点评:My wife and I visited St. Croix so I could participate in the Coral Reef Swim Race. As much as I love swimming, the bioluminescent bay kayaking tour with guides Travis and Uriel was far and away the highlight of the trip for me. I don't remember how much I paid, but if you asked me to pay $1,000 just to do it again, I'd call that a bargain.
We started out at the office where our guides gave us clear instructions on how to safely navigate the bay. Travis takes great delight in sharing what he's learned about the biology of the bay with the guests. I have worked with many biologists in a professional capacity, and if you told me Travis had a doctorate in marine biology, I'd be inclined to believe you because he really understands the ecosystem where he works every day. He certainly knows his stuff.
The whole visit takes about two hours to complete. Guides take guests out onto the Salt River and explain how to spot various bioluminescent creatures, including fireworms, comb jellies, and dinoflagellates. While the fireworms were scarce, there was no shortage of jellies and dinoflagellates. Travis and Uriel both gently captured some jellies for the guests to see, but the real star of the evening were the dinoflagellates. Those are the ones that light up in the water like you see in the movies. Our guides showed us how to get the most disturbance out of the water to really see the microorganisms light up.
Everybody had a blast. I cannot recommend this trip enough.
翻译:我和妻子去圣克罗伊岛是为了参加珊瑚礁游泳比赛。虽然我热爱游泳,但这次旅行中最让我印象深刻的,还是由特拉维斯和乌列尔两位向导带领的生物发光海湾皮划艇之旅。我不记得当时花了多少钱,但就算有人让我再花1000美元体验一次,我也觉得物超所值。
我们先到办公室,向导们详细地讲解了如何在海湾安全航行。特拉维斯非常乐于与游客分享他所了解的海湾生物学知识。我曾与许多生物学家共事,如果你告诉我特拉维斯拥有海洋生物学博士学位,我也会相信,因为他对每天工作的生态系统了如指掌。他绝对是这方面的专家。
整个行程大约需要两个小时。导游带领游客前往盐河,讲解如何寻找各种发光生物,包括火虫、栉水母和甲藻。虽然火虫数量不多,但栉水母和甲藻却随处可见。特拉维斯和乌列尔都小心翼翼地捕捉了一些栉水母供游客观赏,但当晚真正的明星是甲藻。它们就像电影里那样在水中发光。导游向我们展示了如何制造最大的水流扰动,以便更好地观察这些微生物发光的景象。
大家都玩得很开心。我强烈推荐这次旅行。