Monday, on our last day in the BVI, we were able to sleep in a little in the morning in preparation for our day at the beach. We headed over to have breakfast and then we were on our way to clean up the beach. The beach we arrived at to clean up was near the airport and was facing the open ocean. Since the beach was a crescent shape and facing the open ocean it was a magnet for trash from ships to wash up on. There were a lot of plastic containers that were washed up along with a lot of rope and fishing nets. We spread out along the beach with garbage bags and began picking up everything we could find on the beach and off. I filled up three bags of garbage, most of them filled with rope and fishing net. These two things were really important to find and remove from the beach simply because of the threat they pose to the environment. Birds and other animals could easily become entangled in the nets and ropes and die. We were able to fill up the back of the pickup truck multiple times with garbage bags. By the time we finished cleaning up, the difference was shocking. When we all put our minds to it, we were able to do a really nice job on cleaning up the beach and almost able to remove all the trash from it. It not only made the beach look nicer, but it was a huge help to the environment in that area, hopefully meaning more birds and animals could inhabit that beach. After cleaning up the beach, we went to lunch and then back to the Guava berry for some free time. During this free time, I went to the beach with Sean and Adam, and we sat in the water for a while. After we got out Sean and I had a conversation with a man from Philadelphia, who has been coming here for over 17 years. He told us all about the islands and the surrounding islands and how Virgin Gorda is his favorite place to go to. He was also telling us that over all the years, the Jesuit crew was the most well mannered group to come to the island on a school trip. After this, we went to the farewell dinner, where we watched a video recapping the weeks experience and a presentation on the camera in relation to jesuit, and got ready to pack for the trip home tomorrow. Overall this trip has been a great experience for me, for academic reasons and other reasons as well. Over the past week I have been able to learn all about marine environments and the fragile ecosystem that they are. Along with learning, over the past week I have been able to meet new people and develop friendships with them. This week has been a great experience, and I look forward to doing it again next year!
