Under the Sea

Today we all went into the water. SCUBA students learned theory in the morning first thing, they have been watching videos in their spare time up in the old officers quarters. Alex and Dean are prone to breaking into scuba training video speak at any given time..."if at any time you feel short of breath you should signal your partner"...or some such thing. I don't know why they can't repeat the information they hear from me verbatim after class!

We all have been attending evening lectures (2 each evening) and fortunately they are short, but they are jam packed full of info. Last night was an intro to the fort and to coral reef ecology. This morning, snorkel students learned about types of algae (pronounced with a hard "G" here due to all the folks from the UK) and then we went out to look for it. We went right into the harbor below the fort.

We saw most of the kinds of algae we learned about and many corals, fish and other organisms. Some highlights included a snake eel, 4 little squid that all swam in a row side by side, a squid, needle fish, sea cucumbers, and all kinds of bright little fish! We now have to go take a quiz on the different algae. I hope it is a partner quiz!

Meanwhile, the scuba students were taking a swim test and learning to use the equipment. They went out to do their shallow water dive in purple turtle cove. They have been working very hard!

It is nice to have all the students together, they are finding more and more common ground, I think. Last night there was a card game in the front entry of our barracks and Liam from VT joined in and even taught them another game ( they had been playing "poopy face" - a more appropriate name for a common card game). 

The mosquitoes here are pretty bad. I think it is because of the mangrove swamp located a half mile or so away. Students will be spraying their nets before bed tonight. They really like Charlotte and Alex!