Location: Deshaies, Guadeloupe
Today was a great day! We didn’t wake up to a shamrock-covered Ocean Star, nor was there a pot of gold at the end of the gorgeous rainbow that served as our breakfast backdrop, but we did get to experience the best side of Guadeloupe’s Pigeon Island: the underwater side!
As we loaded up the dinghies for our dive this morning, a pod of Bottlenose dolphins came to greet Ocean Star, prompting a pre-dive dip for a few of our crew members when they attempted to go for a swim with them. Even though the dolphins didn’t hang around for coffee, it was awesome to see our crew and dolphins frolicking for a few moments in the same line of vision.
Our dive at Pigeon Island (Jacques Cousteau’s favorite dive site in the Caribbean!) was nothing short of spectacular, and it was a great chance for some of the students to do some fish identification; the fish were everywhere, and so many different types! We had yellow-tailed snappers following us for the majority of the dive, plus trunkfish, filefish, lionfish, barracuda, and a whole lot more made a few celebrity appearances. To top it off, near the end of the dive, there was a bust of M. Cousteau himself to commemorate him and mark the marine park.
There was a perfect follow-up to the dive, with an OCB class with Nick, where the students finished learning how to identify most of the fish species and marine invertebrates. The afternoon was spent studying for an OCE midterm tonight, doing another dive at Pigeon Island, searching for hot springs or relaxing onboard,
We hauled up the anchor for a late afternoon short motor to Deshaies, during which Dana shared a family tradition with us, baking everybody some soda bread to enjoy with tea, making it a very enjoyable trip indeed.
Tonight will be an OCE test, which the students are currently getting ready to ace.
Another wonderful day on the Star!
Cayley