Bahamas Field Study Blog

Today at the good ol’ GRC we woke up at 0700 for our first double snorkel day at two different new reefs. Our goal for the day was simply to explore these new reef systems as well as getting some practice with slates which are tablets used to write underwater that way, we can take notes while we are out making identifying species A LOT easier. The first location is known as singers point and is only a short walk from campus. As we walked down the street, we saw plenty of small lizards scurrying away from us and a few of us worked on our plant identification skills on the way. Once arriving to the beach, we believed that our walk had come to an end which is when JW took a hard left and started climbing the karst limestone. Once we had climbed the treacherous terrain we began our first snorkel of the day. Singer’s point is a rocky shore with multiple clusters of reefs split by channels of turtle grass. While we were snorkeling, we came across multiple beautiful large species of fish including a Queen trigger, both French and Queen angelfish, and even another yellow stingray relaxing under a rock. We also continued to expand on our algae knowledge noting two new species to us, Ripocephalus and Acetabularia, the latter being a single celled almost suction cup type of algae commonly known as mermaids wine glass. We then walked back to campus for a delicious lasagna bake lunch.

After lunch and a much-needed break period we picked back up our snorkel bags, hopped on the truck, and got excited for yet another new reef. This particular reef is known as Sand Dollar reef to some (usually biologists) and Rocky Point to the geologists. As we drove westward down the island the boys had decided we needed some tunes, which on the bed of a moving truck is hard to get. So, we decided to have a little rapid fire acapella session that was definitely enjoyed by everyone with such hits as “Call me maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, “Everybody talks” by Neon Trees, and “Escape” by Rupert Holmes (the Pina Colada song). Once we got into the water and started swimming through the channel towards the reef system, we found… sand dollars who would’ve guessed, and a lot of them which some of us kept as souvenirs of course. As we approached the gorgeous reef covered with sea fans and finger corals, we saw some interesting species of reef fish, each cooler or prettier than the next including trumpetfish, Atlantic spadefish, a red hind grouper, and one of our personal favorites, a bridled goby which we’ve been searching for at each location. Other than all the cool fish we also saw some fan and tube worms, and some flamingo tongue slugs. After such a long day we returned to the GRC where we had a delicious chicken dinner with a delicious fresh guava desert brought from local vendors where we all got to buy homemade jewelry and Bahamian knickknacks.

-Connor Blake '25 and Dylan Rice '25