Field Trip

Where in the world am I? It was great to go see some sights around Eleuthera Island. We surveyed one reef in the morning. I am still amazed every time I get in the water. You would think by this time that everything would look the same. Each reef has different texture and colors. The variety of fish changes each time. We got to see a group of yellow rays on Reef Debbie. Two rays even had a little fight in the sand. The following video has the action.

Bicolor Damselfish with colorful coral

Close up of a Blue-Striped Grunt

Gray Angelfish and Doctorfish

Redband Parrotfish: This one was hard to identify!

Queen Angelfish, Gray Angelfish, White Margate, Lionfish and Blue Tang

Friendly Lizard: These lizards run across the paths and hide in the bushes.

   In the afternoon, Matt drove us around Rock Sound to see some local sights. Matt is a graduate student working on his master's degree. He assists Alistair with this EarthWatch project. He took us the some shops and then down into these caves. The Banyan tree roots were fascinating. The roots hang from the ceiling. We saw some bats tucked into the darker alcoves. Empty spider webbing covered the wall. I made sure that I didn't get too close to the walls. The Banyan trees were even more awe-inspiring above ground.
   We ended our adventure by swimming in the Ocean Hole. It is a perfectly round hole surrounded by rock. They know that it is at least 700 feet deep. There is a series of caves that connects the hole to the ocean. The water was extra salty because of increased evaporation.

Caves with Banyan roots, bats, and bat-eating spiders. Luckily I didn't see any spiders. Eek!

The Banyan Tree roots grow down and twist around each other.

Huge Banyan Tree: This tree inspired James Cameron to write the movie Avatar.

This Banyan Tree kept going and going. We could stand inside it.

Ocean Hole: This hole is at least 700 feet deep. It connects to the ocean through caves. There were lots of big fish swimming around.