July 18th Day 28

Today we got up to go out and collect more algae for additional herbivory assays. The weather was no good with strong winds coming out of the east but since we collect algae in the lagoon, it was manageable to get out there. Once we got as close as we could to the reef crest we jumped off the boat and started to swim. As I was swimming along, I saw this huge fish that was incredibly ovate in shape blaze by me like a torpedo. I got a glance at its profile from behind despite that it was moving so fast. From the shape alone I was able to tell that it was a Titan Triggerfish. These guys are the biggest triggers here and they can be very territorial. While a female is guarding its eggs, anything that swims close it will charge without any hesitation. They are known for taking bites out of fins of SCUBA divers as they swim away. Once I got to the reef crest, I swam up to it and was astonished at how shallow it was. It was so shallow in fact that I just decided to take off my fins and get on my knees on the crest to pick at the algae. It was like I was tending a garden or something like that. Once we got what we needed we headed back to our boat and made our way back. When we were in the boat channel (where there are no shallow coral bommies and where boats can travel) 4 seadoos came through and Tom freaked out a bit. He had an experience before where in the boat channel two seadoos were coming right at him and instead of going to the left of him, they went on both sides and apparently they all almost collided. He was telling me for the rest of the two minute ride home how much he hates the stupid tourists on seadoos. When we got back, there was very little to do aside from making cages. The weather was quite bad for the most part until the late afternoon. At around 4 pm the weather calmed and we saw it as an opportunity to get out to swap another one of our herbivory assays out on the fore reef outside Cook's Bay. It was really nice out there and the dive went off without a hitch. The only thing was that somehow I forgot my weight belt and had to wear one that made me super heavy that was an extra on the boat. Once we got back we cleaned up and called it a day. Later we ate some tuna that had been caught earlier today as sashimi. It was by far the sashimi I have had before. You could just tell by the taste alone how fresh it was. After that I worked a little more on tying up some loose ends with the trip to New Zealand and now I'm pretty beat. Until later.