After a few stops for the biology students to wade through disgusting water for some unknown biological purposes, we arrived at French Bay. First, we hiked up Sandy Point to see the castle. (So much for no hard hiking. It wasn't hard, but I felt sorry for people in flip flops.) Apparently the person who owned the plantation was named John Storr, but he lived elsewhere, and Prince (?) Storr lived there and was in charge of daily operations. Apparently a slave tried to steal nuts from the basement, so Prince had him whipped and locked away for a few days. The slave died in the field a few days later, and John Storr was angry and took Prince Storr to court.

There was a path leading to the well and banana hole. I was one of the few who actually went down to these locations. It was really cool and damp, and the banana trees covered the sunlight. I didn't see the one thing I wanted to on this trip, though-- the banana spider.

After hiking back to the truck, we snorkeled in French Bay. Up to that point, French Bay was the best snorkeling we've had this trip. I saw a sting ray and some pretty nifty corals. We had another "field lunch" (sandwiches from a cooler), then drove to Pigeon Creek, where we floated with the tide. Apparently someone saw another sting ray, at least one nurse shark, and there were barracuda. I saw several large starfish and plenty of sea grass.

True to form, as soon as we got on the truck to come home, it started sprinkling. We were all on one truck, and Dr. Laudon was driving. Less than a mile from the research center, it started pouring really cold rain. Dr. Laudon's driving made Dr. Wronk's seem like a stroll in the park. We were again pelted by rain, only this time were traveling much faster, so it hurt much worse. The cold rain lasted until we got back to our rooms.

Mike and I went to the geology/biology meeting to watch a core extrusion, hoping either we'd learn something, or something amusing would happen. It appeared we weren't the only ones that had that idea, as Dr. Swenson also showed up. Even though I didn't understand a lot that happened, I did learn a little. For instance: stramatolites are the earliest living organisms, and they're crusty; oosparite are round and biosparite are spiral-like; those red spots on my shells are encrusting sponges, and grow to be like the "chicken liver" sponges I saw in Pigeon Creek; and that a reducing environment is good for living organisms. I also got to witness/help with the Big Salt Pond extrusion, and was standing next to someone with a very overdeveloped sense of smell who couldn't take the sulphur

Tonight we had the poetry reading that was supposed to happen last night at the bar.