Location: Tobago Cays, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Another day on Ocean Star means another day waking up in a beautiful spot. The Tobago Cays are exactly as you imagine a tropical island to be. Beautiful white sand beaches dotted with palm trees, surrounded by my favorite color – when the sea transitions from dark over the reef to a beautiful turquoise color over the sand.
The first thing on the agenda was the first marine biology exam. In class, weve been learning about protists, which Im sure if you asked the shipmates about them, they look and you and say the confusing part in the right section of the board! Theyre somewhat a group of misfits. The Domain Eukarya has four different kingdoms in it: Plants, Animals, Fungi, and Protists. So anything that cannot be classed as the first three gets put together in the Kingdom of Protists. Fun fact: algae/seaweeds are not plants but are, in fact, protists! The dishy pit this morning was full of everyone trying to remember the different ways things relate and whether King Peter came over for greasy sausages or not (taxonomic ranking! Kingdom phylum class order family genus species).
It was a science-heavy morning today as Amanda also had a class where everyone learned about water. This was followed by a water Olympics class after lunch, which involved seeing how long they could keep things floating for before they would overcome the surface tension!
After class and an impromptu flooding drill, everyone had free time. Some of us opted to go snorkeling, where we saw so many fish and different invertebrates. One of my favorite things is hearing the shipmates get excited about the fish theyve been learning about and being able to identify them! Others explored one of the islands and experienced what it feels like to have the whole thing to themselves.
Our evening activity was night snorkeling. Seeing the different creatures that come out at night is always really cool, and those who went had a great time! Sightings included a giant stingray hunting with a jackfish as a partner, a tiny squid who got startled and inked, and tons of active lobsters.
Until next time, Amy 🙂
Love and hugs to everyone at home xx
Pictured: Private island views