2018

The plane touched down at KOA today around two this afternoon. We met up with our hosts, the Hansens, and we drove about thirty minutes to where we're staying. The weather was very foggy today. There was lots of vog in the sky. Once we all got settled in our rooms, I went for a swim, and then had...

As I anxiously await the start of the trip, I wonder about all the great memories I am about to experience. I am looking forward to completing my first dives, exploring a new place with my classmates, and meeting new people from different cultures. I am probably looking most forward to diving. I also am interested in really getting...

After a long and overwhelming day of travel, we finally arrived in this beautiful and tropical environment. The exhilarating ride up the canyon road lead us to our private housing compound, our home for the week. As soon as exiting the van, we eagerly explored the wooded environment. The narrow winding pathways and short trees leads to searching for...

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...

Starting off the day, We made our way back to NELHA. At the building, we got to learn more about their systems to cooling the building. Our guide, whose name was also Nelson, explained to us that the building uses cold deep sea water to produce up to 70 gallons of water a day. To do this, the building...

Looking forward to the trip in Hawai‘i, I cant wait to embark on new dive adventures especially the night dives. I have been diving before, in fact I went on the trip last year to Virgin Gorda where my favorite dive was the Kodiak Queen. On the wreck dive we went to 60 feet and ventured our way through...

We started the day today by going to NELHA and learning about how their building works without using energy, but it still has air conditioning. The building has a copper roof with space between and it heats the air. The air is pulled out through exhaust pipes which leaves space for cool air to fill. The cool air comes...

Beginning our fifth day, we all got up early, ate breakfast, and drove out to the NELHA facility to look more in depth in ocean air cooling and other facilities. After arriving to the NELHA we crawled through the visitor center closet to find a secret ladder beneath the building. Once we crawled below, we moved under a skylight...

After breakfast, we went back to the NELHA visitor center. The guide allowed us to go underground to the “cooling chamber.” The building is cooled by a complex system involving low pressure hot air and low pressure cold air. Next, we went to an aquaculture farm, where we were told about fish breeding and raising. Aquaculture is the raising...