2011

Today began listening to Kells and Alec talk about the coral consumption by butterfly fish. That didn't interest me very much, and, as doc Gruninger pointed out, the article had no purpose. The next presentation, by Paul and nick, concerned mollusks, and in my opinion was much more interesting. They discussed the purpose of mollusks and estimates on the...

Today was about giving back. To tell you the truth, this amazing week wouldn't have been possible without the months of preparation and hard work of the Dive BVI Team, Mr. Kirby, Doc, and Speedy. Many people don't realize that this is Jesuit's first stab at trying a class like this, and a lot of people are looking at...

We are halfway through the classroom portion of the course here at Jesuit. Today, the students practiced reading and using topographic maps and marine charts to calculate bearings and nautical miles, so we don't get lost in the Virgin Islands....We have also been reading and critiquing recent research articles pertaining to marine science. See the pictures below showing the guys...

Today was by far the most hands on and exciting day of class we have had yet. We started the class off by listening to two groups present their individual articles that they researched and discussed. We immediately transitioned into a class discussion on marine and non-marine invertebrates. It was pretty interesting to learn more about the animals that...

Today began as usual at 8:30 am waiting for the taxi. We then went to the marina and had breakfast at the VISAR headquarters. After breakfast we began our community service project by cleaning the boat and shed. We also painted the main headquarters. We then went to our houses and down to the beach where lunch was waiting....

Good evening! Being a busy bee today, class started off quickly as we discussed some articles, lead by the students. They were well thought out, and they brought to light some good points. fter a few notes, we went to dissections. We dissected starfish and squid. Surprisingly, the starfish has quite a tough, exoskeleton, or skin, which in restrospect...

Today we began again with the article projects. We talked about grouper fish and how they are a natural biocontrol for the lionfish. We also talked about parrot fish and how they are eating more coral. We then went on to a mini project. In this project we had to repopulate a certain species of coral. We would present...

Beep! Beep! Beep! A sound every teenage boy is afraid to hear. Unfortunately the men of cedar cabin woke up to this morning. Everybody up! We heard next. It was doc again. Once again we arose and got dressed. We then loaded up and drove off to the dock. Once we got there we went over to the visar...

Today was AMAZING. There really isn't another way to describe it. It was fantastic. We started off the day by waking up at 7:30 and immediately going to breakfast to get briefed on the week. After our briefing we discussed different impacts of humans on marine ecosystems and vice versa. We discussed the different negative implications that humans can...