This is my first blog update from my newly purchased hammock! (pictures to come soon).  There are now 6 hammocks set up in the trees in our front yard.... I think I might stay in here forever. Last Thursday we did our first recreational dive at the Hilma Hooker! For those of you who don't know, this is the shipwreck in Bonaire that was sunk in the 80s and sits in 100 feet of water. Devon is my dive buddy and we had an awesome time getting narc'd and exploring the wreck... so awesome that I didn't even care when my brand new dive light flooded and busted apart (luckily the company is sending me a new one). The reef surrounding the Hilma Hooker was in much better shape than the one we've been diving.

This past weekend was like the others. We seem to have fallen into a routine of eating and drinking at the dock, heading to the bars, and then making our way back to the dock for a late night swim (just have to look out for fire coral!!). On saturday a few friends and I went snorkeling and were asked to be in a photo shoot for the local dive shop... as if we would say no to riding around on a boat with foreign dive instructors in exchange for beer, ha! Hopefully the pictures of us will be up on their webpage soon, and I'll provide the link. We spent the rest of the day lounging around on the dock, casually jumping into the Caribbean Sea when it got too hot... just another Saturday in Bonaire! On Sunday about 10 of us decided to swim all the way to Klein Bonaire, a small deserted island about 800 meters from our coast. I don't know why I agreed to it, but I made it all the way there and back! Anyway, it was well worth the swim-- since Klein is protected and uninhabited the reef we snorkeled was incredible. It was so refreshing to see that healthy reefs still do exist! It's just a matter of keeping them that way. The shallow reef (literally in 3 feet of water) was flourishing with fish, and we saw about 10 Sea Turtles!! Klein is a popular Sea Turtle nesting site, which is why it is heavily regulated.

On Monday we went on a somewhat recreational dive for our Conservation Biology class. We spent about an hour underwater writing down every fish species we saw. I actually enjoy doing those kind of tasks underwater, because it allows you to realize how much diversity and life there is in such a small area. Yesterday we finally got to do a night dive!! My favorite! Although the reef we dove on was pretty beaten up, I still enjoy seeing all the weird sea creatures that come out to feed and reproduce at night. The Tarpin that hang around this area use divers' lights to hunt in at night, and every once in a while they'll get really close to hide behind you and sneak up on their prey. They followed us around the whole dive, and even though I knew they were there, I still jumped and screamed every time one swam by. Night diving is a truly exhilarating experience.

On a different note, I have finalized my independent research project, which as of now is entitled, "The effects of Damselfish gardening on the prevalence of yellow band disease in the Montastrea species complex." In case you are confused about what this means, Damselfish are small fish that bite corals so that algae grows in its place. They manage and protect these "algae gardens" because they feed off of
them. However, the Stag Horn coral they used to inhabit has died off for the most part, and consequently they've moved into the slower growing, Star corals that aren't able to keep up with the biting and slowly get overgrown by algae and die. Also, most of the star coral in Bonaire is infected with Yellow Band Disease. I am looking for a correlation between the Damselfish biting and the presence of the disease, with the idea that Damselfish weaken the corals, making them more susceptible to this disease. Phew.

Well, I'm off to my afternoon swim in the ocean! Bon Nochi!