Our last full day in San Salvador was jam-packed full of activities. After our picnic lunch at Grotto Beach, we rode in the truck over to French Bay to snorkel. Here, we saw a great diversity of corals, including brain, fire, and fan coral. We had to be careful to snorkel around the reef instead of directly over because it was low tide. This means that the water level is low enough that a strong wave could knock us into the reef, damaging both the corals and us. This would also be particularly dangerous due to fire coral, which can give you a burning sensation upon touching it for hours on end. The wave energy at French Bay was quite high, and some of us (myself included) struggled to swim properly. We left this snorkel spot a little early, and went over to a much calmer area called Telephone Pole Reef.
This spot was our first time snorkeling over an area with a hard ground-previously we’d seen coral reefs and seagrass beds. This is a new habitat for us to see and the community assemblage was quite different from other snorkel spots. The water was incredibly clear and it was really easy to see all the way to the bottom. Here, we saw the occasional coral colony, lots of different fish, and ripples in the sand on the ocean floor. My snorkel buddy and I even saw a small baby stingray! It was a great spot to dive down into the water to observe the fish. Some people were able to collect shells and sand dollars from this area. It was a beautiful beach.
On our way back to the research center, we stopped at a small beach that was full of conch shells, tide pools, and smaller shells. We explored the area briefly, then hopped back on the truck. I found a smaller conch shell that will hopefully fit in my suitcase that I can bring back to Ohio!
After freshening up in the dorms, we hopped on a bus and went to dinner at a local restaurant. We had rice, chicken, fried fish, mac and cheese, and coleslaw for dinner. Everything was delicious! We were able to sit outside on the beach and listen to the ocean as we ate. The sun was setting right as we finished, so me and my roommates walked closer to the water to get some photos. It was a beautiful end to be our last night in San Salvador!
This post contributed by Kailee K.
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