Alpha 1 Day 3: Fish Identification Lesson At Cooper Island
written by Mate-In-Training, Andrew Dyer
June 26, 2017
The day was started at the bright and early hour of 6:45a.m. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, all headed ashore. The Open Water divers joined the dive staff for a morning/afternoon of confined water skills. The rest of our kids, non-divers and advanced divers alike, enjoyed a full morning of beach activities, which included games on the beach, kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling and hanging out in the shops.
At around 11:45a.m., everyone headed back to boats to start a lunch of pasta salad. After a relaxed hour of lunch and clean, Delta and Alpha programs headed to our boat, Miss You, for a Fish Identification lesson lead by one of our Marine Bio instructors Zosha. After an informative lesson covering the basic autonomy of a fish, as well as the telling traits of specific species to be seen in the area, the kids were handed waterproof fish ID books and started preparing for the snorkel.
Tango, Alpha and Delta students all motored over to a prime snorkeling spot called Cistern rock. During a good hour of snorkeling, the kids saw a myriad of fish, an octopus as well as a few stingray and a sea turtle! Everyone headed back to boats to relax a little while the divers returned. Back on Miss You, the Tangos wanted to swim even more, so they jumped in and splashed about, playing with noodles and floaties.
After an hour of reading, laying on the net, showers and setting up their hammocks, the Open Water divers returned and dinner prep began. With good music playing in the background, peppers and onions were chopped as the steak sizzled in the pan. Finally all the components of delicious Steak Fajitas were complete and we all sat down for a wonderful dinner. After dinner, dinner clean and general boat clean commenced. As always, we ended the day with boat meeting and a power down, And as always, the kids went to bed exhausted and happy.
Photos to accompany this blog post are ready to go, but are unfortunately unable to be uploaded due to website technical difficulties. Our tech team is on it and we hope to see the problem fixed by tonight!
