to see all the nocturnal creatures that only emerge the waters at night. I was a bit nervous since there are many diadema (urchins) feeding at night, and my flashlight died 10mins into the snorkel when I was far from the dock and it is pitch black under the water at night. Luckily, we never snorkel or dive alone and my buddy’s light led the way for us both. I was also able to catch two balloon fish with my hands to bring back to the wet lab for my lab group and the rest of the class to see. The fourth day was also spend snorkeling in the morning and the divers were able to go out with Professor Peterson and see some new things, my favorite were the neon sponges that had bright blue fish around them.

The lectures here are interesting even though we have three a day and it is a lot of information it is in things we are got to see every day. The people here are also very nice and the ladies that cook our meals in the kitchen are beyond amazing and very accommodating. This has been a great experience so far and I can’t wait to see what is yet to come in the days to come. 

-Sandra

In the morning, we had some free time to snorkel and collect species, so my snorkel buddies and I stayed over by the mangroves. I kept running into young adult Threespot Damselfish, which I quickly learned I really really don’t like. They’re territorial fish that come swimming towards divers, and everywhere I looked, there would be at least one just staring at me and getting closer. These fish aren’t threatening (the most they would do is nip), but I just don’t like having a fish so close up in my face. I guess these damselfish succeeded in defending their territory, though, because every time I saw one out of the corner of my eye, I swam in the opposite direction to avoid eye contact with them.

Deep within the mangroves are little nooks and crannies you can barely get into, and as I was exploring, I noticed a plastic bottle at the back of one. I swam to go grab it and held onto it for some twenty minutes until I found another one and grabbed it, too.

After our quick snorkel break, the certified divers set out for Eco Reef for their checkout dive to demonstrate some basic skills. Setting up the BCD was slightly different than how I learned when getting certified (apparently there’s a “Jamaican way” of storing the alternate air source”), so it took me a few tries and asking Snow questions to get it set up. One thing remained the same between gearing up in Hawaii and in Jamaica, though — I couldn’t lift the set-up gear off the ground myself, so I had Jeff hold it up for me as I put the straps over my shoulders. Once we all had our gear set up, we headed over to the boat to set out for the dive site supposedly 45 minutes away (it ended up being a ten minute ride). At the dive site, we got in and performed skills like flooding and clearing masks, replacing regulators, sharing air, and neutral buoyancy. I didn’t bring my camera with me because we were diving so deep, so I sadly wasn’t able to take any photos of the amazing organisms we saw. At sixty feet, it was the deepest we could dive down to, and it was absolutely incredible having the freedom to swim around wherever.

Until next time,
Elderberry Erin 🙂

[Ed: Dr. Peterson and I are happy to have Brad’s former Ph.D. student, Dr. Amber Stubler who is an alumni of this course when she was an undergrad and is now a faculty member at Occidental College here at Discovery Bay with one of her undergraduate students, Corrie.]

Today Dr. Amber Stubler and I continued work on my independent research project by deploying the algae and seagrass units that we built yesterday. I’ve been working with Thalassia testudinium, Sargassum spp., and Chaetomorpha spp..

We set out the containment apparatuses that would corral the sea water altered by my treatments yesterday and made some alterations to increase their stability.

The majority of my time here has been extremely busy. We’ve been having lectures three times a day, so the information has been on overload, but everything we’ve been taught thus far has been so interesting! And to be able to see and apply our learning to the marine environment right outside the research lab only makes this experience even better. I have definitely been valuing my sleep more than usual in my short time here. With the lectures, dives, snorkeling, and work being conducted on my research project, I’ve been exhausted by the end of the day. Very excited for all of the fun/new experiences that we are going to have between now and the 17th!

Curry Corrie