July 29th Day 39

Today was as calm as could be. In all respects, it was the calm after the storm for sure. Since it was so very calm today, we decided to go out early to the fore reef to get some more algal recruitment tiles. Out there it was just as calm as in the lagoon. The visibility was outstanding and the only shame of it all was that I couldn't stay out there for longer. We had just a short dive to collect the tiles and then headed right back to the station. When we got back, it was once again time for cage work. We worked on painting cages from about 9:30 to 5 in the afternoon. We got a lot of work done but there still is another coat that needs to be applied to some of the cages. For dinner we had a chicken parmesan dish with some baguette and potatoes which tasted great. When it comes to Stella's cooking, it is always fantastic. Today was our turn to clean up dinner so Mike and I did that quickly and then I got ready to go out to the Pearl Resort here on Moorea. Thomas and Chloe from CREOBE came over to go to the Pearl with us as well. When we got there, we met with Stella and her boyfriend at the bar and enjoyed a drink and socialized. I actually spent most of my time talking to Thomas about photography. He is an expert photographer who essentially is hired by the French version of the National Science Foundation to take pictures of sharks all around the world. He had such incredible insight on how to learn to take good pictures even with the SLR camera I have now. He shared with me the best way to get acquainted with going full manual and how he learned to do it. It was very easy to tell that this guy knows an awful lot about taking pictures. After everyone was done with their drinks at the bar, we went out to see the fish off of the water bungalows. Off of this platform you could see hundreds of fish and other sea life gathering around these two very bright lights that are underwater and that project outward from the platform. It was amazing to see all of the different organisms that are very active at night like the Jacks fishes and the different kinds of jellyfish that floated by. We spent close to 40 minutes just looking at the fish off of this platform at the Pearl. Once we decided to go, we went back to Gump. Thomas, who was finishing off his last night on Moorea before he heads back to France, stopped at Gump to say goodbye to us which was cool of him to do. He told me that he is from the part of France next to Spain and that I should come visit if I have the time whenever I go back to Europe. After he left I decided it was bedtime and now I'm going to pass out. Until later.