Bahamas Field Study Blog

Hello overprotective parents, today we woke up to the smell of nothing, which means we had eggs and banana raisin muffins for breakfast, but unfortunately no Frosted Flakes today. After breakfast, we prepared to head down to Snapshot reef. We had a change in drivers today, as Dr. Welch was taking a student to the clinic. So naturally, we all held on for dear life as Phillips was driving. Today’s reef was further out than we were used to with some cold water, however, we toughed through it. This reef was further down into the water with very active pockets. We spotted plenty of sergeant major’s, a Nassau grouper, a giant crab, squirrelfish, and a total of 5 stingrays today-including both the yellow and Southern stingrays. Also, for the third time while on this trip, we spotted a barracuda.

As for our afternoon, we headed to Monument beach to prepare for our exam this evening. This was a relaxing time for most students as we laid out to tan while reading through our notes. It was a much needed study time, as well as relaxation beach time. As if a relaxing few hours on the beach wasn’t enough to make it a good day, we stopped in the town on the way back to stock up on some snacks. We all purchased the necessities-including chips and ice cream before heading back to the GRC to wash off the sand and prepare for food.

After eating our Bahamas Thanksgiving dinner, we all headed to our classroom lab to cram and color before the first exam. We reviewed the material by quizzing each other and destressed by coloring pictures of ocean creatures. Overall, most of the day consisted of snacking, swimming, and preparing for our exam-fingers crossed we all did well. I wonder what unique organisms we will encounter tomorrow!

Trina Rosing ’21, Alyssa Ulrich ‘21