Media Centre for Marine Conservation Expedition in Mexico

Alexandra Howe

After the third alarm clock beeps everyone finally decides to get up (Its 06.30am!). We are all tired as yesterday we returned from Xcalak where nesting turtles are monitored. We stayed up till 5am releasing hundreds of baby green turtles! My group is on grounds duty so off we go to rake the base, avoiding the lizards which seem unaware of all the activity around them! Then its breakfast time, porridge again!

Time to get ready for our first dive of the day; everyone rushes off to make sure they don’t miss the boat. But I’m not on the first dive so I can just sit back and relax. After the dive there is a huge thunder storm, so the second dive is delayed while we all sit on the balcony and watch the lightening flash over the turquoise water. Then as quickly as it began the cloud clears away and the sun is shining.

Time to go diving. I’m with Mike, we drop down and swim around. It’s amazing down here, there are hundreds of fish. We see a baby jack-knife fish. It’s so cute. Then we meet Mayra and Paul underwater. They have acquired a pet, a shark-sucker is following them around. It continues to do so for the rest of the dive and investigates us all at the safety stop!

My second dive starts off as well as my first. But I have just completed my rescue diver training, so suddenly (and unexpectedly) halfway through the dive the scenario begins. My buddy, Simon, ‘has’ DCS. I have to ‘save’ him. We surface as quickly (and as safely) as possible and then I have to help him on the boat! On the boat my ‘patient’ falls ‘unconscious’ and I have to give him oxygen. I never realized that people who are unconscious can laugh, until now! After giving lots of TLC the scenario ends and I find out that I have passed! Yay! Who knew being tested could be so much fun!

The day is drawing to its end but we still have to go off to school to teach English to the locals. We all walked to town together and spend the next two hours talking to our new friends. Then it’s time to go home. Richard and Jess have been cooking while we were teaching-its pizza! It tastes amazing; it’s good to have real food again! After dinner we stay up talking and having fun. As everyone gets tired we go off to bed and lie in the dorm with the sea breeze wafting through as we drop off in preparation for another action packed day.

Alexandra Howe