Owen Spencer '19

Saturday 28, 2018 The Sand Castle Service Project makes an effort not only to pick up marine debris and trash, but also restore a fishing pond hit by a hurricane. On the beach we volunteered at, our goal was to pick up and reduce waste which could hurt marine mammals, including Monk Seals. They sometimes eat or play with plastic...

Friday 27, 2018 The day has finally arrived for the night dive, but before we would jump right into it, we spent our day at NELHA once again for a lesson in aquaculture. Like agriculture, the practice is namely raising fish in an aquatic environment. In Kona, many different studies on aquaculture have been underway. Most of the research has...

Thursday 26, 2018 Our day consisted of hoardings a Zodiac boat and diving at night to see some Manta Rays. The Zodiac boat was a small rubber boat with two twin propellers, allowing it to cover a lot of ground in no time. This boat took us out to the Pelagic Zone of the ocean, thousands of feet deep, allowing...

Wednesday 25, 2018 Our day began bright and early at 6am. We quickly ate breakfast and headed out to our dive sites. Today was the day to test our knowledge and recognition of different Hawaiian Marine Life. As soon as we familiarized ourselves with our gear and prepared, we jumped in and began exploring the depths of the Hawaiian shore....

Tuesday 24, 2018 Our group visited the NELHA ocean conservation center to begin our first day of exploration in Kona, Hawaii. Candee, our guide and educator in ocean technology and conservation efforts, presented a type of marine based energy called OTEC, or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. OTEC at its base uses the difference in temperatures in the water to heat...

After a multitude of hours flying around the globe, we have finally touched down in Kona, Hawaii. We moved in quickly and ate until our bellies had their fill. Once we settled in, our leaders gave us an overview of the week ahead. Personally, I am most excited and nervous for the black water night dives. The disorientation of...

Two weeks have past since Marine Biology 2 began, and now we are around less than a month out from our expedition to the Hawaiian Islands. This new territory will be home to new variety of marine life, including Manta Rays and Tiger Sharks. Personally, I am most exited to see a Tiger Shark, but our hike up the...

Our final day of activities in the BVI was upon us, and the roosters were absolutely relentless outside our cabin. Our morning was a little slow, but it quickly picked up as we learned about our service project and prepared ourselves for a hard day of work. Our job was to help build and organize the school's first library...

Today's agenda consisted of the Kodiak Queen shipwreck dive, cleaning coral stations, and snorkeling next to mangroves in North Sound Bay. After a delicious breakfast, we headed out to board the Sea Dragon and sail out to the wreck site of the Kodiak Queen. The Kodiak Queen was one of the only surviving ships after the Attack on Pearl...