July 10, 2013
10 days on the island of Cayos Cochinos. Wish it could be 10 months. Finished SCUBA open water certification so finally able to get to deeper waters for a comparison of sea life. Saw many sea fans, much larger but more yellow ones compared to purple healthy ones. Less flamingo tongues seen also, being they like shallower waters. Dove to 40 feet + for most dives completed. Went to Lionshead reef and Jennas cove during the last 2 days. A forest underwater with pillars of coral 20 - 30 feet tall and many areas to swim under and through. Unfortunately my camera took a c..p and I was unable to film these wonderful pillars. I will most likely be able to get out again to film these wonders. During the dives we saw a scorpion fish, an upside down jellyfish many types of wrasse and tang, brittle stars hiding in the tube sponges and every form of coral and sponge you could imagine.
We also climbed the mountain to the top of the lighthouse for a view of the whole island. Awesome! Whew! What a climb but worth it.
Continued with flamingo tongue research laying out grids and marking sites. Will continue laying out grids in different locations around the bay. Hope my camera starts working.
10 days on the island of Cayos Cochinos. Wish it could be 10 months. Finished SCUBA open water certification so finally able to get to deeper waters for a comparison of sea life. Saw many sea fans, much larger but more yellow ones compared to purple healthy ones. Less flamingo tongues seen also, being they like shallower waters. Dove to 40 feet + for most dives completed. Went to Lionshead reef and Jennas cove during the last 2 days. A forest underwater with pillars of coral 20 - 30 feet tall and many areas to swim under and through. Unfortunately my camera took a c..p and I was unable to film these wonderful pillars. I will most likely be able to get out again to film these wonders. During the dives we saw a scorpion fish, an upside down jellyfish many types of wrasse and tang, brittle stars hiding in the tube sponges and every form of coral and sponge you could imagine.
We also climbed the mountain to the top of the lighthouse for a view of the whole island. Awesome! Whew! What a climb but worth it.
Continued with flamingo tongue research laying out grids and marking sites. Will continue laying out grids in different locations around the bay. Hope my camera starts working.
Day 8 days left on the island, I really wish that I could stay here longer, and continue my lab on flamingo tongue, as I am collecting data for this project more questions pop up that I don't have time to study. Today Darla, and Heather and I went to collect mucus from the elk-horn coral, at 5:30 in the morning. After breakfast Darla and I went back out to map out a new location, we took a kayak to help us transport the materials we needed. I spent 3 hours in the water and now as proof sport a sunburn across my entire back.
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