Today was another boat day! This morning we went out to the fore reef. It was definitely rougher than the water we’ve been in the last two days. Moreover, it was so much deeper than the water we have been in. Some notable things from the first snorkel were three rays and a HUGE spotted eagle ray. We also did a drift snorkel(where you keep moving) and I loved it. We saw Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis (elkhorn and staghorn) corals which are no longer seen much. We also saw a good sized nurse shark.

In the afternoon we went back in the water, but this time right off of the island. And I saw so many anemone. There were Condylactis gigantea(condy) and Stichodactyla helianthus(sun anemone) all over the part of the back reef we were on. I also think I saw Zoanthus pulchellus growing on the side of a boulder. The little zoanthids were all tucked into their columns and would barely come out before going back in. My last taxon sighting were two more anemones- one I recognized and one I did not. The one I recognized was Barthalomea annulata or the corkscrew anemone. It was hiding under something and I barely spotted it. The one I didn’t recognize looked like a little yellow marshmallow with stubby purple tentacles on top.

Aside from my groups, I spotted two lionfish(they caught 4 today). I also locked eyes with a barracuda and I think we both startled each other, because we both swam away very quickly.