Second day of adventure in a rainy paradise

The Conch shell that MacKenna found

On our second day here at STRI we experienced rain, thunder and lightning. Despite the weather we went out snorkeling for half a day. Amulfo our boat driver took us to STRI point, Hospital point, and Mangrove point. At the first location we saw a lot of sponges, algae, and MacKenna even found a large sized Conch, which is extremely rare to find! This was the highlight of my day because I have seen many Conch shells but never in the water that size with a living snail!

Top view of the Conch shell 

There were so many different species of fish and invertebrates that we were able to get so close to making it such a memorable experience but also exhausting (since we were snorkeling instead of scuba diving). Thanks to Jan, one of the instructors, we could keep our energy up with her “boat snacks”. Some of us also learned quickly which organisms not to touch. For example, the Diadema antillarum was one not to go about touching because it contains venom that causes a painful sting.  

Diadema antillarum - a long thin spined urchin that was abundant at STRI point

The view of Hospital point (our second snorkel spot) 

Richard, the other instructor here with us cut some mangrove branches while we were out snorkeling for us to look at in the lab. We looked at all the organisms that were living on the branches and took count of how many were on each branch, identified the species present, and looked at some of the organisms under the microscope. It was so amazing to discover how many organisms could live on the mangrove roots and how small they are! Some organisms were so hard to see because mangrove forests provide habitat for many juveniles of different species so they were quite small.

Richard, Jan, Craig, Morgan, and Katie counting and identifying the organisms on the mangrove branches

Despite the gloomy weather, Bocas Del Toro was still beautiful looking out from the boat and being in the water. After our 7:30 p.m. lecture I think its safe to say our third day in Panama has come to an end.

P.S. As I am writing this I got interrupted to see the Caimen alligator right outside of the lab (now it has come to an end)!