2018

Today was an extremely good day. The Zodiac boat was not only fast and exhilarating but it also allowed us to see things that otherwise would be difficult to spot. From seeing short fin pilot whales to swimming with spinner dolphins, the Zodiac tour was absolutely amazing. The manta dive was everything one could dream of, to look up...

In Hawaii, I am looking forward to exploring the differences between diving in Hawaii rather than the Virgin Islands. When we were diving in Virgin Gorda, the environment seemed relatively controlled and calm due to the low depths of the ocean itself. Because Hawaii has deeper ocean depths, I am excited to see how diving is and how I...

Today we went on a 2 tank dive, we visited the Monk Seal center again, and listened to a presentation on black water dives. During the dive trip we dove in 2 different areas. In the first area, I saw an octopus, a white tip reef shark, a sea turtle, and dozens of species of fish. We swam through...

Three things I learned: The first thing I learned during our OTEC lecture was that ocean energy thermal conversion can attribute a large amount of our nations energy at such low costs. The second thing I learned was that the cost of water that is taken from the deep sea by the NELHA is not only more clean, but priced...

After waking up around 6:00 we got a nice breakfast and then relaxed for a while until we left to the NELHA and got to learn about OTEC and agriculture. My first specific topic is OTEC and how it created one megawatt out of 136 megawatts of energy for Hawaii. Later we visited. Monk seal facility but sadly we...

Day four of our trip on the Big Island revolved heavily around the exploration of marine life. To begin our day, each group boarded a zodiac boat, like what Navy Seals use, and headed off towards the open ocean. Before we even left the harbor, a green sea turtle was hanging out on the surface of the water visible...

I look forward to diving in the ocean rather than a murky lake or a pool. I look forward to seeing turtles. I also look forward to the hiking because I will be able to see wildlife on land.

Starting off the day, we visited NALHA to learn about renewable energy and other programs helping the environment. After the brief presentation about OTEC and how it works, we were able to visit an actual OTEC facility which generates 100 kilawatts of energy. Then we traveled to the munk seal rehabilitation facility where they monitor and help the seals...

Starting off the day we woke up to some breakfast and got ready to pack up for the day's adventure. For the second day, we headed out to the National Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority (NELHA) to learn about renewable energy and how far we have come in that department. To start the day we got a briefing and...