Today was an amazing day for snorkeling. We hit the water right away after breakfast, visiting three different sites that all had different things to offer. Our first spot, called “the channel”, was my favorite one because it was the deepest. We saw a few nurse sharks there, along with tons of reef fish and even a few squids. It was nice to finally get out into new waters where I could dive down and attempt to blow bubble rings, which had mixed levels of success.

On those reefs, I spotted for the first time the White Encrusting Zoanthid (palythoa carbaeorum), as well as some Mat Zoanthids (Zoanthus pulchellus) and Sponge Zoanthids (Parazoanthus parasiticus). I also saw a few Giant Caribbean Anemones (Condylactis gigantea) and one Sun Anemone (Stichodacylus helianthus). Corallimorphs still manage to elude me, unfortunately. Maybe I will get lucky in the mangroves tomorrow.

After snorkeling all morning, we had lunch and then got to do another fun activity; we dissected the six lionfish that Scott had caught over the course of the week. Deepu and I named ours Monroe Buckingham, because he was a classy fish even though he was invasive. After collecting data about the lionfish, including the contents of their stomach, Scott cut them up and we made a ceviche out of their meat. We brought this ceviche to a neighboring island called Marisol where we stayed for an hour and a half enjoying ourselves. We then returned to eat dinner and present our lionfish findings.

It is unfortunate that we have to leave Glover’s tomorrow morning. I enjoy living out here on a small island, very isolated from the stresses of the world but still working hard. I’ll miss jumping into the sea every day, but I am excited for what the forest has to offer for us.