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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Fire coral.
Team 1: Cherrelle,
Scott and Kamara
Today we went snorkeling in
South Cary’s fort. We didn’t get sick today though.
Dr. Sheli gave us travel sickness tablets and they worked. Scott had a
good day though and seen a huge Angel Fish. Kamara’s day went well and
she swam through a whole bunch of tiny fishes. Scott helped her out a
lot in the water today because she was having difficulties. Cherrelle’s
day also went well. She saw a Yellow Tailed Snapper. We also saw the
ruined coral that was bleached. The fire coral burned Scott. We saw a
Barracuda too. We also went to a lecture, which was nice, but we
weren’t exactly tuned in. We went to the National Undersea Research
Program. Today was great and so was dinner!
Captain Rob.
Team 2: Taylor, Ronny
and Oliver
This morning we all got down to the dock a
little early to depart to Captain Tom’s Wreck and
Cary’s Fort. We went to Captains Tom’s first to
snorkel. It had become covered with coral. There was fire coral and
fan coral along with many others. We saw an abundant amount of Sergeant
Majors, Blue Tang Sturgeon fish and Minnows. The sea floor at this
location was about 15 feet. And the water was clear, but choppy. Next
we went to Cary’s Fort, which was not a wreck. At this location we saw
many more fish and more divers in the aquatic environment. We saw a
large French Angelfish, great Barracuda, eel, Sergeant Major, Parrot
Fish (Stoplight), Yellowtail Snapper and some others. The sea floor
here was also about 15 feet, however the visibility seemed better. On
the way back we noticed that there were a ton of boats on the water.
This was because it is the first day of lobster season out here. Later
in the day we went to learn about the inner space station operated by
UNC Wilmington. NASA uses it for training purposes.
Abundance of life.
Team 3: Cassie, Nick
K. and Nick R.
Weather conditions: Really Humid and Warm.
Visibility: Wreck 10ft / Fort 30ft. Water conditions: Rough
Today we didn’t leave the docks until
8.30 am. We cruised at 20 knots for 45
mins. The first site we snorkeled at was Captains Tom’s wreck. We
thought it was interesting how the sea grass stopped 2m away from the
shipwreck. At the shipwreck we saw an eel and a cannon. We also saw a
sea urchin in the middle of the wreck, it was a purple one. The second
site we went to was Cary’s Fort. The coral reef there was really cool;
there were all kinds of coral in different colors. We also saw some
fish there that we hadn’t seen at the other sites like Yellow Tailed
Damselfish, Pork fish and the French Angel Fish. We thought the Yellow
tailed Damsel was beautiful because its light blue dots sparkled when it
moved. One thing we thought was strange was that the sea grass around
Cary’s Fort was dead or dying. We thought that this could be because of
the water temperature rising. Later in the afternoon we went to listen
to a lecture about the Aquarius, an underwater laboratory.
Getting back aboard.
Team 4: Deidra, Tymar
and Fralisia
Weather: 88 cloudy. Water was choppy.
Today we went to captain Tom’s Wreck and
Cary’s Fort. Tom’s Wreck had lots of
coral and most of the top coral was fire coral. Than at the second reef
we saw squid, Barracuda, an eel and lots of Sergeant Majors. Oh, and we
didn’t see much at the first place because we got out of the water too
soon. Also today was the start of lobster season. There were hundreds
of boats out on the water. Then we almost hit a lobster snorkeler
because he wondered too far from his boat. Later this afternoon we went
to learn about Aquarius. This is an underwater laboratory sponsored by
NURP (National Undersea Research Program). They use this lab to train
astronauts and research projects. Then on the way home we tried to stop
at a geological park but it is closed on Wednesday’s. Finally we
stopped at the Publix (grocery store) and got food.
Lobster just off the
dock.
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