Island Times Blog

By Jack K., SeaTrek BVI FATHOMS student

Today we woke up and had a great breakfast of oatmeal, muffins, and cereal. Then we suited up for the beach and took the “dinghy” (which we are all now certified to use after our exercise in retrieving a plastic carton named Jimmy) past the coral and parked by the beach. Some students from other SeaTrek boats even joined us! We swam and snorkled by the beach for a while and then returned to our boat. We had lunch and then relaxed on the boat while enjoying the cool breeze. We then learned about algae and seagrass through a visual presentation.

After, we set up our microscope and looked at slides of dog muscle, human blood, etc. We also prepared our own slides using the algae and seagrass we found during our beach snorkel. After our relaxing afternoon, we made dinner and then prepared for the highlight of the day: night snorkel. We suited up with our wetsuits, divelights, masks, fins, and snorkels, and hopped aboard the “dinghy” and ventured into the ocean. We swam around coral reefs with our flashlights and saw amazing fish and animals. We then swam with tarpon fish (using our green light to attract fish) and then washed off and prepared for bed. All is well aboard the SeaTrek FATHOMS boat and we are excited for the adventures ahead!

Julian and Jack observing a slide they made of brown algae – Ochrophyta – from our beach morning.

The visual presentation of algae versus seaweed, and a few types of algae we can identify by their shape.