We woke to a very calm day but there was a slight breeze that gave a few wavelets. Kathleen mentioned that the current picked up as she was wrapping up data collection. Of course, the session seemed very eventful and several dolphins were enamored of her fins. Kathleen had to give a time-out to the young males, which she did on a blue platform. Ronnie kept an eye on Kathleen as she practiced her yoga splits during the time-out. Our day was VERY full with data collection and some data entry for the space use data collected this month followed by a day at Maya Key. We rode the very full bus (see photo just below) to Maya Key to snorkel, observe rescued animals, tour the Mayan ruins and enjoy a buffet lunch. Our boat ride to and from Maya Key offered a close, spectacular view of Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship on the planet. It was impressive! (twice as tall, twice as wide, and nearly 5.5 times larger (volumetrically) than the Titanic)
We returned to AKR by 3 pm and almost finished data entry before reviewing the morning video data. Alita was very talented at spinning the sea grass leaves. Dinner was welcome and delicious. Here are our personal thoughts of the day:
Alia – Went to the drop off today but don’t worry I did not touch the butt.
Jose – The deep sea doesn’t look as bad in person as it looks in person. So don’t let photos stop you.
Felice – Today I literally went off the deep end.
Brie – It was really fun to see all the fish we learned about at our fish talk yesterday, today while snorkeling.
Winter – I took a picture today of a butterfly(fish), but it was in the ocean.
Dallas – Today while snorkeling I was reminded of how magnificent a creator God is.
Sara – The snorkeling was not as scary as I thought it would be and there were many colors and it was gorgeous.
Alicia – Seeing the coral reefs for the first time really put things into perspective.
Nezi – Shout out to Erika – she bought me a new hand fan (because she broke my other one) and said I was ‘fan’tastic.
Erika – Today I saw a jaguar cuddling some leaves.
Charles – Woke up feeling dead but once laying in the hot sun I feel alive again.
Megan – Much as I love the reef, many conversations today made me feel as at home on land as I do under water.
Tesa – Very grateful to have swum with the fishes. The drop off was a little scary but in a good way.
Sabrina – The views at Maya Key were breathtaking.
Mario – Jaguars and monkeys and macaws, oh Maya Key.
Melissa – Stunned face.
Heather – I am proud of our class today for facing a number of challenges and for the compassion they showed to each other in a number of situations.
Manon – It was a giant-ass cruise ship! What an Icon!
Tomorrow brings more data collection in the early morning, more snorkel time, and a sea turtle lecture.
Cheers
StMU M&Ms