The morning started out with breakfast followed by a lecture on invertebrates- corals, sponges, crabs, etc. We had a bit of time before lunch before lunch, so we geared up for a quick snorkel from the island to practice our invertebrate ID skills. We divided up into three groups with each of the three guides, and began our "hands" on observation of invertebrates. We were interrupted however by a big vertebrate! Bryan spotted it and announced to our group, "There's a manatee over there!" Within 20 yards was a big manatee cruising over the sand. We shouted out to the other groups and followed this giant creature into the sea grass beds. After some pursuit, all members of the group got a good look at the manatee from our underwater view. Pretty awesome experience for all!
We continued our snorkel for a bit longer then headed off to lunch. After lunch we loaded up into a boat and traveled to a mangrove island. Stopping to see the mangroves from a terrestrial point of view, we hike over some marshy terrain and learned about the importance of mangroves, how they grow, and took a sediment core to look at. We then chased more manatees in the bay, a mom and baby, catching a glimpse of them from the boat- our lucky day!
To really examine the mangroves, we went for a look beneath their branches, snorkeling around the edge of the trees. The prop roots were covered in sponges, anemones, and were surrounded by baby fishes of all kinds and some adults too. There was a whole world under those roots that we didn't even know was there.
Tonight we are drawing the new invertebrates we learned today, and checking out the microscopic plankton samples we collected near the mangroves. Then it's time for bed to get a good night sleep before our big excursion tomorrow.
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