Shark vs. Barracuda!

I know I’m a little late on this one, but I thought I should start from the fourth. Instead of celebrating the fourth of July like a normal American, I was sitting working on my research project poster the night of the 4th. We all found it somewhat funny that a British Colony was celebrating the 4th of July, but I attributed it to the possibility that they host a good amount of Americans. (Later we saw a poster that said, come celebrate the tricountry celebration…or something to that degree, so I think they were trying to make it a celebration for all). I saw no fireworks, except for the picture icon which is my computer sign in screen, and it was the longest night ever. Our projects were due the morning of the 5th, and it was, to say the least, important. Only three of the 10 students went out to celebrate and came back to the rest of us all still sitting in the classroom working hard.

But now it is over. Research from sea cucumbers to algae were explained in a detailed manner, and in my opinion, everyone for college students did an amazing job. And if you read Ally’s blog, it was hard work, but formatting the poster was harder. Anyway, I was last and once it was done…the lunch bell rang.

We were so hungry we just went running, and when we sat down it just felt like a weight was lifted off our shoulders. After lunch we finally had a day to ourselves. Just one day, but after two and a half weeks all we wanted was one day and then we were ready to go home.

Ally, Marco, Phil, and I decided to go on one last snorkel and instead of staying to the inside of the barrier reef, we went outside it to where it gets deeper and the ocean really feels like it begins. We snorkeled around for a bit and on our way to the weather recorder station I saw a giant Barracuda, as long as me and I kind of jumped out of the water and according to those with me, made a slight noise. I tried to position myself away from the barracuda because I wont lie, it creeped me out. It eventually swam away and I relaxed. I was trying to look for sea turtles, but eventually stopped looking into the wide abyss. That was when I saw it. A nurse shark was swimming around and must have noticed us and started to swim toward us. I knew I shouldn’t be nervous because nurse sharks aren’t dangerous, but the way it was swimming toward us put me on guard. As soon as it got within 15 feet of us it turned away and swam a different direction. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen, but I definitely need to work on my nerves.

So long for now. :D
The next post will be soon. I’m in the airport, want to catch some dinner, and I’ll update you on the latest news of abroad travels!
Heather