Monday June 13th

We started our morning at 7:00am in the boathouse for the preparation of our first Discover Scuba Diving course. After breakfast, we hopped into a van and drove to the "Saddle," where we learned to scuba dive. The "Saddle" contained some shallow waters, but after a few yards, there was a huge drop-off that went as deep as 50 feet. We split into three groups and followed our instructor, Sophie, into the deep water. We saw stingrays, eaglerays, lionfish, grouper, and some snorkelers even saw a nurseshark. After everyone had their turn diving, we headed back to campus for lunch. Our next activity was exploring the Mangroves down the coast near the campus. Here, we saw juvenile lemonsharks, mangroves, juvenile barracuda, juvenile needlefish, crabs, snails, and juvenile snapper. The mangroves are a sort of nursery and breeding ground for the local marine life, and the arch-shape of their roots serve as a shelter for young marine life to hide under. Despite the extremely hot water temperature, we had a lot of fun exploring the mangroves and learning about the life there. After heading back to campus for dinner, we performed a lionfish dissection, where we examined each part of the fish and learned about its function. We also learned that the lionfish is an invasive species that is threatening coral reefs around the world. Some students even decided to kiss the fish after the dissection was finished. It was another productive and meaninful day at the Island School and we're excited to see what else is planned for this week!
Thanks for reading!
Victor & Tess