Since the one day off we had we have been doing pretty much the same thing every day. We try to get into at least two "blue holes" in the morning and retrieve traps in the afternoon. It might sound simple, but there have been many challenges along the way.
One especially aggravating morning was when we decided to dive Mermaid Pond. This included walking the half mile trail with two tanks, dive gear, and traps. The trail was very overgrown from when we were here last year. Most over what is overtaking the trail is either poisonous (poisonwood and manchineel) or full of spines (haulback)... so that was fun. When we were finally ready and in the water, we swam to the North conduit first. The only problem was our lack of communication. I thought Rob had found it before, and he thought I knew where it was. So we wasted a little bit of time swimming back and forth on the northern side of the lake until I stopped over a spot where the bottom seemed to disappear. I called for rob and we both descended to the bottom. It was definitely it, but there was so much flocculent that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Rob swam off to check to see if he could see the opening while I sat over my head in muck waiting for it to settle... it never did. At one point I started thinking to myself that I might be sinking, but don't worry I wasn't. That's just what the mind does when you're stuck at the bottom of a creepy lake not able to see anything. After sitting there for about 10 minutes I ascended a bit to try and find Rob's bubbles, so that I could drop into the muck by him. We surfaced after that and swam to the South conduit. This one was very clear and easy to find. However, I didn't get to dive it because somebody... dropped the keys into the lake. So, I got to spend the rest of the dive scanning the bottom of the lake. After 4 hours we packed up our stuff and rushed off to the next spot.
I'm starting to notice a reoccurring theme on this trip: losing things. The next day when we went to retrieve the traps, the Go Pro ended up at the bottom of the lake. That was a little easier to find.
On another note.. I have yet to find a pair of shoes that can survive this island. The soles of my Keens are coming off. They are almost to the point of being flip-flops. Also, I'm down to one field shirt. My others have fallen victim to the haulback and don't offer much protection anymore. And it's only the halfway point.
While Rob was exploring a small lake by the side of the road on our lunch break, I decided to follow a mysterious trail across the street. It ended up being very short and it lead right to this beach.
This is one of the palms (Cocothrinax argentata) that we were sampling last year. They are doing a genetic analysis of the palms found on this island. (not my project)
I have never seen white passion flowers, and I wish I could take a cutting of this.
This is Barbouria cubensis (what Rob is studying). It was still alive and swimming around the edge of the petri dish.
We made a discovery! Not a new species, but it will be the first time anybody has documented Parhippolyte sterreri (another cave shrimp) on this island. It made Rob happy...
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