My class issued camera is officially out of commission. I checked the battery last night and it leaked acid. I’m pretty upset, I’m finally getting better at diving down and there’s so much to see. But I have nothing to capture the images except my memory. At least I have that I guess.

Today was probably the best and worst day of the marine section of the trip all rolled into one. We went out to the fore reef in the first part of the morning. It was really cool, probably the deepest waters I’ve ever been in. We saw a ginormous Spotted Eagle Ray, it was swimming around on the ocean floor. I finally got the hang of diving, which was good because out here there’s not much to see near the surface. After we went outside the reef crest and did some drift snorkeling where we let the current carry us. We saw a pretty sizable Nurse Shark that was over 6 ft. The motion of the unbroken waves started to make me feel a little queazy in the water, and only got worse when I got back onto the boat. I was pretty out of it for a while.

In the early afternoon, we did some data analysis and a presentation session. This gave me some time to recover from the sea sickness. Later in the afternoon, we went to the back reef right off the island. There was so much diversity in what was out there. Scott, Adrienne, and the water safety instructors were out catching Lionfish, I helped spot two of them.

I’m starting to like the water more and more. Boats not so much. I’m pretty bummed out by the camera thing, but oh well.

-Randy

Today we surveyed reefs for live coral coverage and urchin presence. We went to two separate places in the morning and afternoon. I enjoyed today much more than yesterday. We actually got to see corals and a lot of fish, instead of trying to dig through a thick layer of sea grass. I pretty sure I got better at controlling my body in the water today as well.

While we were collecting urchins in the afternoon, I got stabbed by an urchin spine. A pretty substantial piece pierced flesh, broke, and lodged itself in my left middle finger. It stung a lot in the salty water. I hope it gets better before tomorrow, supposedly we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

The ocean may have won this battle but the war is not over yet!

-Randy

Did another practice snorkel in the morning. We went out to a couple of the patch reefs and did a scavenger hunt. It was a bit of a struggle. Not only am I not the most graceful person in the water, I didn’t recognize most of the things we were looking for. I had a good time nonetheless, and I think I’m getting better bit by bit.

In the afternoon we did a mock quadrat exercise. We investigated the density and abundance of two different types of algae. But mostly it was just to practice snorkeling and diving a little. Our group unfortunately didn’t find any algae. I’m pretty sure it was because there actually wasn’t any algae along the area we sampled but the tall sea grass didn’t help. I did however see a pufferfish, kind of made going out in the water worth while.

Later on we went to a coral fossil graveyard to look at different types of coral fossils to help us learn their shapes and sizes so that when we do get into the water we can spot and ID them easier. I’m officially convinced Adrienne is crazy… about corals! She seemed like a kid at the playground, with all her corals. I always feel inspired listening to someone talking about something they are truly passionate about. And Adrienne is for sure passionate about corals.

-Randy

Spent most of the day on a boat traveling to Glover’s Atoll. We are staying on an island called Middle Caye on the atoll. The place is like paradise. White sand, crystal clear waters, corals right off the shore, crabs and lizards crawling around. It almost doesn’t seem real.

We got to snorkel a little before dinner. Which fun but at the same time a little bit of a struggle. Water kept getting into the snorkel and the mask kept fogging up. I guess it’s something I just need to get used to. We swam out to a reef platform to look at corals and fish. Scott found a lobster and tried to show me but I couldn’t for the life of me see where it was hiding.

There are crabs all over the island. During the day, you can see colonies of Red Hermit Crabs crawling all over the place. After dark, the Giant Land Crabs come out to play. They’re humongous, it’s unbelievable. The larger ones are about the size of a basketball. They don’t seem to be doing anything in particular though.

I kind of wish I had a day just to enjoy the island. Then I’d really be on vacation. But science is fun too. I just hope the ocean doesn’t kill me tomorrow.

-Randy