MANTA's 2009 summer cruise in the British Virgin Islands aboard the Riptide (www.manta-online.org)
students on the trampoline while we sail to our next island
training on how to navigate using nautical charts
student captain of the day
students breathing through a regulator for the first time
let's go diving!
yeah!
ready to roll!
echinoderm skeleton
testing water quality
everybody loves the dishwasher job
divemaster candidate
hmmm, this looks like a good place to lay down
lecture on identifying reef fish species
basket sponge
student capitan learning the instrument panel
trampoline roller coaster ride
the RV Riptide at anchor in Pirates Bight
Spyglass Hill summit on Norman Island
Norman Island
colorimetric assay for nutrient analysis.....and apparently a jolly rancher was tested as well.
Incubation plate to test for E. coli in the water
the Riptide dive platform
giant stride!
sponges
octocorals sway in the current
open water training dives
tiny goby hiding in a sponge
view through a port hole in the HMS Rhone
the famous Sphinx of Salt Island
preparing to pick up the mooring ball
student crew makin it happen
little bit of loungin
more science!
hawkbill sea turtle foraging on sponges at the Rhone
school of grunts
montastrea coral head
bi-color phase coney (grouper)
shipwrecks are "COOL"
Virgin Gorda, ashore at the Baths
butterfly fish
closeup of sea rod polyps
nice colony of soft corals
parrot fish and assorted corals
students using underwater fish ID books to estimate fish species diversity on a reef
coral reef transects/quadrat sampling to determine coral cover, species composition, and health
Montastrea coral
Brain coral
truck ride across the coral island of Anegada
knot tying class
hold tight boys and girls
vase sponge
MANTA instructors above Muskmelon Bay, Gauna Island
preparing lab reports
cool fire worm
feather star
quadrat sampling of benthic habitat
black coral
big ole tarpon
hoisting the sails!
dinghy crew
final exam....yes final exam.
presentation of research project findings
last morning sunrise of the trip
view of White Bay, Guana Island
hawksbill sea turtle, munching on sponges and carrying on like we don't exist
nurse shark!
did you ever wonder what conchs do when.......
