Day 8

Great day today! We are finally digging into some scientific diving!

We spent the day diving off snap shot reef and snorkeling off CCMI. Half the class dove in the morning and half in the afternoon, and the half that wasnt diving at the time snorkeled. (The boats we have do not fit the whole class at once so we do alternating shifts).

The boats we took out today

Snap shot reef is a spur and groove reef, meaning that it has rows of reef with sand in between each row or 'spur'. We had student pairs take transect tapes while they were diving and run them along a reef spur. At every meter they identified what they saw at each mark, whether it be soft coral, hard coral, algae, or substrate (etc.). We are starting to build data spreadsheets with what they collected!
It was an extra fun day for me because I got to drive the little boat "Shark Bait"! Woohoo! (Dont worry, I'm licensed).

Photo credit: Melanie Brennan
Transect tape on the reef, with a turtle photobomb!

Photo credit: Ashley Barnett
Swimming along a reef spur

Photo credit: Erin Papke
The view of CCMI on the boat ride back in

The snorkeling shift did a slightly different data collection. They took images of the coral orbicella annuals (a common coral in the area) and measured how bleached they were using color index cards. This data will show the amount of healthy orbicella vs. bleaching orbicella there is on the reef.
- Coral bleaching is when a coral loses their symbiotic algae, generally due to thermal stress.

Between diving and snorkeling this brought us up to dinner time which we enjoyed at the local restaurant "The Iguana". Lots of us had fresh sea food, I had the mahi mahi, and it was quite delicious. We will definitely need to go back!

We are planning on going on another dive tomorrow with the whole class so hopefully the weather will stay beautiful and calm for us!

- J

CCMI

Day 7

Not much to report today. Had a nice slow morning and even got to sleep in! It was the students day off (and the staff also) so we had no planned activities.

After breakfast I made a quick run to town to get some lab materials and stock up on snacks. The bike ride there was really nice (I saw my first iguana!). Im hoping to do a bike around the island sometime while im here too!

Once I got back I settled into work and spent the most of my day chugging away at data. The students all went on various day trips around the island, some of them swiming to a small island off the south side of little cayman, and some of them snorkeling off CCMI. Hopefully they took some pictures so I can share them soon!

The night is now winding down and im ready to settle in with a book before bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, we are starting to do some real science in the water! Everyone seems really excited, and I am too. Going to be a great day!

- J

Day 6

I cant believe it is already Saturday! This week has flown by, but they do say time flies when you're having fun!

Started out this morning with breakfast and another shore dive to cumbers caves. (We saw a land carb - or coconut crab - on the way, they are so cool, and big!) Today was the first day that the students brought their cameras out on a dive, so we spent our time underwater working on buoyancy and air consumption while taking pictures. And of course we had tons of fun exploring the edge of the reef!

The reef edge is a really cool place. You swim out and see this large, winding reef, and as you swim over it, you see the far side is almost like a wall (they actually call it the reef wall) going straight down to the ocean floor (around 1000 feet down!). As you go over the top all you can see is the massive expanse of blue ocean ahead of you. It was seriously breath taking. Hopefully we will be able to do more dives there.

Photo credit: Ashley Barnett (student)

Photo credit: Erin Papke (student)

After our morning dive we headed back to CCMI and had lunch after breaking down all our gear. The students had the rest of the day off which worked out well for me, cause it gave me time to get alot of work completed.

We plan on exploring the island a little tonight on the new bikes that shippied in this week (yay!!). Should be a good time!

- J

Day 5

Another day in paradise. Woke up this morning to a clear sky and the calmest water Ive seen so far (perfect for diving). We spent the morning working on our navigation skills. First the class practiced taking bearings and step distances with a compass on land. After getting that down we moved to the water.

With the water being so calm we were easily able to do a shore dive (walk into the water from the beach and swim to the dive site). We dove the reef section called cumbers caves which has a big sand flat on the bottom, perfect for practicing navigation. After quick underwater instructions we all took off on our bearings and completed our drills. Once we felt comfortable we did a quick scope of the reef area just for fun.

Photo credit: Hunter Brown
Cumbers Caves

Diving took us all the way up to lunch and I know I was ready to eat! After lunch we regrouped for a second dive, this time to practice using lift bags and how to "search and rescue" underwater equipment -- all skills a scientific diver needs!
- Lift bags are filled with air in order to help move heavy objects underwater
- Search and resuce uses string to make search circles to find objects when there is low visibility

We headed back to cumbers caves and got right back in the water, I know I couldnt wait. After we finished our skills portion of the dive we were able to explore the reef some more. We ended up seeing some turtles, groupers, and even a balloon fish! Our DSO (diving safety officer) took some GoPro photos of the dive which he generously is letting me share with you all!

Photo credit: Hunter brown
Practicing lift bag skills (Im on the right)

Photo credit: Hunter Brown
Exploring the reef (Im second to the left)

Photo credit: Hunter Brown
Sponges and corals on the reef edge

Photo credit: Hunter Brown
A spong with the leg of a brittle star hanging out (the rest of the brittle star is inside)

Photo credit: Hunter Brown
More exploration (Im in the back!)

