We can't believe that today is the last day of the trip. It has been an amazing experience; none of us want to go home. Today we went to Cat Cay to do a beach seine. It was interesting to look at the homes that were being built as well as a sea wall on Cat Cay. It made us wonder how the building may affect the environment. Also this morning we finally looked at the plankton from the tows we have been doing all week. It was very cool to be able to see the difference between the different tows. The night tow was the best tow, with the largest yield. We really have gotten some interesting data this week which will help us study how development may affect the environment. Later in the day we had some fun surprises.
We were on the way to Cat Cay and we saw wild dolphins swimming next to our boat. It was miraculous to be able to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins. We had encountered dolphins in the distance before, but this was the first time we saw them up close. This week we have seen a cornucopia of spectacular species of many different phylums. We have studied different kinds of zooplankton, squid, sea turtles, as well as nurse sharks, lemon sharks and even sting rays. Participating in HSMB has enlightened us to what we want to do with our lives. It has helped us to realize our aspirations and future job opportunities. This has been an amazing and eye opening trip and we will be extremely sad to leave the Coral Reef II, which has been like a second home for all of us during this amazing week.
Jordan and Olivia
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