Day 6 Mangroves, Coral Garden, and Hol Chan National Park
After an invigorating evening seine of the turtle grass last night that yielded a Checkered Puffer fish, we woke up this morning to venture to the feared Mangroves. There we saw an abundance of organisms such as the batfish, which would not qualify as a pretty fish, and we even managed to completely avoid the biting Isopods. We then took a refreshingly cool boat ride to the Coral Gardens where we battled the currents to see some beautiful reef teeming with life. We finished the boat trip at Hol Chan National Park which is undoubtedly the most perfect and picturesque reef imaginable. We saw three Green Sea Turtles, a Nurse Shark, huge schools of Snapper, and giant Grouper. We felt like pros as we watched the ‘dopes on a rope’ attempt to snorkel around us. The afternoon finished with, believe it or not, more swimming back at the complex. It was probably the most fun day yet, and we are all excited about the next trip out tomorrow.
By: Matt McCalley
After an invigorating evening seine of the turtle grass last night that yielded a Checkered Puffer fish, we woke up this morning to venture to the feared Mangroves. There we saw an abundance of organisms such as the batfish, which would not qualify as a pretty fish, and we even managed to completely avoid the biting Isopods. We then took a refreshingly cool boat ride to the Coral Gardens where we battled the currents to see some beautiful reef teeming with life. We finished the boat trip at Hol Chan National Park which is undoubtedly the most perfect and picturesque reef imaginable. We saw three Green Sea Turtles, a Nurse Shark, huge schools of Snapper, and giant Grouper. We felt like pros as we watched the ‘dopes on a rope’ attempt to snorkel around us. The afternoon finished with, believe it or not, more swimming back at the complex. It was probably the most fun day yet, and we are all excited about the next trip out tomorrow.
By: Matt McCalley
