Day 4

Sea star at Saddleback

Today was another day on the boat. We went out to Saddleback Cay to look for sand dollars on the sand bar at low tide. I found several sand dollars, and a conch and a sea star. I'm bringing the sand dollars home, but I let the conch and sea star stay in their homes.

We took the boat out to North Pass -- or Turtle Reef as the Forfar staff calls it -- to snorkel a bit. It never gets old seeing the reef and all the fish and other creatures that live there. After a short snorkel, we went back to Saddleback Cay for lunch and our hermit crab project. We were trying to determine whether the crabs had a food preference, or if they just ate whatever we put in front of them. There were four groups, and our crab just wanted to be free. I think he did finally humor us and munch on some bread. I decided to just have a few crackers so that I wouldn't get sick snorkeling again.

Giant hermit crab

French angelfish

After lunch, we went to the oceanic blue hole at Rat Cay, and I think this was the best snorkel of the whole trip. We saw a giant hermit crab and a trigger fish. There was also a huge barracuda and a tiger grouper under a ledge of the blue hole. I got some up-close attention from a pair of french angelfish, and I snapped a picture of a donkey dung sea slug. Yeah, ew. Dr. Ballenger says this critter can upchuck his innards when threatened and then regenerate them. Poor thing, he already looks like a giant sea poo, he doesn't have much going for him. The blue hole is really cool, lots of fish hang out in there. The reef is alive with every coral that grows in the Bahamas.

Ew. Donkey dung.

Coral at Rat Cay

The next stop was the Three Sisters Patch Reef, but I sat this one out since the waves had once again given me that not so easy stomach. I didn't hurl today, though. And of course, they saw a nurse shark. The funniest thing happened at Three Sisters. Bill and John are snorkel buddies, which means they stay pretty close together and watch out for one another. Bill had already gotten in the water because someone had seen the shark, and he was eager to see it. John was still putting on his gear, and Bill was trying to wait for him patiently. John jumped up on the bow of the boat to hurry and get in the water, shouting, "Wait for me, buddy!" But his flipper got hung in the anchor rope, and he went flying face-first into the water. I think Bill almost drowned laughing. And John survived unscathed. We came back to the station tired, but excited about all the great things we had seen. We finished the second half of the mangrove project, and are still crunching data on that one.

We had some yummy barbecue ribs for dinner, and then we had a geology lecture. I am nice and sunburned and tired out of my  mind, so I'm heading to bed.