I had the opportunity to observe three incredible animals while snorkeling at a
reef called Admirals Aquarium. Admirals is a patch reef which provides
organisms many nooks in which to hide. While enjoying the sights, our
instructor directed our attention to a small cove under the ledge of a coral head.
Inside was a juvenile nurse shark which appeared to be lounging on the sandy
bottom. A few seconds later, a hawksbill turtle was sighted only a few meters
away. When we looked up, we saw an Eagle Ray with a 6-foot wing span "fly"
by in the distance. While everybody raced to see the ray, I stayed back with
the turtle and began to swim with it. The highlight of my trip was petting the
turtle's shell before it swam away. I have always been fascinated by turtles and
this new experience has left me even more intrigued with their life and biology.
Hopefully, I will see my new friend sometime soon.
Squid Encounter
Erica Fenton
The wind here has been blowing like crazy, so the seas are rough and the
currents strong. For us divers, that means we haven’t had a chance to do any
SCUBA diving, but we have been snorkeling plenty. In fact, this past
Wednesday a group of us went snorkeling and had some pretty exciting stuff
happen to us during the boatride!
We had a bumpy and wet ride out to the snorkel site. The boat anchored about
15 minutes away from the school, and we buddied up and got in the water. We
practiced counting conch, but there wasn’t too much to see except for a
six-foot nurse resting on the bottom. It was not as interested in us as we were
in him.
A funny thing happened on the boat ride home. We were cruising along when a
squid, which had been frightened by the motor of the boat, jumped out of the
water and flew toward the boat. Instead of sailing over it however, this squid
landed right in my lap! Needless to say, I was a little shocked and jumped up
from my seat. The squid fell to the floor and our professor gently stepped on it
to hold it in place. The excitement scared the creature. Just like you may sweat
when you’re scared, it’s first reflex was to release ink. The squid "inked" all
over the boat (and some people’s clothing)! We picked it up and our advisor
identified it as a Caribbean Reef Squid. We checked out its large eyes and gills
for a couple seconds, but then put it back into the water to make sure it stayed
healthy. When it hit the water, it inked again, hesitated, but then swam off safely
and quickly. Luckily, we made it back to the dock with no more surprises!
