Day 6, Afternoon, February 28, 2009: South Water Caye, Low Water Tidal Pools

During the afternoon, Jennifer (the owner of Leslie Cottages) walked us down to the Northern side of the island to get a look at the tide pools (created by the extreme low tide of the cold front that was moving in). Before heading into the pools, Jennifer and the rest of our teachers went over how we should act around the various species we were about to see. Walking carefully and moving at a slow pace, I was able to spot smaller, harder to find animals such as young puffer fish, small brittle stars and long string-type worms. Under almost every rock, there was another beautiful sea urchin and in all different sizes too. Matt Hollander even found one sticking through his bootie, but he got the teachers to get it out. While searching through the water, I was able to get some amazing photographs, even some of an octopus that was spotted by Julia Lewis. As we would move closer, it would change colors. Patty said that it was their way of communicating. After about an hour of exploring the tide pools, we headed back to the cabins to discuss our findings more. The tide pools are definitely something I will remember for a lifetime and I can't wait to do it again.

- Lillian M.

Yesterday, we walked down to the North side of the island at low tide to find a widespread area of tide pools. We began to carefully walk about the pools, dressed in our very attractive water shoes. We picked up rocks submerged in shallow water, finding creatures such as brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and many water dwelling worms. Within the first 5 minutes of arrival, we spotted an octopus. We watched as this moderate sized creature scurried away from us and changed colors with each rock it passed. We weaved in and out of crowds of sea urchins, but some of us weren't so lucky. Matt found himself stepping on a black urchin. It penetrated through his bootie and into his foot. He sat and watched (Rudy) pull it out and thankfully walked away with little injury. On the other hand, everyone managed to avoid the sting rays. Getting stung by them would result in boiling your foot! My favorite part of the trip was the Brittle Stars. They were everywhere! A Brittle Star is a star fish-like creature with wiggling legs to propel itself forward. We also saw snails the size of two fists combined. Their shells were beautiful with many spirals in all sorts of colors. So in conclusion, it was a very successful experience. With minor injuries, we managed to walk away with new-found knowledge on a fascinating ecosystem.

- Alia K.