Right after the winter semester ended, I went on a geology super field trip with my department to the Florida Keys and Andros Island, Bahamas. We were studying a modern carbonate depositional platform, which just means that we were looking at limestones forming. Coral reefs are an important part of that system, which meant (of course) that we were going to have to snorkel and take a look at some modern reefs. This was my first experience snorkeling, and I really loved it. I saw a shark by a patch reef in the Keys. It was pretty small, maybe 5 feet and not very close to me. I actually didn't realize that it was a shark at the time. I thought it was just a big fish. Some people who were with me when I saw it told me later what I had seen. I also got really close to some rays. I swam over one that was about 2 feet across after I almost landed on it when I got out of the boat. There was another one in the same area that was much bigger that had burrowed down into the sand so just its eyes and its tail spike were showing. Scary looking. The trip was really good and geologically fulfilling and everything, but I was glad when it was over because I really missed Mike. Next time I go to the Bahamas, I'm going to bring him.
This was a really big conch shell somebody brought up from the bottom. I saw some huge ones at several places, both alive and dead.
The ones with the black stripes are called sergeant majors, and the ones with the yellow tails are called yellow tails. Very creative.
This is the beach that was about 10 steps away from the front door of our little Bahamas hut. The red stuff is algae that washed up during the winter.
We went to a place called Joulter's Cay (to the north of Andros) to talk about ooids (which are very cool) and there were all sorts of shells and sea cucumbers and star fish and urchins laying around. This starfish was obviously special because it is not, in fact, a star.
We stopped at a fruit stand on our way out of the Everglades that was called "Robert is Here." It was really cool. They did shakes (I got a key lime one that was excellent) and you could buy a whole coconut and get a hole drilled in it so you could drink the milk. They also had a honey tasting table with flavors like amaretto, avocado, and vanilla. It was great. You could also buy boiled peanuts, the joy of which I had not known before. It was probably one of my favorite stops. Definitely my favorite non-geology stop.
This was at the Everglades National Park.
Sunrise. We saw it everyday we were on Andros.
Right after the winter semester ended, I went on a geology super field trip with my department to the Florida Keys and Andros Island, Bahamas. We were studying a modern carbonate depositional platform, which just means that we were looking at limestones forming. Coral reefs are an important part of that system, which meant (of course) that we were going to have to snorkel and take a look at some modern reefs. This was my first experience snorkeling, and I really loved it. I saw a shark by a patch reef in the Keys. It was pretty small, maybe 5 feet and not very close to me. I actually didn't realize that it was a shark at the time. I thought it was just a big fish. Some people who were with me when I saw it told me later what I had seen. I also got really close to some rays. I swam over one that was about 2 feet across after I almost landed on it when I got out of the boat. There was another one in the same area that was much bigger that had burrowed down into the sand so just its eyes and its tail spike were showing. Scary looking. The trip was really good and geologically fulfilling and everything, but I was glad when it was over because I really missed Mike. Next time I go to the Bahamas, I'm going to bring him.
This was a really big conch shell somebody brought up from the bottom. I saw some huge ones at several places, both alive and dead.
The ones with the black stripes are called sergeant majors, and the ones with the yellow tails are called yellow tails. Very creative.
This is the beach that was about 10 steps away from the front door of our little Bahamas hut. The red stuff is algae that washed up during the winter. 
We went to a place called Joulter's Cay (to the north of Andros) to talk about ooids (which are very cool) and there were all sorts of shells and sea cucumbers and star fish and urchins laying around. This starfish was obviously special because it is not, in fact, a star.
We stopped at a fruit stand on our way out of the Everglades that was called "Robert is Here." It was really cool. They did shakes (I got a key lime one that was excellent) and you could buy a whole coconut and get a hole drilled in it so you could drink the milk. They also had a honey tasting table with flavors like amaretto, avocado, and vanilla. It was great. You could also buy boiled peanuts, the joy of which I had not known before. It was probably one of my favorite stops. Definitely my favorite non-geology stop.
This was at the Everglades National Park. 
Sunrise. We saw it everyday we were on Andros.
1 comment:
that looks so amazing! i didn't even know you were in the bahamas!
Post a Comment