Last Ocean Day

The group visited the most beautiful spot for a snorkel/dive…West Bank Wall.
We enjoyed seeing large parrotfish, wrasses, angelfish, and schools of blue chromis and sergeant majors. The snorkelers had the chance to see mimicry in action, as a fish eating trumpetfish swam along in a school of herbivorous blue tangs. This trick worked well as the trumpetfish fooled a couple of damselfish that it eagerly gobbled up.

A turtle swam along with some of the snorkelers and several of the experienced snorkelers were thrilled to see a parrotfish with a bright yellow and black remora or shark sucker firmly attached to a male stoplight parrotfish. We watched in amazement as the parrotfish tried to shake the hitchhiker loose.

After our water day, the group headed into town to visit the iguana farm. The iguana farm has hundreds of iguanas that the owners feed and keep from ending up as meals. The group then helped out the economy of the island as they bought souvenirs and mementos of this wonderful week.

As the group headed back to Anthony’s Key Resort several of the teachers commented that this was an exceptional learning experience. They will take back more than pottery and coffee, they will take back the excitement of experiencing the ocean realm first hand and sharing it with students for years to come. The COSEE GL trip enabled many of them to have this wonderful professional development experience.