Hello Friends!
It was an incredible day here on the south side of Little Cayman! We had three wonderful internet sessions with students on both Grand and Cayman Brac. We had a blast talking with you all and answering your questions! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
This evening I was able to go on my final dive at the aggregation site. The scientists will continue to dive three times a day, however, I will be flying back to Cayman Brac on Thursday morning and you are not allowed to dive within 24 hours flying. Does anyone know why??
Anyway, as I was saying, I went on my last dive with the grouper and they definitely saved the best for last. There appeared to be an endless number of fish. Exactly how many, I do not yet know as the scientists and researchers have not finished their count. That said, the rough estimate is somewhere between 4,000-5,000. That’s a lot of fish! And at one point as I was swimming among the fish it appeared as though there was an endless stream of them! Click on the link below to see a video of the fish filmed tonight by researcher, Josh Stewart.
(Check back for the link. The video was still uploading as we were going to bed. I should have it up for you all by the early morning!)–UPDATE: This footage is coming, however, we are having an uploading issue. It will be one more day. I will post it on tomorrow’s blog if all goes as planned.
And finally, the most talked about part of the day was the sighting of a Nassau we named, Lucky. Take a look at the picture below.
Lucky the Fish!
It appears that Lucky had a bite taken out of him (or her) by what we are guessing to be a reef shark. What is so amazing is that the wound is completely healed and Lucky continues thrive. WOW!
Pretty cool!!!!!
Hope all your time there has been FUN!!!!!!:) 🙂 🙂
Todd,
Is it the difference between the pressure in the water and the pressure in the airplane that makes flying and diving a bad combination?
I’m wondering if you are surprised by the number of grouper that returned?
Hope your having a good time in the Caribbean, bring some sun home.
– Jorge
Hola Jorge!
Its so great to hear from you!!
So, you are close…has to do with the pressure. There is a gas that builds up in your blood, called nitrogen. If you get too much in your blood, you get a sickness called The Bends. You are supposed to wait a certain number of hours after you dive before you fly to avoid The Bends.
Also, I am not surprised the grouper all showed up. The Cayman Islands are doing a good job of protecting this aggregation site. But I am sure happy they did!! Its amazing. I can’t wait to show you all the video and share all my stories!
See you on Monday!!
Todd
Is today your first time seeing ‘Lucky’ the fish?
We have actually had several “Lucky” sightings. But yes, that was the first time!
Correction: I hope YOU ARE having a good time….
My mom’s mistake.
TODD
I think the reason that
you can’t dive within 24 hours flying is
that it increases the pressure to quickly and your blood
stream gets all wackyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.