Hey everyone!

So exams went well, we had them Monday through Wednesday. They were a little stressful but I think I did okay. As of Wednesday at 11 we were officially DONE with classes. Now we're moving on to Directed Research...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So Monday half of us went diving. It was really nice and relaxing. We saw two big eagle rays and a bunch of big sting rays. It was just an all around good dive, and one of our last "pleasure" dives for a while. Tuesday, another group went out diving and when they were done, packing up on the boat, they saw the humpback whales again! A few people got really close this time, like within 20 feet! I was bummed that I didnt get to see them that time, but I'm glad more people got to see them. They really are some of the most amazing creatures. It gives you a real sense of scale when there's an animal in the water thats hundreds of times larger than you.

Yesterday was our last exam (but if feels like it was sooo much longer ago). To celebrate, we went out on Long Cay for a cook-out with all the students and most of the staff. We sat around the campfire and talked about our cultural experience on South Caicos (our last "class" with Richard). It was really interesting to think about how our opinions have changed since the first few weeks. I feel like living here, I've learned a lot about the people here, but in a way, I don't think I'll ever fully understand all the intricacies of their culture. Although the weather wasn't the best (chilly and sprinkling off and on), some of us chose to stay the night and camp. It turned out to be a really beautiful night, with very little rain. The only downside was that we had to be up at 630 to get back to the center in time for morning meetings and breakfast. But it was still a lot of fun.

Today has been amazing. Directed research started today and I'm working on a project for Ben about fish diversity, specifically how species richness is related to family richness and if there are any correlations. We will be almost every day for the next 2+ weeks. We had all morning to be lazy today and it was GLORIOUS. I probably spent a solid hour sleeping in the hammock, just because I could. For our project, we're surveying 3 different dive sites, one with high, medium and low, fish diversity. Today we went to the low diversity site, called the Blow Out. It was REALLY rough going out, more rough that its been thus far. On top of that, a bottle of WD-40 spilled on the boat so everything was really slick and slippery. We were all a mess by the time we got into the water. As soon as we made it off the boat though, things were alright. Although it was the low diversity site, it was still a good dive. We saw a nurse shark and some HUGE baracuda. My dive buddy for this whole thing is Neil, and our divemaster is Jan, one of the interns. They're really cool, and I'm glad we get to hang out underwater together for 40 minutes every day...haha.

Tonight I also got to go on another dive. FINALLY got to go on my night dive which means....drumroll...I'm officially an advanced diver! Yay! It was a REALLY REALLY REALLY cool experience. It was a little eeire, not being able to see anything past your flashlight, but it was really cool. We saw some huge jacks feeding. They were eating everything they could find. It was nuts! We also got to see an eel and an octopus along with some other really cool nocturnal fish that we dont normally see. Toward the end of our dive, we turned off all our lights and moved our hands in the water to see all the bioluminescence. It was beautiful. The dive was just all-around a really cool experience...very chilled-out and relaxed.

We'll be diving tomorrow, and possibly on Saturday. We have Sunday off and then we're back collecting data Monday-Friday. I'm really excited!