2011

  I really can't believe you're all gone!  This island is WAY TOO QUIET! When you all first arrived (in the rain and lightening) I was unsure what to expect, but I can tell you what I got - 20 of the most wonderful smiles I've ever seen and 20 of the sweetest and most polite young men I've ever met....

Today was the first day of marine biology actually at BVI and I've got only 3 words to say. PAR-A-DISE. Since we arrived so late last night, we could not see the island view, but when i crawled out of bed this morning, I saw a view that I've only seen in National Geographic and hollywood films. Before I...

Today in class we began by finishing up our dogfish shark lab. All that me and Kells had to do was remove the skin on the head of the shark and look at the brain. The cerebellum was about the size of a cashew. Following the clean-up of this lab we began the daily discussion over the two articles....

Today the guys are dissecting two well-known species of fish. Today's dissections have been injected with latex, allowing them detailed investigation of the anatomy of the circulatory systems. The guys are doing a good job staying on task and resisting the temptation of their juvenile instincts to mutilate the fish that were sacrificed for the good of science and...

Today we learned about the different types of invertebrates that are present in the ocean. We learned that sponges are usually immobile and present on the ocean floor. In addition, they are filter feeders and take nutrients in through their side pores and release them through their top pore. Finally, the second half of class we dissected a starfish...

We had a great week with all of the guys from Jesuit.  I think this trip has served everyone involved, myself included, as a wonderful learning opportunity.  It has instilled in the students an appreciation, if not love, for the aquatic environments of our reefs and oceans.  I feel confident that this next generation of responsible, conservation-minded divers will...

Today was a busy day. We started waking the guys around 8am so we could meet our taxi at 8:30. Most cabins were already up and moving; it is hard to sleep too late when the windows are open and sun rises around 4:30am. Although I say that, many guys still managed to need a wake-up...

I awoke to the shouts of my bunkmate, Sean, running through the cabin exclaiming that rain was pouring in through our open windows. My bed was perfectly dry so naturally, I just laid there and watched the chaos ensue. The rain quickly put me back to sleep so well, that not even the alarm clock woke our room up....

Today marked the beginning of the long awaited marine biology summer course! I have been looking forward to this class because of the trip to the British Virgin Islands ( which I will refer to as BVI) and to use this sweet ipad.. I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the internal body systems different organisms hold. I also...