Today was our last day in Ollei, and we were very sad to leave. It was a fun and relaxing day on the water spent fishing and snorkeling. In the morning, we went out on the boat for a couple hours learning to fish with hand lines. Overall, we caught around 20 fish of 7 different species, including the orange lined trigger fish, yellow striped snapper, coral grouper, red snapper, gold saddle goatfish, blacktail snapper, and lyertail grouper.
Bright smiles as some of us catch our first fish ever (except for Alec, who caught many)
Daemi and Alec were our star fishers for the day
After catching and cleaning the fish, we learned how to properly identify, measure, and weigh them. The fish were then scaled and filleted to be prepared for dinner later.
Following our fishing excursion, we ate a tasty lunch of fish sandwiches and took a short break before heading back out to snorkel at Ebiil Channel. Everyone had a great time admiring the massive array of diverse fishes and beautiful corals. After an hour or so of snorkeling, we headed back to Ebiil to wind down and begin packing for our return to Koror.
We would all like to thank the Ebiil Society, all of our mentors, and our boat drivers for a spectacular week of fun and educational activities. We learned a lot about traditional Palauan management practices and we now have a greater understanding of how culture and science interact. Thank you!!