We were on the adventure for another trip. It was the last trip of 2017, then we prepared for our winter break. The schedule was not that different from the previous trip. We were continuing our practice with the survey of fish, invertebrates, and substrate. For the first day, LMRT was having a relaxed diving; we were back to our practice with neutral buoyancy and fin pivoting. Our diving instructor was letting swim through the hoops at a different height and it was extremely fun.
After feeling prepared with neutral buoyancy and fin pivoting, we were ready to practice our survey once again. This time we divided eight of us into four teams. Each team was responsible for different jobs. There were four jobs related to the survey: set up the basement line, fish survey, invertebrate survey, and substrate survey. I chose the fish survey. Basically, the teams have to go in order. The baseline time had to go first since they had to layout the 100-meter line for the other surveying. Then, it was my team’s turn. I did the survey with Sythong and it went really well. Our practicing location was at Jasmine reef, and it was beautiful. As I remembered, for the fish survey, we had to swim with the pace of 2 meters every minute. It was super slow! The next team was the invertebrate team. After that, it would be the substrate team. Unfortunately, the substrate team was not able to finish the whole survey because it was getting darker as the sun was setting.
On the day we had to go back to school, we had the last picture of 2017 with the MCC people. It was a great adventure. Thinking about diving, I was surprised to reflect all the positive changes within myself. About three to four months ago, I was a non-certified diver, but look at me now, I am a certified diver with the other LMRT members! From zero knowledge about surveying and hundreds of species to a person who inherently has all of that knowledge. Overall, I feel empowered with the others; we made a lot of great moves so far with persistence and optimism. Next year, 2018, we are still going to fight and save our ocean as long we are taking baby steps.
