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