Tuesday

Tuesday was quite the day. We had a few classroom sessions and then snorkeled through the mangroves and sand flats next to Man-o-War key. Later we dove at Wayne's Place (a dive site) and finished up with a night snorkel on Bailey's Key.

Preparing for the boat trip to Man-o-War Key

French Angelfish "Pomacanthidae paru" in the waters around the mangroves at Man-o-War Key. You can see the Mangroves below

 After leaving the Mangroves, we took a short ride to the nearby sand flats to collect some organisms.

Here we are passing around a Queen Conch "Strombus gigas.

Our guide and naturalist Jack explains sea cucumber physiology. Note the water coming out of the animal's "vascular system"!

A few organisms we observed were brittle starfish and crabs

Lionfish "Pterois miles" are an invasive species native to the Pacific Ocean that prey on smaller fish of the reef. Here is one during our dive Tuesday. Thankfully we didn't see too many as they are a harmful species.

There were Caribbean Octopus "Octopus briareus" in the shallows surrounding Bailey's Key during the night snorkel. Super cool!