Day 5: July 22, 2011

    This morning began quite early. I was planning on getting up to do yoga with the Island School students. As it turned out, the students were going on a long swim so the few of us who woke up had to wait for the younger children to get up to go do yoga with. I found it interesting how the Island School students sang the Bahamian national anthem each morning by the flag. The students become totally immersed in the culture here for a semester. I really wish I had know about such a program going through high school so I would have been able to take advantage of it. While listening to their daily announcements, we heard how a pig slaughtering was going on that morning and all of the students were encouraged to attend. Once the younger children came we took our towels up onto the kitchen roof to do our yoga. The instructor was the program's director for the Island School. The whole situation was quite surreal considering the sun was rising in the distance over the ocean and we relaxed our bodies into a peaceful state. During yoga I found it funny, as a child mentioned a gunshot and the instructor just said, "Oh. That's the pig." This morning I had breakfast crew. We had grits again for breakfast so I didn't eat much. I began bleaching dishes but got vetoed to clean up the tables since I was the only one who knew how to do that. We were in a rush to make it to the dock on time to go on our first real research survey.

    After running around the cabin trying to collect all my gear I headed to the dock and loaded my stuff onto the boat. With Annabelle and my team, we headed out to Reef 70. Reef 70 was about 20 minutes from shore, which is substantially further than normal. Once we dropped the anchor, we went out to the reef. The current was almost nonexistent and the reef was the most beautiful we have seen yet this far. Rays were swimming along the bottom. Huge angel and trigger fish swam below. The view was breathtaking. When gathering data, we circled the reef and dove down. After seeing over 50 juvenile parrotfish and writing them down, I headed back to the ship with Allison to measure the depth of where we were. Since we were so far from the shore, the wind was really strong and swung our boat a lot in the water. Alison and I sat on the boat for a while waiting for the others as they did their measurements. While waiting we did some tests in the water for temperature and current flow. Soon, everyone came back and we discussed the fish we saw. It's interesting how Annabelle counted all the fish, just to make sure we got everything. I feel like she doesn't quite trust all of us with such important research. (But I wouldn't trust a bunch of teenagers either.) As we waited and talked on the boat about the research, I became nauseous. I have this problem with sea sickness that is incredibly hard for me to get over. I try to deny it, but the sickness always prevails. Just in the nick of time, we started our boat ride back to shore. I was so exhausted and tired I dozed off along the way, with the breeze at my neck.

    A delicious lunch of bake potatoes was served today. The potatoes were obviously fresh. Lots of vegetarian meals are also served here which is nice, considering I know I am surrounded by a lot of people who have similar beliefs as myself. After lunch team 1 headed to the mangroves in Deep Creek. On the way, we stopped at the local store we went to a few days earlier. I decided to keep it simple and get a caffeinated drink to keep me awake during the afternoon work. When driving into the forest to reach the mangroves, Annabelle warned us about poison oak. This scares me a lot because then I think everything I am touching has the poisonous oils on it. After we drove through the jungle and parked, we hiked through some more jungle to reach the mangroves. I realized that islands aren't what everyone makes them to be. Of course there is sand and really pretty beaches, but there actually is a lot of forestry and dense areas of vegetation.

    The whole trip changed when we started hiking through the actual mangroves for a location to set our 30 meter transects. As I placed my foot down on what I thought was sand, it would sink incredibly deep and turn slippery. Not only were my feet sinking, but the water was so murky from the people walking before me, I couldn't see where I was placing my feet. I could have been stepping on sharks and rays for all I knew. Once a few people were sent to close locations, the others of us put on our masks and snorkels so we wouldn't have to walk in the creepy and mysterious waters anymore. When I started swimming in the shallow water, however, stinging pierced my body. I couldn't figure out what it was for the longest time until I realized I was swimming over caseopeas. We kept up the trek and of course I was sent to set up the transect the furthest away. When doing my actual survey, I had to crawl over roots. The worst part was, there weren't very many fish even in the area I was surveying. Although, I probably have had scarier moments, this moment was really scary when I thought about it. I was floating in shallow water where dangerous prey live, by myself (as I couldn't see anyone when I stood up), in practically the middle of nowhere. It was freaky. On top of it all, I had problems with my measuring tape. Eventually I swam to some nearby transects and collected data from there, as well, and swam back to shore. This literally took over a half an hour. Although this experience was difficult and like a science boot camp (like Janneke said), I became enlightened into the world of marine biologists. Not all of their jobs are fun and games, but the grunt work has to be done as well.

