6/07/11
Today we changed it up! I met Ricky and Anthony at Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown, RHODE ISLAND! I had a LOT of firsts today. It was my first time in Rhode Island, my first ocean dive of the internship, and my first dive in New England! The park and ocean were beautiful, and it just made me all the more excited to dive in it! Ricky had me plan and lead both of the dives we did today, which I was internally stressing over because of all the “firsts” of the day. But, for having less than 20 dives under my belt, I did pretty good! I learned to make sure I was swimming slow enough for the whole group to stay together, and I learned that it is REALLY hard to keep your buoyancy in shallow water. Thankfully, the current wasn’t too horribly strong, and we saw a ton of critters. There were anemones everywhere, fish, including a few flounders, horseshoe crabs, and normal crabs. The other places that we dived where pretty, but it was SO nice to actually be able to see marine life again! Once we were done diving for the day, we chatted for a bit about my diving, Ricky gave me some pointers, and then he and Anthony wished me luck with my next adventures of the summer.
I just want to take a second here to say thank you SO much to Rick and Anthony for working with me these past few days. I’ve learned more than I can think about in one sitting, and I feel a lot more prepared for the summer. THANK YOU!