A relaxing day at East Wells
Today we spent a little time doing data and then had a “fun” day on a friend’s boat. The destination was the Eastern part of Bimini, at the point where a channel cuts through the island. (For those of you who read our field report from 17 June, this was the same area we saw the sandpiper eggs. No sign of the birds today). We snorkel for a bit, seeing a variety of fish, including puffer fish and snapper. We saw several blue crabs and two (or was it the same one?) large southern sting rays. At one point, we followed a group of puffer fish who had fallen in line directly behind the ray. It was quite humorous! (Think the first day of school scene in “Finding Nemo”). The puffer fish were swimming right along the sand. Then, a barracuda came on the scene, also curious about the puffer fish. But not for long….PUFF! The puffer fish “puff” and in doing so, create a large cloud of sand. By the time the sand settles, we couldn’t find them–and neither could the barracuda.
Tomorrow is laundry day and then we start a few days of diligent data entry, video logging and identifying still photos.
Until next time,
Kel and Darcie