When we got back to CCMI we were all ready for a little relaxation time. After dinner we went through GoPro maintenance and care and then settled in for the night and watched a movie together. Great way to end the day!

Another bright and early morning tomorrow and Im stoked to get back in the water! This really is the life.

- J

Day 4

What a day! Im already ready to sleep as Im writing this post, but I wouldnt have it any other way! Spent the morning diving 2 different reefs and working with the class on their dive comfort.  This inluded working on buoyancy (very important for scientific diving) but also swimming around and checking out the sights. We were super lucky this morning and caught sight of barracuda, grouper, lobsters, a sunfish, an eagle ray, a sting ray, a sea turtle, and even a sea horse! It was a very eventful morning.

After our morning dives we pounded down lunch and relaxed a little, I took a walk on the beach.

Fan coral

Brain coral skeleton

Coral skeletons

Sand crab!

Green dragonfly

After my walk one of the resident scientists working on lionfish showed us how she measures and disects the fish she collects and told us a bit about lionfish and what they are doing to the reef (they are an invasive species). They are no good! They eat all the little fish even when they dont need to and are very destructive. Luckily many scientists and locals are removing lionfish as much as possible on reefs around them in order to minimize the damage.

Afterwards we went snorkeling right in the backyard of CCMI (which happens to be a marine protected area, so it is a sanctuary for the organisms there). We looked at many different coral species and started learning the ideantifications of each (genus and species) and also enjoyed looking at the reef fish and just swiming around taking in the beautiful day.

By the time we got back in we were all exhausted! We ate dinner and had a little pow wow about our day, and even learned about the insides of regulators and how to calculate our air consumption. by the end of that meeting everyone was ready for bed (including me). I spent a little time afterwards doing work now that it was quiet, but Im off to sleep! Another full day tomorrow and I cant wait to see what it has in store!!

- J

Day 3

Busy Day. Woke up a little earlier today to try and catch the sunrise, but only sorta succeeded. Caught a glimpse of pink in the sky which was lovely though. Breakfast is earlier tomorrow in order to get in two morning dives, so maybe I will see more color tomorrow!

Spent the morning getting the rest of the materials needed to build photo quadrants (going to use them later this month to image corals) at the local hardware store. We bought them out of 3/4" PVC! Managed to get it all in the van, but with pipes hanging out the windows.. we must have been an interesting sight!

The rest of the class arrived this morning as well after their delay on Grand Cayman (yay!), although it sounds like they had a fun time there too! They were in awe of how beautiful this place is and couldnt wait to get in the water - and you cant blame them.

After lunch (build your own sandwhiches and fries - yum!) we soaked up some sun and headed to the west side of the island for a dive. We put all our gear on and head out into the surf. It was a bit choppy at first, but everyone made it safe out into the water. The class went through a checkout routine to make sure they were all up to par on their skills, and they happened to see a caribbean reef shark (over 5 feet long might I add) and a sea turtle as well. Cant ask for a better dive than that!

This little guy was sunning himself on the deck during lunch. So cute!

We hoped to do some snorkeling after, but the water was a little too turbid, so we head back in to CCMI. After we broke down and rinsed all our gear we had some time to relax before the dinner bell rang.

After dinner a bunch of the students head off to the local bar, The Iguana, to play trivia with the tourists and locals around, and to play a game of pickup soccer after. The rest of us who stayed behind spent a little time relaxing and caught up on work. Doing work isnt so bad though when this is your view:

Now that its gotten dark its almost time to head to bed. Going to be another busy day tomorrow and I cant wait!! I already know its going to be amazing.

- J

Day 2

First morning on the island and it is stunning. Sun peeping over the clouds and dancing on the water. It helps that this view is maybe 10 feet away from my bedroom door. I love getting the hear the waves. The breakfast bell rang at 7:30 and much coffee was consumed. We spent the morning gazing out onto the water and watching sea turtles swim in the lagoon. We even caught a short glimse of a rainbow far in the distance.

After our lesiurly morning we got to work. First we met the rest of the staff at CCMI, then we started by unpacking all the gear we brought, and drilling holes in slates for the students to write on underwater. Its the divers way of taking notes! (The holes are for caribeaners to attach to the dive gear and for pencils to attach with string). Each student got to drill their own plate and put it together, and before we knew it it was lunch time.

After lunch half the class started learning coral IDs and the other half went off to get their checkout dives completed (they need these to be officially certified as divers). I decided to go with the diving crew cause I was itching to get in the water! (And a refersher in skills never hurt anybody).

Diving was wonderful, even though we didnt go very deep the life we saw was amazing. From 3 foot barracudas to rays to groupers to little wrass, it was teaming with activity. The coral was beautiful too. Having crystal clear water made the experience even better. Seeing everything in such clarity is really a treat. I cant believe I get to dive here for a month! (Gonna be so spoiled). I cant wait to see what this trip as in store for me, and better yet for the class. There is no way they will leave without a love and a passion for the reef.

Its almost dinner time as Im writing this, and Im ready to feast! Gonna spend my night crunching away at my thesis data (I can never really escape school work) and working on an abstract for a conference this summer -- its in hawaii, my life is so hard I know. Excited for tomorrow, the rest of the class arrives first thing in the morning, then its a full day of diving! It doesnt get much better than this.

- J