Last day on Palmyra Atoll

Yesterday was crazy.  In the morning we did two long dives counting coral recruits on the tiles we installed. The afternoon was spent logging data, compiling inventory, packing, etc. Today we finish packing, clean our cabins, do a community raking, etc. This will be my last blog entry from Palymra. If all goes well, I should have a long layover in the Honolulu airport tonight and might get a chance to blog from there.

Yesterday we had another beautiful sunrise.

Yesterday, after catching an Ahi on the boat ride back from our dive sites, we had a swarm of about 30 gray reef sharks behind the boat. If you don't pull a hooked fish out of the water immediately, it will get eaten by sharks which are attracted to the struggling fish. People have commented that there seem to be a lot fewer sharks when diving than there used to be. I have been very comfortable with the number of sharks I have seen on my dives. I also know there have been more around than I have seen since my focus was on the task at hand which usually meant I was looking down and not around.

gray reef sharks

Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos