7
Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Day 7 was the most chill day we have yet to have on this trip. Everyone on the boat was exhausted from the barbecue we had with all of the ActionQuest peeps which was a lot of fun (despite a not-too-great DJ, but Nazz came in the save the day).
On a sadder note, we had to say goodbye to one of ours, Amy, who sadly left early this morning and will be missed very much. After saying our adieus to Amy, the entire boat slept in until the late hour of 7:30. We then had to dock and restock our water as we were running out quicker than predicted. Us students took advantage of this to go check out the local grocery store to get some snacks and chat with the parentals.
Once all restocked, we then set off to another part of Virgin Gorda called Deep Bay to go turtling. There, we learned about green and hawksbill turtles as well as how to tag the ones we would catch. Everyone was so excited to catch some turtles, so we set off four people being manta towed by each boat for a hefty 3 hours. Tragically no turtles were caught on this trip; three were spotted, but they were too fast for us, leaving us disappointed and alone in the salty water. On a brighter note though, many of us saw stingrays, one was spotted so shallow that fellow students and I were worried it would rub up on us and sting us, but thankfully, we skirted away before they noticed anything.
When we got back to the boats, utterly knackered, there was no time to breathe as everyone set off to a nearby beach to practice our next research project. This time learning how to observe and collect data on seagrass and how it’s been doing since the hurricane.
All that brings us to now, eagerly awaiting our special Go Beyond barbecue with its grilled pineapple and veggie burgers. Finally, ending the day with Ruby’s squeeze question about what we fear most… hopefully, no one’s in the ocean 😉