Our first day snorkeling!!!

Today was our first real day at SeaCamp. We had toured SeaCamp the night before but still not knowing what to expect that morning when we got up. Our alarms went off at 7:15 and we got ourselves ready with a bathing suit and any gear that we might have had. We all ate breakfast (which consisted of oranges, muffins, toast and juice) and then got into our vans and drove off to SeaCamp. At SeaCamp we met Anna and Angelie for the first time. They talked to us about our activities that were planned for the day and then we went over to a shack to get our snorkel gear (mask, snorkel and fins). We then proceeded to go the “Snorkel Cove” to do our swim test. We had to swim to the end of a dock and back in freezing water with no gear on. After we all passed the swim test Anna and Angelie gave us our wet suits and we were briefed on how to snorkel properly. Getting on our wet suits and our snorkel gear, we put on a buoyancy device and got in the water. We performed a few tasks for Anna and Angelie and then we got out of the water and walked anxiously to flat tops 5 and 6. As we got onto the flat tops we had to put all our stuff in either a dry box or wet box, put on our life vests, and then sit down for the ride. It was a 25 minute ride out to the site where we were going to snorkel. Passing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico we became even more excited about the things that we would see under water. The water was only 5 ft deep but we were ready to see some cool animals underwater. Anna talked to us about coral and sponges on the flat top, before we entered the water, with chalk, which she used to draw and explain things. We all got in the water and were given nets to collect special things that we wanted to show everyone after the snorkel. We were in the water for about 25 minutes and after that we all got out and talked about the special animals and plants that everybody caught. There were sponges, Cassiopeia, Cassiopeia egg sacks, and “Peppermint” Coral which is actually called “Stinky” Coral. Anna told us that the coral was called “Peppermint” Coral so that we would smell it and after everyone got a good whiff of it, she told us that the real name was “Stinky” Coral because it smelled so bad. Anna also showed us the way water and nutrients go through a sponge’s body by squirting this neon green liquid into it (that process is called a “Sponge Flush”).We then left the site, went to the dock, got our stuff together and left for the hotel. Back at the hotel, some people made our lunch of sandwiches while others hung out at the pool. The food was great and well prepared but there always has to be clean up, so afterwards some people volunteered to wash the dishes and put the food away. Now, it has only been half the day so far; we then went to the P.A.D.I dive shop where we looked around for souvenirs and were fitted for fins, masks, snorkels, BCDS and we were given “shorties” (which are short wetsuits). We also met our instructors for the scuba dives. The funniest one was J.B., the women dive teacher.We then gathered in the parking lot and decided on which 4 people were going to the grocery store and what to get there. We then went back to the hotel and worked (and hung out) while waiting for everyone to get back from the grocery. Once they got back, we got in the vans to go to SeaCamp for a lab. For the lab we were studying the upside down jellyfish that we had see while snorkeling earlier called the Cassiopeia. We talked about its class, and what his name meant and we looked at how it adapted to the different environmental effects and then made a conclusion and a graph to support our information. We cleaned up the activity area and then we said goodnight and thank you to Anna and Angelie. For dinner we had spaghetti, salad and garlic bread; it was very good. We played cards and just relaxed for a while and then we went to bed thinking about how are very first open ocean dive would be the next day.
Ashley Conard