August 27th Day 65

Today started like most days recently with me entering data. I did that for about an hour and then got called to go diving to do measurements on the Porites rus coral bommies that the LTER monitors annually in the lagoon. We went to a site near Ava Iti and Taemai today and did the measurements. I had never dove in the lagoon before so it was a bit of an experience to be diving in water that is 6 feet deep. Keith and Andy just threw their gear, slates, and tape measurers over the side of the boat which was different to see. I followed suit by throwing my stuff overboard and putting all my SCUBA gear on underwater. When I got down I was amazed at the vast emptiness. There is so much sand between some of the bommies that you can't even see the next one so it was cool to see these areas with mostly sand and then islands of coral. Our first dive was almost exactly two hours long which is pretty typical for lagoon dives. Because you are so shallow, your air consumption is much better than what it would be at depth and you often can dive for over two hours in the lagoon. We came back in for lunch and went out again to another site to the right of Cook's Bay where we did the same coral measurements. I saw some crown of thorns for the first time since I saw one on the steps to Gump Reef so I was sure to take a few pictures. I also got a picture of the aftermath of Keith butchering one with his dive knife. After we finished up we headed back to the station and I got my stuff ready to do my Gump coral pictures. Saw another flounder while I was taking pictures and managed to get a few of it before it scurried off. It is amazing how well those fish blend in with the sand. I accidentally put my hand down on another one as I was taking pictures. After the dive it was clean-up time and then time to start cooking dinner. We made basil chicken and lime rice with basil eggplant. It all turned out really good I think especially the eggplant. Brie soaked it in salt water which takes out some of the water and makes for better cooking. Afterwards I got down to work on application related things and then started to fade fast. Since I was up late last night, I got tired early. I'm going to go to sleep now. Until later.