VTVLC 2018 Marine Biology Trip to Honduras : Second Day in Roatán

This morning students woke up for a delicious breakfast that consisted of fresh fruit and pancakes, but to our dismay, real maple syrup was not provided!

Everyone then headed to their first lecture on Roatán that was about Fish Surveys! It was very interesting and we learned the two main ways of surveying an area. We also talked about what classifies a fish and a couple of the main species that we would be seeing along the reefs

After the lecture we all geared up for our first dive at a location called, The Aquarium. Students practiced laying out transects and then surveying and identifying fish on both sides of the line. After we did this groups went for a swim around the reefs where they saw a Porkfish, a Hawksbill Turtle, a Dog Snapper and a Smooth Trunkfish.

After the dive we had a very tasty lunch and Doctor Bryan Wilson gave a talk about a certain crustose algae that is taking over reefs around the Caribbean and the research he is doing about it. Students then learned more about the Stereo Video Survey (SVS), which is two cameras connected to a metal fixture that captures fish from two different points of view. The SVS can be used to count numbers of fish and it can also be used to measure the length of a given fish.

Another dive followed the lecture and this time students went to Melissa’s Reef to practice surveying the areas. After the surveying we had another fun dive, this time students saw an Ocean Triggerfish, a Nassau Grouper, a Scorpionfish, a Graysby Grouper and a Spiny Lobster.

After super, at around 7:00 students headed out for their first night snorkel on Roatán. It was a very exciting snorkel as they saw two Octopus, more than four Spiny Lobsters, a couple of Peacock Flounders, a Spotted Moray Eel, two Spanish Lobsters and a whole bunch of Long Spine Sea Urchins!

Students are exhausted from their hard work today but cannot wait for tomorrow’s activities!