The mangrove snorkel was one of four boat snorkels we did with Cruz Bay Watersports. We were taken to a quiet cove surrounded by mangroves. Adam dove in, scouted out the area and gave us the thumbs up to enter the water. Snorkeling in the mangroves is tricky, because everything you do stirs up sediment and clouds the water. Fortunately everyone had pretty good technique so the visibility stayed pretty high. Mangroves are known as fish nurseries and contain a tremendous amount and variety of life.	Adam Stakes Out the Mangrove Site
Mangrove Roots Overgrown with Algae Hydroid	The underwater environment around the roots of the mangroves was teeming with life. As we watched young fish darted among the roots. Adam recommended that the best way to watch is to sit in one place and let the fish come to you. One of the more interesting fish we saw was the Pufferfish which is able to inflate itself into a spiny ball when it is being threatened. Besides fish we saw many other organisms. The roots were covered with a type of sponge which was bright orange or brown. Another organism inhabiting the roots were Algae Hydroids.
Spaghetti Worms were pretty common as well. They look like worms, but they have thin tentacles which extend out from where they are buried. Starfish and Sea Cucumbers were also very abundant around the mangroves. One student even found a Upsidedown Jellyfish in their explorations. It was fairly large and very graceful as it pulsated through the water. After about forty minutes of snorkeling we all came back to the boat and discussed what we had found out in the mangroves. We then ate lunch and head out to our next snorkeling site.	Discussing what we had seen on the boat