    We arrived at camp later than expected, but I still took a shower before dinner because my hair was matted together. Last summer my hair did okay in the salt water, but this summer my hair can barely stand it. At dinner we had a really good pasta. Either I am getting hungrier, or the food is getting better, probably a combination of both. The group then went to a presentation on bone fish. I guess I never really knew what bone fish were and why it is important to conserve them, so I found this interesting. In a quick summary, bonefish make up a large sum of Bahamian economy due to the fishing tourists they bring. Tourists do not know how to properly fish the bonefish, though, and now the populations are decreasing rapidly. Through education, this can change. The presenter mentioned another thing about Bimini Bay. This is exactly what I learned about last summer. Everything keeps getting more and more interconnected. Once the presentation was over, we headed to the commons and played some more Kemps and went over our plan for the fun day tomorrow. Annabelle brought over some ice which was like heaven to all of us, who have lived off of warm water for the past week. Even though my legs continue to look like I have chicken pox from the bug bites, I am finally adjusting to this type of lifestyle.

 

Highlight: seeing rays and huge angelfish out at the reef

Day 4: July 21, 2011

    This morning Annabelle arranged for those who wanted, to go biking around the island. I, of course, jumped on the opportunity and even showed up a little early. When talking with Annabelle while waiting for the others, I found our discussion quite interesting. I told her about my experience last summer and all of the cool things I saw and did in Bimini. To my surprise, the shark lab we visited there is very connected with the institute and they work together quite frequently. I find it incredible how connected the world really is. I find things and places I love throughout the world (like the shark lab and my experience here) and they are tied together.

    Upon getting our helmets on and figuring our how to use beach bikes, we headed to the marina. Everything there was so pretty. It was the typical Bahamas vacation spot. I took a lot of pictures down there, but that actually isn't what I have lived like for the past few days. The marina was not as earth friendly, however. So there must be a tradeoff I have to make. I can either live in pure pristine and not harm the earth that I am living on, or I can live to the extremity and possibly kill much of the beautiful wildlife around me. In the Bahamas it is necessary to ride on the left side of the road. This kind of messed a few of us up when cars came, but we managed.

    For breakfast French toast was served and it tasted delicious. Camille, Abi, and I ate on the roof top and the sun shining on the ocean made a gorgeous view. As we ate, talked, and took funny pictures, I came to the realization on how much I seem to get along with scientists and people who have similar interests as myself. Scientists are usually really laid back, and I like that about the people I work with here.

    After breakfast our groups of fish were assigned for our day of practice. In the end I picked grunts and angelfish, but ended up with parrot fish because Annabelle knew I could kind of deep sea free dive. I guess this was a blessing in disguise, as now I get to learn fish that I don't know quite and well, a lot better. Team one, consisting of Jen, Camille, Janneke, Alison, Nora, and Winston went out to the patch reefs to work on fish identification with Annabelle. The patch reef was fairly close and our research was only a practice round. I didn't see any adult parrotfish, but did run across a lot of juveniles. Each of us carried waterproof notebooks with us as we swim around so we can tally the type and size of fish we saw. We also learned some techniques that we will be using tomorrow including how to measure reefs and take the flow of the water. Alison and I were in charge of measuring the depth of the ocean from the boat.

    For lunch we had a great meal of quesadillas. We were a bit late getting back, so we missed by the time we were done with our firsts and ready for seconds, all the seconds had been eaten. The quesadillas had beans in some which was different than normal, but actually pretty good.

    After lunch we headed out to Page Creek, the first mangrove of the trip, to practice our surveying skills. When getting out of the van, we saw two juvenile sharks in the water. These were the first sharks I have seen on the trip, and although they weren't swimming next to me, I was still pretty close to them. The hike to the creek was long, but eventually we found the light at the end of the tunnel. The morning group said there was barely a current and it was pretty simple, however, our group faced strong currents, to the point we ended up sitting down for a while to let the tide go down. While sitting, a large blue crab crawled up next to me. Normally I would have been fascinated, but I guess I wasn't prepared and kind of jumped a little bit. Once the current calmed down, we finished our practice survey and resumed our long hike back to the vans.

    Tonight we had a shark presentation. The more and more I hear people talk about sharks, the more intrigued I become with them. I really hope I get to swim next to some sharks on this trip. Being around sharks is remarkably exhilarating to me. After talking and asking questions about sharks, we reviewed our fish species and began playing a game called Kemps. Kemps is often like the game spoons, but when you get the four of a kind, you have a partner you have to give a secret signal to and then they yell kemps in order to win. Alison and I were partners and at first we struggled, but we ended up winning the game. Beginners' luck, I suppose. Tomorrow the research starts; now it's time to become a researcher.

