We started our day today as usual rolling out of bed itching new bug bites, just in time for breakfast, and to our wonder and amazement it was pancakes and bacon day. After that great source of fuel, we found out that we were going to a new site today called snapshot reef. With such an enticing name we were all extremely excited to get out there and well… snap some shots. After a somewhat short truck ride, although the professors would disagree because we once again had another karaoke session, we arrived at the beach. After taking measurements of the location, tides, wind, temperature, and weather conditions we were ready to get after the reefs. We put on all our snorkel gear and made the long 500-yard swim out to the patch reefs. On our way out we noticed a small what we believe is a Spotted Moray which stopped us in our tracks for nearly 10 minutes. When we realized we were the only people in the area we decided it was our time to join the rest of the group. Once we swam out to the reef, we immediately noticed just how teeming with life this reef was. There was a huge population of blue chromis darting around the tops of the rocks as well as plenty of damselfish and slippery dicks. A difference between this reef from any of the others that we have been to is that we were swimming in waters 20 feet deep, which made a difference in the types of wildlife we observed. To start there was more variety in the species of coral that we were observing, up to this point most of the corals we had observed were fan corals. Snapshot reef was full of brain coral, mustard hill coral, and boulder coral as well as a few fans in the shallower parts. The second biggest difference that we noticed was the size of the fish that we got to see as we got to see a Nassau grouper that was huge compared to the other fish and a southern stingray that was double the size of the past southern stingray we have seen. After what felt like only 30 minutes of exploring the reef we happened to check our watches and realize we were behind schedule on getting back to lunch. So, what any person would do, we hustled out of there, jumped on the truck and sped back to GRC for our tuna salad lunch
After yet another great meal our group decided to split up to get some studying done for our upcoming exam in the evening. Some stayed at the GRC to study in the lovely air conditioning while others went to the government dock and explored the area to better help with hands on identification of fish, algae, and plants. While in the water we looked near the shore and low and behold there was a nurse shark only a couple feet from the beach. For some it was the day they had been waiting for, all the long hours of heat and bugs were finally paying off. After some more studying we decided it was time to head back to the GRC for our final great meal which was meatloaf and mashed potatoes with pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Finally, we met in the lab at 7:00 PM to take our exam which we all passed with flying colors… probably.
-Mason Steen '26 and Dylan Rice '25
A shark, yeah!