We started our day with one of our favorite breakfasts: pancakes and sausage. The original plan for the morning was for both groups to snorkel. One group was supposed to head out on the boat, while the other was to stay locally to collect data for their research projects. Unfortunately, the boat trip was yet again delayed, leaving this group at the GRC for some one-on-one meetings with the professors to discuss final projects. The other groups went to Singers Point and collected any remaining data that they still needed. When they returned, they showered and got ready to head to lunch, where they met up with the other groups who had stayed.
After lunch, there was a brief downpour (again) that had the potential of affecting the boat ride but fortunately did not! The boat group met at the dock at 13:30 and were ready to go. While at the reef, they saw a wide variety of cool fish including parrotfish, barracuda, a school of blue tangs, and corals they had never seen before. They even got to see a 6-foot nurse shark hidden in a cave! While the boat crew was out and in awe of the shark, the fish groups were inside working on their presentations and posters.
Dinner was delicious tonight, as we had spaghetti, salad, and of course, garlic bread! Afterwords, one by one we ended up in the lab to work on posters for our final projects and do some final exam review. Before that, a few of us took advantage of the basketball hoops outside and spent time soaking in some of the last of the Bahamas sun. Once we were all in the lab, KR, JW, and Dr. Phillips gifted us with some very colorful hats that they had found for us to wear to the Grotto tomorrow! We went outside in our new hats, watched the gorgeous sunset, and then returned to the classroom to do some work. Each group finished up their posters, we did a peer review, studied for our final in the morning, and then began to wind down for our second to last night on the island.
-Caroline Burns 鈥�27, Kait Colohan 鈥�27, Olivia Follick 鈥�26, Jenna van der Biezen '27, Kelsey Ragan '25, Haley Pitman '26