Coming together- May 27, 2017

Once again I was up before my alarm went off today, and I had some time to enjoy the morning by casually waking up and enjoying the sunrise. The day started off with a quick breakfast before meeting up with the other group, "Coral Watch", here on the island for a reef snorkel. Coral Watch introduced us to what methods they use to determine the health of the corals, and what they track and document. It was really simple, and most of us ended up finishing early with more than an hour to spare this time, so we just basically played and soaked up the sun! Saul and myself ventured around for a quick walk and began talking about the trip and how much fun it has been getting to know everyone and join together for the trip, and I learned a lot about Saul and his background and he is a brilliant mind, it was fun chatting with him.

We ventured back to the group and Dylan taught us a thing or two about skipping coral and shells, and apparently there is a whole method on how to get some really good skips from them. That kid cracks me up...such a rebel...I've truly enjoyed getting to know everyone on this trip and the awesome connections we've gained from one another. It is going to be weird when we have to return to our normal lives back home, because we've been together for a short period of time, but have made the most of being with each other. Love these guys! 

After some free time, we met back up with Coral Watch to do a reef walk during the low tide. We had some fun -unique personalities that took us around into stations to learn more about the process of the research they do, and I was able to see my first Epaulette Shark today with our tour guide that "Outdoor Jacked" the shark to give us a show. It was awesome to feel the scales of the shark and how smooth they were one way, and how rough they were the other way. These sharks are the only sharks that can move around on land during the low tide. They have these pectoral fins that allow them to use a shimmy motion to get to small pools of water where fish have been trapped, and to prey on the fish that are isolated into the coral during low tide. 

What a beautiful way to spend the remainder of the evening with the Coral Watch group learning about their passions to help preserve their corals. It is sad that the corals face so much threat and dangers from the world changing around us...some that we can prevent, and others we cannot. It is just nice to see everyone come together for a cause to share experience and fun while we all have a common goal. Yet another good day in the reef..watching the sunset here is breathtaking