Up until today, we had only explored reefs in marine protected areas. But today, our project centered around how biodiversity is impacted by MPA status. We visited two non-MPA and two MPA reefs. There was an obvious difference between them. The non-MPA reef had fewer fish, and they seemed more wary of human presence than the fish in the MPA. We just learned about MPAs last night from a representative from the research station, a marine biologist, and a member of the Coast Guard. These people together protect the precious ecosystems here, and it’s cool to see how their efforts have a tangible impact on these endangered habitats. Besides this, we had some downtime today to just soak up the sun on the pier. We leave soon, so I’m trying to enjoy every moment.

This is me when I had to jump in to retrieve my sandal.