Day 8- Ashley

The wind was really crazy last night! Many of us woke to loud winds that sounded as if the buildings would blow down. Things calmed a bit in the morning though which enabled the fish group to go snorkeling promptly after breakfast. Although the water was only one degree cooler than the day before (81˚F) we were all pretty cold in the water. There didn’t seem to be as many fish out today and the ones that were there seemed to know we were coming. We were not as successful as we were on other days but the divers did manage to get two butterflyfish and a puffer fish. When we returned to the station, both groups continued to work on their projects, running trials, doing research, and writing our papers. After lunch some people decided to go shopping while others decided to go to the nearby ice cream shop. The ice cream was delicious so the rest of us plan to make a trip there tomorrow. For dinner we had another great fish dish (several people thought it was chicken). The highlight of the day was the evening night snorkel which many of us participated in. We went to the White House Reef where most of us are more comfortable and paired up to swim through the dark water. With just a small dive light each, we could only see a beam straight ahead of us and little else around us. The experience was scary but incredible! There are different fish out at night, including the poisonous Lionfish. Fortunately we all made it out unharmed and had a great time doing it!