 

Highlight: floating through the mangroves and seeing barracuda

Day 3: July 20, 2011

    Last night I was able to get some sleep, except I woke up with a whole bunch of bug bites along my legs. This morning a bunch of us got up a little bit early to exercise. We attempted to play a game of beach volleyball, but a majority of us were being eaten alive by the bugs. 20 flies were swarming around my head and a few even bit me. Just for the record, fly bites hurt like crazy! I then decided to start the trend of wading in the water to get rid of the flies. Surprisingly it worked, and more began to follow. We then played nucome and taps in the water, while splashing around. With the salty smell of the ocean on us, we headed to a breakfast of granola. The granola was obviously homemade and a lot worse than regular granola back in the states. (Wow, I'm really starting to sound like an islander now.) I put some soymilk on my granola (Alli would be proud), and it didn't get any better.

    After breakfast we headed to the Octagon where we learned about different fish species and identification. It's interesting how I remember a lot of the species from last summer. For the research we will each keep track of a few species and now I'm tested with the decision of which fish I want to become best friends with for the next week. They are all so unusual and cool, so the decision will be challenging. As much as I don't want it to, whom I will work with for the project also seems to be playing a factor in my decision. Hopefully I can block that out when I choose. We then found our results from measuring the fish. My average was being off by 2 inches. To improve we went back out to the shipwreck and practiced on the fake fish. Camille was my partner for the snorkel. She's a really nice person from D.C. whom I seem to have a lot in common with.

    On a side note, I am intrigued by the fact that many of the teens with the Earthwatch team did not expect what they are now living in. For instance, many of the girls brought clothes that were way too nice for such work (not to be mean or anything). I find it kind of funny how all my clothes look horrible and ratty and many of the girls are wearing dresses.

    Today we had a lunch of leftovers; nothing here is wasted. Then we divided into two groups to go snorkeling on a patch reef. The group I was in went into the Octagon first and kept reviewing fish Identification. After lots of looking through books and group quizzes, we headed outside and got our snorkel stuff together. We went out on a boat. Their communication system through walkie talkies to know where everyone is at is a really good idea, something I never would have thought about but is really quite necessary. When we got out to the patch reefs we put our snorkel gear on and jumped off the boat into the crystal waters. What lay below was truly remarkable. There were bunches of angel and surgeon fish, bigger than I have ever seen before. As the current took us further out and to more reefs, my snorkel buddy, Betsy, spotted some interesting creatures in the coral. We saw our first lion fish of the trip and a crab. Lion fish are usually killed when spotted because they are an invasive species, but the institute does research on them so we let them be. Upon returning, I headed down to the beach to lay on the sand. This was the first time all trip I was able to just sit down and completely relax. Although it was nice and made me feel like I was on a vacation, I have to remember what I am here to do. Also on the beach I got to talk to Allison some and get to know her. I think we are really similar in a bunch of different ways, but are two people that don't really like to talk about everything we do.

    At the institute, the researchers do a lot of research on Cobia. Because of that, they served us Cobia that they breed here for dinner. I wasn't a huge fan of it and am getting used to eating the salad they serve at every meal. I never thought I would actually get sick of eating a certain food, but I am really getting sick of eating salad. I had dish crew once again after dinner and to be completely honest, I enjoy it. This time I was bleaching the dishes. After the fact I think there was some bleach in the sink but I thought it was dirty water so let it out the drain (which is horrible for their plumbing system) and filled it up with new bleach and water. While doing dishes, music was booming loudly, and I had one of the younger campers next to me splashing dishes into my sink. Someone even came by and splashed me with bubbles. It was one of those moments where you just kind of lose yourself in what you are doing and have a good time.

    After dinner we went into "town", a few miles down the road where there is literally two shops, one of which is air conditioned. It was nice to be in air conditioning for the first time in a while. At the shops we each got special treats and sweets we miss from the "real world". At one of the shops I even tried a frozen drink thing, which ended up being refreshing and tasted like frozen tea and raisins. It wasn't bad at all. Bahamians expect everyone to be friendly and greet them. As we were walking through town (down the main road) there were goats tied up along the way. All the houses on the road were one room sized and very small. This interaction made me realized how simplistic and carefree the lives of the Bahamians are. They live in such a way that they can easily survive and don't have the everyday hassle most Americans face. It is a bitter sweet feeling for them. Along the way, Annabelle, our research leader, ran into a guy she used to live next to. As we greeted him, he told us a story about his life and being a fisherman. He explained how fishing is how he survives and one time he caught a 520 pound fish. While we stood out there mosquitoes came after us and bit us alive. All of us definitely looked like tourists.

