Location: Pitons, St. Lucia
Today was a dive-filled adventure with a sprinkle of midterms. We started out the day with a lovely breakfast brought to us by Alev and her sous chefs. With bellies full of French toast, we assembled dive gear and awaited the St. Lucia Marine Park rangers to join us at 09:00 for an underwater view of the marvelous Petit Piton. This dive was a special one because everyone was able to complete their deep dive for their advanced open water dive certification! Now, almost all our divers are advanced certified, which is quite an accomplishment for anyone, especially knowing that many of them had not breathed underwater just over a month ago! For the deep dive, among other skills, we look at how depth impacts things like visibility (pop quiz, does anyone know what color we lose sight of first in the water?) and how the pressure impacts objects, like cracking an egg, for example. Its interesting how pressure cooks the inside of an egg?!! Just kidding but for dive group 2 thanks to a harmless prank, many have appeared this way.
Another exciting component of todays dives was lionfish hunting. Lionfish are beautiful creatures, but they are invasive to the Caribbean and are causing issues for the local populations. Conveniently, they also make a tasty snack and a fascinating dissection. Our park guide was hunting lionfish while we were diving. Lucky for the reef, we only saw a few, but he managed to get one for us to learn about, dissect, and have as a snack paired with breaded chicken nuggets for lunch!
The afternoon involved the start of midterm season. Although I think many were excited to have the oceanography midterm over, Im sure study efforts have paid off. After the exam, a seamanship review was conducted, getting everyone ready for the first of several qualifications they can earn in their seamanship course throughout the semester.
Possibly the biggest hit of all was what came after dinner! Dinner was served up a few minutes early today because anticipation for the NIGHT DIVE was high. The beautiful reef below the Pitons comes to life at night with a different variety of creatures than during the day. More sightings of lobsters, crabs, and octopus are only a few. Those brave enough to jump in the chilly, refreshing waters had what sounds like an epic dive on the reef.
And thats a wrap on another day of adventures!
(Answer: red:)