Day 9: Projects then We Snorkel!

 Roses are Red, Juvenile Yellowtails are Blue, Fish Travel in Schools and let me tell you... They’re HUGE! 

Day 9: We awoke today to eggs and bread with of course a side of fresh squeezed juice. Then we went our separate ways to work on our independent research projects. It is T-minus 3 days until projects are due. At this points students are finishing up data collection and analyzing statistics to construct their research posters. Every project is unique and I am very excited to see the finished products! 

    Before lunch, we headed to lecture to discuss the reproduction and settlement of corals. 66% of corals are hermaphroditic who simultaneously spawn in the fall, during the night, following a full moon. In 2012, Bocas del Toro had a spectacular spawning event 6 nights after the full moon in September. The reason spawning events are so important is because coral reefs have a global seafloor coverage equal to the area of Texas but is home to about 25% of the oceans biodiversity (ecocircuitospanama). 

    After a delicious lunch of rice, beans, incredible chicken wings, some cucumber and a salad (Thank you, Dezuse) we set sail for Isla Pastores. There we saw a deep open ocean, then lots of colorful coral and sponge after a short swim from the boat. For me the yellow sponge was quite mesmerizing because I don't think I've seen it before. I also encountered a shy octopus. 

Yellow Sponge from Isla Pastores 

Can you spot the Octopus? 

The most exciting part was when we were lucky enough to be graced by the presence of a HUGE school of fish. There were thousands of small silver fish whose school looked like an endless river. Many of us dove down to be completely encapsulated by the thousands of shimmery fish. No need to worry, no humans or fish were harmed but it was quite the experience. It was a great end to a great snorkel site. 

A small pixelated portion of an enormous school of fish at Isla Pastores 

A great capture, by Alex Reichardt, of the school of fish making their way across the reef 

    We then made our way to Punto Juan. Here we saw another beautiful coral reef at much shallower water. A ray was spotted but the species is unidentified. There were a few reef squid that made a dashing appearance and a purple tipped anemone that I had also never seen before. 

Yet another Reef Squid Image -- Can never have too many 

Some Gorgeous Purple Tipped Anemone from Punto Juan 

    Once we returned back to base at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute we ate a delicious meal of potatoes, Bok choy, pork or beef (or none for some), and yummy fresca soda. Oh and of course dessert! Which was fried banana and grape nut ice cream, yum! 

I will close off the post with some group photos and a best wishes :) 

Trip Members throwing up their O's at Isla Pastores 
(Nina, Alex, Sof, Katie,Tessa, Adriana) 

Group Dive! 

- Alyssa Rueda  ｡◕ ‿ ◕｡*:･ﾟ✧