    We then made our way back to campus to study and become more familiar with our fish species. Learning fish makes me feel smart, as then I can identify them in the reefs. After a very long night of memorization, we headed to bed.

 

Highlight: seeing the biggest angel and triggerfish I have ever seen and taking pictures with them

Day 2: July 19, 2011

    Sleeping in a place without air conditioning and bugs biting one every few seconds is unbearable. I have never been so thankful for air conditioning in my life. Even though I was unbearably tired last night, I still couldn't sleep. I woke up multiple times in a hot sweat, my sheets drenched and no longer comfortable. I couldn't fall asleep at 4:00a.m., but of course when the alarm went off in the morning I was exhausted. Regardless, I began my day on the island.

    Breakfast was another meal I didn't quite like, so I ended up with toast – grits isn't my thing. After breakfast we went on a tour of campus. Everything, I mean everything, on campus is recycled. To the point that there isn't even a garbage can available. This really made me think about my lifestyle. If people can live perfectly fine lives without having garbage, maybe my lifestyle isn't as sustainable as I had always thought. Leftover foot is fed to the animals on campus that are eventually slaughtered for food. Human waste fertilizes the plants, where basic vegetables come from to eat. The whole situation is really quite unique.

Next we went into the "Octagon", our local classroom on campus, to learn about measuring fish while doing reef surveys. Then we headed to a lunch of egg salad sandwiches, which were actually really good. I had dish crew, and to my surprise it was enjoyable. Whoever knew making a race of mopping the floor would make the time go by faster? Sure enough, Kyle and I mopped the floor within 10 minutes.

Once done with lunch we headed out to our first snorkel of the trip, what I was a little concerned about. As expected, my mask leaked, but at least I was aware for the next snorkel. This was a practice snorkel from the beach off campus out to a small ship wreck. Near the wreck there were fake fish to work on our measuring skills. I barely got by with my leaky mask. I saw the first fish of the trip. Lots of silversides and grunts surrounded the wreck. After our quick data collection on our waterproof notebooks, we headed back to shore.

After grabbing a new mask, we loaded up the van to our next destination, Four Hole. Here, we snorkeled out between two rocks where many fish resided. The fish were very broad in species and sizes. All of them, however, were ones I had encountered from last summer. Janneke, came across an eel, which I had never before seen while snorkeling. It was small, and multi-colored, but very cool, hidden in the coral. For some reason the rocking of the ocean gets to me even when I am snorkeling and I began to feel sick. This happened today, but I think if I don't wear my rash guard tomorrow the situation will go better.

When trying to leave our second snorkel destination the van got stuck in the sand. I didn't attempt to help get the van out as there were already a wide array of people helping and I felt I would only get in the way. After digging up the tires and placing rocks beneath them (and a little push from my lucky hands), the van began to go. When returning to campus I took my first shower of the trip. Since all water comes from rain water, water conservation is a big thing and I don't think I'll be taking another shower any time soon. The outdoor shower felt divine, however.

At dinner, we ate mashed potatoes and corn. I really enjoyed the meal and met some new people who are at the Institute working on a lion fish project. Most of them were from Canada, and I found their work to be very interesting. I hope someday I can come back here and keep doing research.

We resumed our positions in the Octagon after dinner, where we learned the importance of the research we are doing. To summarize, we are trying to decide the best habitats for fish so that if there can only be certain marine protected areas, we can chose the right one. After playing a tiring game of Apples to Apples we went back to our dorm, to find the pleasant surprise of roaches in our bags. Although they are harmless, I can't get over their size, and they still scare me. I killed two for the group, but there are a lot still roaming, even as I close this computer and try to get some sleep.

 

Highlight: seeing an eel in the coral

Day 1: July 18, 2011

    My eyes gaze down on the world and new world below me. The water is never this clear on the coasts, but in the Bahamas everything is different. But let's take a step back and start at the beginning.

    I woke up at 2:00a.m. this morning to catch my 6:00a.m. flight from Moline, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia. I never seem to get stopped at security, but today was different. Packing 2 weeks worth of clothes in a small carryon suitcase was a bad idea. Not only did I get chosen for the random check, but I also had my suitcase checked out. Unpacking the tightly packed suitcase was kind of a disaster for the security guard. With a happy smile, however, he let me pass through smoothly. The first flight was dedicated to sleeping. Having gotten only two hours the night before, sleep was imperative. Upon arriving in Atlanta, I thought for sure I was going to miss my flight to Nassau. As I rushed to the international terminal, I was relieved to find that not only my plane was still there, but another Earthwatch volunteer was there also. After meeting Betsy and getting to know her some, we boarded the plane to meet up again when we reached the Bahamas. This flight was also spent sleeping.

