"If they stay in there much longer, they will turn into fish," said a bystander Sunday morning, watching the half dozen participants in the free snorkel clinic at Fort Frederik Beach in Frederiksted.
Organizer Melanie Feltmap didn’t mind. She said the goal of the clinics was "get people in the water and let them appreciate what is under the surface."
Paul Chakroff, executive director of the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA), stood by Feltmap on the beach. He watched the youngsters and adults swimming close to shore, with their masked faces staring beneath the surface.
"If you just look out from here, you don’t see and don’t appreciate what is below the surface," Chakroff said.
The snorkeling clinics have taken place almost once a month since they were started in 2008 and are funded from several community organizations. SEA is able to sponsor the event because of donations from two groups, Virgin Divers and AWARE, Chakroff said. Initial funds for the clinics were raised by an annual event, ReefJam, Feltmap said.
"I loved seeing all those creature, all them fishes," said 12-year-old Said Wallace after her snorkel adventure. "I will come back the next time they do this."
Aymenys Pizarro, 10, said that besides all the fish and coral, "I just loved seeing all those pretty rocks."
Courtney Carreras counts herself as just a visitor to the island, having a temporary job on St. Croix. On arriving at the beach Sunday morning, she asked, "This is just not for kids is it?" Volunteers assured her it was not, and in a few minutes she had her personal snorkeling guide.
"I really enjoyed it," she said afterward. "I just wish more people were participating."
Attendance was down from the clinic last month on the south shore, according to Feltmap. She noted that clinic attendance appeared to go down when summer ended, and said that would be taken into account in future scheduling.
Steve Medford, a master diver from In2Blue, walked the shoreline watching the participants. He said that he was there for rescue assistance and glad to do it.
"This is a wonderful thing they are doing," Medford said.
The next free clinic will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 11 at Cramer’s Park.
