18 Feb, Fri.

Fri, 18 Feb. it rained during the night again, but was clear this morning. the rest of the group went out to one of the islands on the 'keys' to the school for their project. they talked to the children about which fish/marine life are the 'bad' (endangered/threatened), and which are 'good' (sustainable) to fish, kill, and eat. trying to get them to understand the concept. they said it was interesting, coz some of the boys were 'tattle-tailing' on each other, pointing and saying, 'he takes turtles!'. so maybe 'peer pressure' will play a part in the education process too. i asked if i could be relieved of my 'office' time this morning to go out again and talk to more business. Pamela said yes, so off i went. it's hard for me to do this, i'm kind of shy :) ... it was easier yesterday coz Abi and i were together. but because i believe in it, i'll learn to do it alone too. i challenged myself and went into a small bar. the owner only spoke spanish, but a guy there, was kind enough to translate. eventually, i got the concept across, and they agreed. the owner, another local, even bought a recycle bag, ... for herself! i hit 2 more spanish markets and both understood and agreed. one guy said he would have his son do the collecting and transporting. the markets get a LOT of cardboard boxes with their shipments, they seem especially happy to have something to do with it! at Mermaid's, Herbert even bought TEN bags to sell in his store. said he would only charge what he paid for them, he didn't want to make any money from it. it really is exciting. i end up spending about a 1/2 hr with each one, so i am getting to know them as well. it was a hot day, and around noon i saw Chris and Nicole. they had returned from the schools and said they'd been given the rest of the day off and that Abi was going diving! me too, i want to go too! i hurried back and asked for the rest of the day off too and Abi and i signed up for a dive. i am still pretty apprehensive about assembling my gear, but the staff was really helpful, and i was pretty comfortable in the water; except that my mask leaks a little water and it's annoying. although i'm still not comfortable enough to take my camera, so still no photos :( visibility was horrible because of all the rain we had the night before; but it was still fun. we didn't do the second dive coz we thought we'd save our $$ for better conditions. i snorkeled while they dove. and took my camera. i've seen Trumpetfish before. but i've never seen one this color! he had a beautiful blue/purple head with colorful stripes. i just read in the book that this is more unusual color for them! ...and i saw it ! Parrotfish, parrotfish, parrotfish! there are so many different kinds, and i didn't have a photo of this one. it think it's a Blue Parrotfish. This is a Parrotfish as well, but it's a Stoplight Parrotfish. it is distinguished by the bright yellow spot at top of gill, and yellow area at base of tail, and salmon/yellow crescent on tail. a school of Blue Tangs: a Queen Angelfish ... someday i'll get a 'proper' photo of her. she is so colorful ! These are Blue Chromis Fish. we actually saw them on our dive first, and i'd never seen them before. they are brilliant blue, and from a distance, have a dark blue or black nose. they are really pretty when you see 20-40 of them swimming in the blue. i guess i've never seen the bubbles made by divers because i've always been below them. but since i was snorkeling when our divers surfaced i noticed how unusual they were ! they are shaped like upside down shallow bowls, ... and they are twirling around as they rise to the surface. they were fastinating ! came home, showered, and stayed in for the night. Abi and i booked another dive trip for tomorrow morning. Hopefully it won't be raining .. and Hopefully we'll see a Whale Shark !