    Arriving in the Bahamas was a little scary. I walked off the plane to find the bright sun shining in my face. I walked back into the building utterly confused about where I was supposed to catch my connection to the final island. As I followed the crowd, I ended up in a sketchy situation. The airport had some remodeling going on and many of the walkways looked highly dangerous. Immigration was also confusing, but the green Earthwatch shirts led my way. The immigration officer was pretty scary as well. He didn't smile and I was concerned I wouldn't be admitted into the country. With a few short questions I was in.

    Outside immigration, I met up with more Earthwatch people. We introduced ourselves, grabbed a bite to eat at Wendy's, and headed to our next flight where the troubles began. We were in line for about thirty minutes to get our boarding passes and had moved nowhere. Our departure time was quickly approaching and people kept going in front of us in the line. I got my pass and went through security with part of the group. As we listened to the last call for boarding we ran down the terminal. When one of us realized half the group was still in line, someone ran back to ask if we could board without them. The lady at the gate would not let us wait. One of the group members talked to the flight attendant to tell her more were coming. She was quite helpful, and we were relieved to hear her say we could wait a few minutes. I sat next to a native of Eleuthera and listened as he told me about his chickens. When the rest boarded, the plane started moving, but lightening lit up the sky. We were then told the plane wouldn't take off for a while. From there I drifted off to sleep until the roaring engine awoke me to take off.

    The plane rose into the clouds. This plane, unlike the rest, was quite small with propellers and all. The jolting of the storm took us in its hands as the clear water appeared below. The view was breathtaking. Here came my first realization; I am in the Bahamas, a place many only dream of coming to. When the plane landed we were at an extremely small and run down airport. Literally, there was only one room crowded with people without air conditioning. Just imagine.

    Annabelle and Danni, the researchers we will be spending our time with, met us. Then we loaded up the vans and were off. Driving through the townships, I once again came to sense with how lucky I am to live in a nice house with a basic kitchen. I don't have to worry about safety or education, things many of us take for granted.

    When we arrived at the institute, we rushed to dinner, as we were late. The food was interesting, and unfortunately I ruined my salad with a super spicy dressing, so I didn't end up eating very much. After dinner we were briefed on a few things. The institute runs solely on wind and solar energy. The water used is collected rainwater. As you may have imagined, rooms were filled with bunks without air conditioning. Roaches and lizards run wild. But isn't that all part of the fun. The view is amazing. I feel like a real researcher. I walk outside and see a beach leading to the endless ocean and where I will be spending my time in the coming weeks. I haven't fully understood where I am or how much of a dream this really is. Regardless, this is where I want to spend my life. This is why I work so hard in school. To spend days without air conditioning in blistering weather and stare out at an ocean full of so many mysteries.

 

Highlight: seeing the crystal, clear water from above

The Story of a New Chapter

    A few weeks ago this summer, I had an incredible experience in the Bahamas doing research on an Earthwatch team. Each night I wrote about my journey and experiences to post as a blog, however, I had no access to the internet. Now that I have returned, I've decided to post my blog entries here, as I realized traveling is what opens me up to new people throughout the world.

It's Over

This past weekend, was filled with many goodbyes. As a junior with a lot of senior friends it was often sad to know that none of them would walk the same halls as me next year. The girl I have been friends with the longest graduated. Another one of my friends left to bike across the country, and I will probably only see her for a week before she leaves for college, many miles away. To say the least, there were a lot of tears shed and heartfelt goodbyes. My two best friends also spoke at graduation, almost bringing me to tears. I know they will be gone next year, but I know I will stay in touch with them, as we are that close. It is the others who I’ve seen and said hi to daily, which I probably won’t see again. The students in which I have cordial conversations with, who have probably influenced by decisions and in some cases my life, but with them, it is goodbye forever. So thanks, seniors, for being role models for me to look up to and be inspired by.
As I wrap up this assigned blog and reflect on what I have written, my blog will not be a final goodbye. Blogging has helped me track the people I have met. Without blogging I probably wouldn’t remember the little things in life. Those people who come and go in a day, but make you think anyways. I will no longer blog three a week. However, I will blog whenever I meet someone I need to remember. As I continue to travel, I hope my blog follows. Maybe I will even make a new blog for traveling purposes only. Whatever I decide to do, I hope you follow. Because maybe my slight insight into the world will lead you to a better understanding of life.