Day 3 Moorea

After an early start at 7 am for breakfast, Rich and Peter announced that the boat would push off at 8:30 to go snorkel with the sharks and rays. And PUSH off we did, but not without problems getting the boat’s second engine to start, and Rich having to MacGuyver a new snorkel mask setup for Shawna before leaving. However, Rich and Peter finally got us on our way, and we were off. On the trip out, the scenery was breathtaking, and clear blue breaks in the water allowed us to easily see the reef. On our journey, we passed by many glass bottom bungalows that sat over the water, and even saw the scene of a shipwreck. Once we arrived at our destination, Rich was concerned about the wind and rough current, and decided that it wasn’t safe today, and we’d have to try another day. So instead, Peter piloted us to Coconut Grove, where we snorkeled reefs on both sides of the channel. After returning for lunch, the groups split up to work on their individual projects. Rich, Brittany, Sean, Laura, and Shawna bicycled to White House to take another census and collect specimens for the fish project. We needed food for our previously collected Rockskippers, so Rich snorkeled for sea urchins. He got one alright, and a painful lesson as well after being spined by an urchin- but hey chicks dig scars! Just kidding Mrs. Londraville. Moorea and Poop Dog accompanied us to White House, sprinting the whole journey, and swimming the entire time. Next, we’re going to teach them to ride bikes and enter them in a doggy triathlon! Peter, Sarah, Doni, and Heather went to Belvedere to hunt skinks, but unfortunately the baby chicken had more luck catching a lizard than they did. Then, they rode in the back of the truck through the rain to an archaeological dig site, where they had more luck. Hijinks ensued as the group hilariously attempted to wrangle up some skinks by hand. After several attempts, and many weird looks from bystanders, they emerged victorious catching 4 skinks and 3 geckos. Luckily, they made it back safely as they quickly learned the danger of insane moped drivers. After, attempting a chilly experiment, they were stopped cold in their tracks, when they realized two of their skinks had met an icy demise. All the while, the fish group were working away, when Laura and Brittany decided to play with fire. It seems they stumbled through a hill of fiery red ants, and they have the welts to prove it! After a good old American dinner of Spaghetti and much craved chocolate cookies courtesy of Rich, everyone continued to work on their projects, and went to bed looking forward to another early start tomorrow.