Location: Bequia, The Grenadines
Today began with my favorite breakfast – cereal. Reese and Monika also made some cheese on toast. This was followed by an Oceanography class on geology – including an explanation of why the Caribbean Islands exist. We then shuttled ashore to meet Fat Man Taxi, who drove us to the Old Hegg Hatchery to visit Brother King and his Turtles. The Hatchery is on a beautiful beach, and the drive over is also very scenic. Brother King explained his life passion to us, and we listened to his stories. A few of us then walked along the intertidal zone of his shoreline. We discovered some interesting finds – two perfect crab molts (both male and female), a chiton shell, three tiny sergeant major fish, and boring urchins with interesting mouthparts (Aristotle’s Lanterns). These impromptu classes are what I enjoy most about teaching marine biology here in the Caribbean. A stroll down the beach can easily turn into a class! Back in town, everyone was given some free time to continue to check out Bequia. Annie and I returned to the boat for lunch. Annie spent some time working on her research project – her group is looking at whether the stories are true, that after being grated up, a sponge is able to reform, as it lacks any specialized tissues and organs. So far, one species has managed it! But there is still more data to collect. I then enjoyed a quiet afternoon on board, catching up with some work before everyone came back at 16:30 for shower time, during which some perfected their backflips off the boat. Dinner was great, thanks to Reese and Monika, tortellini and salad, which included some delicious local avocados. After dinner, everyone took their fish and invert identification quiz, proving that they were now ready for some Reef Check surveys in St Lucia, our next destination. We wound down to Ocean World from the Blue Planetanother good scientific day in Bequia.