It’s day three on San Salvador and we woke up early to grab breakfast before we headed out to Bonefish Bay. We are all nursing some red sunburns, but are all still eager to get out and see what the ocean has to offer! We loaded the GRC truck and had a nice, breezy 20 minute drive to the site. Once we got there we did our routine collection of environmental conditions. The focus of today’s morning site was to explore tidal pools and the different organisms that reside within them. We walked around in knee deep, shallow water and saw fire worms, brittle stars, hermit crabs, sea urchins, and much more. There was even another barracuda spotted! Before leaving the beach we experienced the first rain shower and got to write in the rain in our “rite in the rain” books. We then packed up all of our gear and headed back to the GRC for lunch.
Our afternoon road trip was to Sand Dollar Beach. There, we snorkeled in a reef with high energy water. The site included a shallow reef separated by a sand channel with a large reef on the other side in much deeper water. The swim out to the main reef required us to battle against the strong current. This was the first site where we had to swim pretty far to the reefs so we got our workout in for the day. The water was really chilly so KR and JW busted out their super cool wetsuits and showed us all up! After swallowing a bunch of saltwater, we reached the reef and explored colorful coral, lots of diverse fish, and marine creatures. Some of the highlights of the snorkel trip included the sighting of a stingray, an eel, lionfish, and a lobster the size of a toddler! Despite the clouds, we still managed to get some sun.
Back at the GRC, we had some nice downtime before and after dinner to relax and warm up from the wind before class. Tonight in class we learned about tides, currents, and waves particularly in regard to San Salvador. It goes without saying, today was another long and busy day. Even a little rain and almost 100% cloud coverage could not dampen the beauty of the clear blue water and coral reefs. Today we got the best of both worlds: started in shallow water and ended in the deep blue ocean.
Cora Lutz ‘21
Madison Manger ‘19