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Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
The crew members of Dallas Blonde received plenty of sleep last night. We were awoken at 8:00 am with relaxing coffee house music. The chef and sous chef made pancakes with haste. The breakfast was delicious, I must say. After we feasted on fluffy pancakes and apples with cinnamon, the students headed to the saloon for a coral talk. We discussed the different kinds of corals present in the British Virgin Islands, and a short video played on the threats facing different species of coral. My favorite part of the day was when we watched a documentary on coral reefs, a thoughtfully crafted episode of the series Blue Planet II that was narrated by David Attenborough. The videography was magnificent and mesmerizing, and we were all entranced by the colors on the screen. Halfway through the documentary, we took a break to make some tea and chat about what we learned thus far. The rain and tea created a cozy atmosphere. After summarizing the different kinds of coral in the BVI and which diseases to look out for, we had lunch. For our midday feast, the chefs made Tuscan white bean soup. In the cloudy weather, we munched on our garlic bread and drank our Tuscan white bean soup. After lunch, we moved Dallas Blonde eastward to take measurements and track coral diseases. On the ocean floor, we laid down three parallel 20-meter transects. Three students swam along the transects to look for diseases, while one student took a video of the coral. This data will be given to Dr. Shannon Gore, our community partner with the Association of Reef Keepers (ARK). After doing some data collection, we came back to Dallas Blonde to take ocean showers and relax a little bit before a delicious “breakfast for dinner.” It was a very chill, very laid-back day. We learned a lot, though!
Peace and love,
xoxo #fem