I have traveled quite a bit this year, and you know how I love to do it! Here are my highlights!
So, those are my journeys for the year of 2015. I went to several places I’d never been before, Aspen, St Lucia, Clearwater Beach…and every trip was wonderful and worthwhile! I am so looking forward to 2016! Happy Travels in the New Year to you!
On a dive in St Lucia last week, our group had a visitor. We were all thrilled to see an Eagle Ray, but when we saw that it had a hook in its face and was trailing fishing line, the group went into action. Fortunately, one of the divers had a pair of scissors, and our dive master, Errol, managed to cut a huge amount of line off of the ray. The Eagle Ray made a second pass, trailing only 10 feet or so of line compared to the 100 feet of line it had just moments before. I only wish we had been able to help with getting the hook out, but the animal did not come close enough to allow that, unfortunately. However, the Eagle Ray will manage much better with only the short amount of fishing line left….and I hope somehow, that the hook comes out.
There aren’t the best photos, but from the distance they are the best I could do!
Beautiful fish are under the surface of St Lucia’s waters.
On December 5th I joined REEF on a fish survey trip to St. Lucia in the Caribbean Sea. If you have never heard of REEF, they have a simple mission:
Reef Environmental Education Foundation is a grass-roots organization that seeks to conserve marine ecosystems by educating, enlisting and enabling divers and other marine enthusiasts to become active ocean stewards and citizen scientists.
They have 3 major projects, and they are 1) Grouper Moon Project, 2) Fish Survey Project, and 3) the Lionfish Eradication Project (Lionfish are an invasive species in the Atlantic). The trip to St. Lucia was a survey trip. It is important to survey the reefs and check the health of the fish and corals. A healthy coral reef is full of life! These surveys go into a huge database, and scientists can make recommendations and do research on specific areas with the data gathered. There were 18 volunteers who went to St. Lucia to dive, and while diving, document the present species and their abundance. We discovered 218 species in St. Lucia! Pretty remarkable, really. It was my first REEF expedition, and I enjoyed it immensely. It was wonderful to be surrounded by people as committed to the oceans and to conservation as I am. You think I know about fish? Not on the level of most of these surveyors! They are amazing.
We stayed at Anse Chastanet Resort, and did our diving with Scuba St. Lucia. I have rarely stayed at an all-inclusive, and I must tell you Anse Chastanet exceeded my expectations. The service is incredible, and the food fabulous. The chef had a different menu every evening, giving us many choices throughout the week. It was fun to discover new dishes, and they had an Indian Food night. There is a significant Indian influence on the island, and this is reflected in the food. When slavery ended in 1838, plantation owners brought in indentured servants from India to take their place as a cheap labor force. After the contracts were up, most of those from India stayed and made their home on the island, and their customs and foods found its way into the culture of St. Lucia.
Scuba St Lucia, the dive business on the resort’s property, is simply one of the best I have ever seen. The boat, Miss Bertha, was big and roomy with plenty of space for 18 divers. The dive masters were knowledgeable and solicitous, adapting their dive style to ours. REEF divers dive SLOWLY in order to find fish. I thoroughly enjoyed my dives with them, and cannot give a stronger recommendation. Dive with Scuba St Lucia, and you will be as impressed and happy as I was. I guarantee it! My group had Errol as a dive master, and he was superb. One of the crew, Bradley, was on the spot when I needed help. Because of my back issues (I have eight pedicle screws and four rods holding my spine in place) I cannot lift tanks. Bradley made sure I did not have to. Everyone working the boat was incredibly hospitable.
Have you ever taken a vacation that combines volunteerism or Citizen Science on your trip? I have done several of them, and I have enjoyed each and every trip. Several travel companies offer volunteer tourism and/or Citizen Science. I’d love to hear about other experiences!
What a wild and crazy week it has been! I returned to Dallas early this morning, around 1230a.m. I still haven’t caught up on my sleep, but I have caught up on my laundry. I will be writing and posting about the events in St. Lucia this week, and in the interim, please enjoy these photos of a beautiful week spent above, and below, St Lucia’s surface!
I am super excited to be on my way to St. Lucia with REEF.org on December 5 in order to do Fish Surveys. REEF: Reef Environmental Education Foundation is a grass-roots organization that seeks to conserve marine ecosystems by educating, enlisting and enabling divers and other marine enthusiasts to become active ocean stewards and citizen scientists. I have contributed data to their database for many years, on and off, but this will be my first opportunity to actually meet other, and very active, members of REEF.
REEF has three main projects: the Grouper Moon Project in the Cayman Islands, the Lionfish Project, and the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project. The Nassau Grouper is a Caribbean icon but was reaching very low numbers. The project began by witnessing a spawning event in the Caymans, but has now grown to educational efforts, tagging, and study. I saw a Nassau Grouper in Cozumel during October…I had not seen one for many years, so I was overjoyed. Lionfish are an invasive species in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, and REEF has programs to try to minimize this fact, including Lionfish Derbies to remove them. Lionfish are actually quite tasty, and hopefully more and more people will begin to fish for, and eat, the Lionfish.
I have been entering data to REEF’s Volunteer Fish Project Survey for many years. I confess I don’t always do it when I dive in the waters they survey, but it is imperative to get population numbers right, so if I am immersed in another project or in photography, I don’t keep track. I have wanted to go on one of REEF’s sponsored trips for years, and now I am getting my wish! Diving vacations that matter! I will post photos and blog from our base in St. Lucia, a place I have never visited. Exciting!
