We kicked off today with a short geology presentation and a hike on the north shore of Tortola above Brewers Bay. We got some great photos of the gorgeous vistas along the way (continued…)
After the hike we raised the sails and headed to Great Camanoe for a snorkel. We snorkeled the cut between Little Camanoe and Great Camanoe. The site has the largest, healthiest stands of the endangered elkhorn coral that I’ve ever seen in the Virgin Islands. As if that weren’t enough, the students also saw basket stars, spiny lobster, arrow crabs, lionfish, and hundreds of fish. Then we met up with the rest of the SeaTrek boats at Lee Bay where we had some time for recreation, turtle tagging and beach games. After dinner our guest lecturer, Stuart Weiss, an agroecologist from the University of the Virgin Islands, spoke to the students about sustainable agriculture and his research. The students asked a lot of questions and found it very useful to discuss the applied aspects of Stuart’s research. Just before bedtime, Capt. Chance played his ukulele and we all had a sing along. Another fantastic FATHOMS day!