Charles Joseph Stautner '16

Today was a great day! It started off with breakfast at the marina then we went straight to the dive boat. During the briefing for the first dive Jessica and Jeremy taught us the proper way to harvest coral for replanting. First off they explained that it was necessary to wear gloves because the oils from human hands break...

A government official from Tortola came with us today to help us with tagging sea turtles. Joelle explained that we would be pulled behind the boat on snorkel by a rope and when we saw a turtle we should hold up our hand and release while keeping our eyes on the turtle. Then we would have a person...

Today we started off with a great breakfast of omelets, we then proceeded to our first dive at Paul's Grotto and the special fish we saw were a HUGE lobster hiding underneath a rock, and sea urchins. After a surface interval and a snack we went on our second dive at West Seal Dog Island. This was my...

The day started off slowly as we were introduced to the dive staff and the agenda for the week. Casey then introduced us to the issues with sea world, particularly related the captivity of killer whales. Hank and I were then called up to debate. Hank argued that sea world was necessary because it gave people an amazing...

I decided to take marine biology because I have always had an inherent interest in the ocean especially in regards to diving. It is likely this drive to study the ocean was implanted in me by my father who was an avid diver and outdoor/ocean enthusiast. On top of that, who doesn't enjoy the beach!?!