Buddy-Tastic

Golly, it sure has been a while since I've last updated ye, hasn't it?  So much has happened in only a few short days.  We went snorkeling on Sunday and saw a sea turtle!!!!!!!  Highlight of my life, right there.  Now if only I saw a moose, then my life would be complete (another of my life's goals, but that's for another time).  The turtle was only about the size of my torso, maybe a little wider, and was just gliding through the water, so chill and relaxed, while tons of us tried to follow it without freaking out too much.  Hm let's see...other cool things...OH we saw an octopus, too!  It looked like a rock when still (good evolutionary skills, if you ask me) but then came to life when it glooped around along the ocean floor. 

Aside from the cool creatures we've been seeing while exploring the deep blue, we've been working on perfecting our rescue skills and our scientific diving abilities.  We can now administer emergency oxygen to a patient as well as help a fellow diver in distress.  It's actually quite fun learning how to save people, if that doesn't sound totally weird.  We've done a ton of role-playing emergency scenarios and the other day we simulated a truck accident in which a cut on my leg bled so much I passed out then died.  'Twas quite fun to bring out my inner actress.  Everyone is doing a great job being emergency first responders and oxygen adminsters.  Today while at the water, we broke up into two groups and needed to find a "missing diver" (it was a yellow robe tied to the bottom of the ocean that our instructor hid).  We had to come up with a plan to find the "diver" so some of us had to dive and go in a "U" pattern back and forth, others snorkeled, others stood on shore to signal to us rescuers.  Our team found the "diver" in about 14 minutes!  I just hope I'm never in a scenario where a fellow diver goes missing. 

In addition to the rescue skills, we've been learning how to conduct scientific surveys underwater.  This has been quite the learning curve for me since I've done transects on land and only in about 3 feet of water.  For those of you who have no idea what a transect is, it's where you lay out basically measuring tape for a certain distance and then swim (or travel) along it and count things like number of fish, coral types, coral cover, etc.  What makes it challenging while underwater is trying to lay it out in a straight line along the same depth (today my line was at 35 feet), without letting the current pull you or the tape in any odd direction.  You also need to focus on your buoyancy - meaning you don't accidentially kick the corals or your partner or start to ascend far from the reef itself.  It's been a bit of a struggle for me because I'm not one to multitask and I like everything to be perfect (quite impossible, I know, I know).  I'm certain, though, that with more practice it will be easy as pie!  Tomorrow we're going to two new dive sites and we'll be conducting fish surveys as well as being assessed for our skills.  Kinda nervous, but I know it will be a lot of fun. 

I've been realizing that this semester really is unlike anything I'm used to, which is just what I wanted, even if it is a little unfamiliar and unpredictable. All of the field research takes learning away from the classroom (where I'm finding I'm more comfortable) and into the water, where the magic really happens.  It's fun to be immersed in an environment where you do not exactly belong, but that you respect and want to understand.  Our surveys and research reinforce topics discussed in class, and I think that is one of the best ways to learn possible.  I am really looking forward to when all of our classes begin not only to begin learning more about this incredible ecosystem that is in my backyard but for some normalcy (if things could actually be normal when you're living with about 20 other young people in a house on a tropical island for four months). 

Well I've got quite the early start tomorrow for our two dives, so I shall be going.  Thanks again for reading this novel, you guys are great!

This is Catalina, signing off