Submitted by Emily Wilkins on the 2018 winter session program in the Cayman Islands sponsored by the School of Marine Science and Policy…
The weather has been quite windy and rainy this the past week, so it has been difficult to go diving or to explore the island. This down time has allowed us to get to know one another through countless card games and by spending so much time together. On the days where we have been able to go diving, we have begun our scientific diving training. It is definitely a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! Being able to work in the reefs requires great control over your buoyancy and making sure you are streamlined, because touching or accidentally kicking the reef is a major no, no. We began working with transects and recording the species or coral that we see. In the next week, we are going to begin using quadrants while diving to take pictures of what we see along the transect tape. The weather is supposed to break within the next few days, so hopefully, we will be able to do more exploring of the island and more diving!
