Location: English Harbour, Antigua
Today we woke up after our first night at dock in Antigua. The morning was very busy: we had an oceanography quiz, a marine biology class, and an MTE (boat navigation) class. By the time all the classes were finished, it was 11:00. Earlier in the day, we all had to make a choice for what we were doing today. Some people stayed near the dock and caught up on schoolwork while others went for a walk/run around the area. The most interesting thing we could do though was a visit to Stingray City, which Ben, a student, organized. After a taxi ride across the island, they arrived at a facility where there were birds and lizards in cages. They were briefed on the Stingray City. The five in the group then got in their own skiff and motored out to a sand bar where the stingrays were. There were about 40-50 stingrays, and the guides showed them how to feed them. There were two stingrays that would let you pick them up and were named by the locals as Lovesponge and Frisbee. Once everyone got back from their shore adventures, they were given a choice to either go on a night dive that night or to catch up on school work. Those of us that wanted to dive then went to the dive site and snorkeled there to get our bearings at the unfamiliar sight. After dinner, we went out to dive. This was our first real night dive, and we were doing it without staff members guiding us. For the most part, it went well; we saw a squid and lots of fish, and a couple of people even saw an octopus. We all made it back to the boat safely and were glad to go to bed after such an eventful day.