Day 9: Tuesday, January 21, 2014

For the first time since we got here, we took a break from diving today and worked on navigation skills instead. We started out the morning by laying out transect lines (which are essentially long measuring tapes used underwater) to measure our paces per a unit distance. This allows us to estimate how far we are traveling when we don't have measuring tools. We later replicated a similar activity underwater to calculate how many fin cycles it took for us to travel 40 meters. 

Students laying our their transect lines

We also learned how to use compass navigation and underwater slates. A sense of direction has never been my forte, so it looks like this compass is about to become my new best friend.

My underwater slate with attached compass

After our navigation exercises in the morning, the rest of the day consisted of lectures on Marine Protected Areas. Not too eventful of a day, unless you want to count watching Despicable Me at night. 

So that you have an idea of who's on this island with me, here's a collage of our photos that the admin building hung up in their office. Granted, pretty much everyone looks better in real life since these pictures were taken right after we rolled out of bed and headed to the waterfront in the early morning.  

Oh, to be photogenic.