Jonathan Reagan '19

Today was great. We started off this morning by visiting a beach and doing a beach cleanup. Before we started the cleanup, a few volunteers talked to us about how to find Reef friendly sunscreen. There are plenty of sunscreen brands that claim to be Reef safe. However, they aren't. We explored the beach in search of trash. After...

We got to sleep in late today. We visited a fish farm and learned about its potential. Fish farms can provide fresh food to people all around the world while at the same time reducing the strain on wild populations. We learned about how they require a lot of resources and need constant supervision. When properly taken care of...

We woke up early again for a quick breakfast and drove to our next excursion. We went on a Zodiac ride that showed us the Hawaiian coast and the open ocean. While we were moving, we spotted Hawaiian spinner dolphins, Pilot Whales, a Bull Shark, and other marine animals. We learned about these animals are most active at night...

We began the day with a 2 tank dive. I decided to snorkel instead of diving. As I explored the water, The coral, while not exploding color, appeared to be healthy. In fact, it seemed to be in a healthier state then the coral I saw in the British Virgin Islands. This helped me realize how effective the Hawaiian...

We started this day by visiting the NELHA facility. NEHLA stands for the Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaii Authority. This group does community service and nonprofit events, but primarily focuses on OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation). We learned that OTEC leaves no carbon footprint and is the largest source of seawater energy production in the world. After that we visited the...

After around 9 hours of flying, our weary band of students and teachers arrived in Kona, Hawaii. We spent the rest of the day unpacking our scuba gear. Shortly after dinner, we reviewed our weekly schedule, which will entail various dives and educational tours. I am most excited for the hike to the Mauna Kea Summit with the Pyrosome...

I am the most excited for encountering new marine life. I did multiple training dives in order to get my diving certification. I went on the Marine Biology 1 trip last year in the British Virgin Islands. During this trip, I explored a sunken ship, measured the size of sea sponges and determined what influences their filtering capabilities, snorkeled...

Today is our last day in the Virgin Islands. And boy was it a hot one. I have no idea what the temperature is, but it's crazy. Anyway, we had our final breakfast today at the teachers cabin. It was the leftovers from our previous breakfasts (cereal, honey buns, guava juice, granola bars). After that we headed down...

That same gosh darn rooster woke me up at 6:00 again. This is like the 3rd or 4th day in a row. I don't like chickens. They are all over the island. I see at least one every time I walk outside. Apparently they are considered an invasive species in the BVI. But enough about chickens. Today was our last...