Exploring the Reefs of Grand Bahama – Life Below The Surface
That wraps day 1. Hard to believe that we have only been here together exploring Grand Bahama for a single day. Our brains are full, and our bodies are tired from all the exploration today. Here is a recap of day number 1.
After a delicious waffle breakfast with an ocean view on the beach, we loaded up the van and drove the 30 minutes towards the West End of Grand Bahama. We passed through smaller towns and saw a little of the rural side of the island. When we reached our destination for the day, we unloaded and got oriented to our surroundings and the schedule. A lot to do on day 1. We started with an area briefing from a local guide about what we might expect to encounter in the water and some rules for engaging with the corals, fish and other marine residents that call this reef home.
Our first lesson was how to properly set up our snorkelling equipment. Many students had new masks that needed to be cleaned and prepared for antifog. Everyone quickly learned how our masks fit, and how we prepare them is vital to how much joy we have while in the water. A foggy mask or a water-filled mask is nobody’s friend.
We suited up, and headed out from the beach into a descending tide, the water rises and falls about 3 feet in this area between high and low tide. We planned for 1 hour in the water doing lessons on snorkelling techniques, gear orientation, and general body movements to help conserve energy as we explored the 400 reef balls that rest about 75 feet from the beach.
Very quickly, we encountered many fish that inhabit the reef balls and were curious to see what new creatures were entering their environment. About halfway through the initial exploration, students were given some free rein to explore a small area of the reef balls. Within about a minute, one of the students spotted a Southern Stingray casually cruising through the reef balls. We followed at a safe distance, observing the ray as it searched for a morning snack. This was one of the moments where students’ eyes popped wide open at the realities of exploring a natural and wild place. We spent the rest of our time that morning exploring the shallow reef until it was time to head back to shore for lunch.
After some time warming in the Bahamian sun on the beach, we headed back out into the ocean to explore new areas of the marine ecosystem. Our plan was to explore the seagrass fields for signs of turtles and rays, and to make our way to the deep water reef while checking some of the outcroppings and ledges for lobster and other sea life that likes to hide.
We will let the pictures speak for themselves! What an adventure. We came across two peaceful turtles grazing on the seagrass, many spiny lobsters hiding under ledges, and a wide world of fish, rays, and coral on the deep water reef. Students did an amazing job exploring, investigating, and being happy in the water. A couple of key highlights, black barracuda, sea urchins, parrot fish, reef squid, brain and elkhorn corals, and about 1000 more species that we can’t identify yet! We are working on it. We all got out of the water thinking, “Wow, what a day”, nobody could believe that so much was under the surface and how vibrant it all was.
On our drive back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store and had another adventure of a different sort, exploring all the varieties of what fills the shelves of a Bahamian grocery. We purchased some snacks and extra lunch items for the days to come before heading back to our hotel.
After dinner, we were joined by Nina from the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, who spoke with us about the importance of the Bahamian ecosystems for the preservation of the natural flora and fauna of the area. She took us through some of the research that the BTT is conducting to understand the importance of Bonefish to the Bahamas from both sport and ecosystem perspectives. We are so lucky to have Nina share her time and expertise with us. After a full and awe-inspiring day, we took time to reflect together, sharing the many moments that stood out, the challenges we faced, and the ways we could support one another. Our conversations also sparked curiosity, as we considered the questions that remain unanswered and the discoveries still waiting ahead. There is so much going through our heads after a full day of discovery, science, and snorkelling that we all could use some time to sort out what our most memorable parts of the day were.
