Friday, August 7

Another Day on the Rock

Today was definitely busy! In a nutshell: another focus group, a few more site assessments, a 3 hour snorkel, dinner, a book signing, another snorkel trip, and plans to go to Virgin Gorda tomorrow!

Alright, let me break it down...

With Kevin here, I was tempted to take all the time he's here off of work and make up the hours with a few long days before and after his time here. I am way ahead on my hours and with meeting the requirements for hours to donate for the internship. Even so, I ended up putting in a full day today, despite Kevin being in town. Fortunately, he was able to observe and help out during most of what I did for the day. There was another focus group study I performed, this time at Annaberg Ruins. It's really cool to interact with visitors and keep them involved in the process of developing stuff that may help the park's safety program.

After the focus group, I headed to a few different sites to collect more information and complete visitor safety risk assessments. The day wrapped up with a rather long snorkel trip, about 3 hours, from Francis Bay trail to Whistling Cay and back. The visibility wasn't too great, I'd say around 20 feet (I see 50-60 while diving usually). We saw octopus, hawksbill turtle, whelk, conch, shark, barracuda, stoplight parrot fish, jellyfish, albino sea urchin, arrowhead crab, cleaner shrimp, anemones, elkhorn coral, varied tunicates and sponges, squirrel fish, and just about every other type of fish and creature typically identified in the Caribbean reef environment. It was one of the best snorkels I've ever had. I think you can see just about everything in less than 20 feet of water.

After our snorkel, we headed home to rinse off with fresh water and get cleaned up. A short walk into town down the Lind Point Trail met our feet with Gallows Point. Dr. Caroline Rogers was happily signing copies of her new book. She has compiled quite a few fantastic photographs from around the island, displaying some of the neatest sea life you'll find around these parts. After the signing, we went to Woody's for a deliciouss grilled mahi (fish of the day, every day)sandwich.. Mmm... and a tasty bottle of Tropical Mango for me. Kevin had his mahi blackened, and his brew was the Summer Ale. As we walked through town, Jessica waved hello on her way to check out some coral spawning at Hawksnest. When asked if we'd like to join, I knew the answer could only be yes! Checking out the corals during spawning is definitely something that only happens once a year, and with the full moon having been out just recently, it's a perfect time to go to the beach between 9-12pm and look for the spawning. We switched into our swim gear once again and headed to the beach. I did not see any spawning. However, the snorkeling was fantastic. We saw at least 2 octopus, brittle stars, a hawksbill turtle asleep, a box jellyfish, and a lot of sea urchins. It was really neat to shine our lights around the reef and explore the darkened underwater world.

Oh, and tomorrow.... guess what? We're going to The Baths, Virgin Gorda. There are a few other stops along the day trip, including a continental breakfast, seeing great boulders at The Baths, a stop at Marina Cay for lunch, then a final stop at Soggy Dollar in Jost Van Dyke. It shall be an awesome day! I'm super excited!