2018

Today we woke up to a delicious home cooked meal thanks to Mrs. Hanson. We first all piled into a van to listen to a talk at NELHA in which the primary focus was the development and utilization of OTEC. To summarize OTEC uses both warm surface ocean water and cold deep ocean water to produce clean energy. The...

After an early wake up of 6am, I enjoyed home cooked breakfast sandwiches from Mrs. Hansen which was a pleasant surprise from the cold bagels the day before. We then loaded up on the vans once again and went to the harbor to meet up with Captain Jack's zodiac tours. We split into our two groups and loaded onto...

We started off the day with our first dive, a 2-tank dive, in the trip starting where we dove at Suck Em Up and then Kaloko. During our first dive at Suck Em Up, we had a 50 minute dive in the clearest water I have ever been in. Since the water was so clear, our dive group was...

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...

I am most looking forward to exploring and identifying marine life in Hawaii along with filming my experiences there. In the case of past scuba experience, I have only done one official dive with my friend Dan, who is also going on this trip. In our brief dive without an instructor in a diving pond, we explored a sculpture...

After our flights, we were greeted by a pair of vans to take us to House Over Kona. Then we were separated into our groups for the week and the; gave a rundown of our trip. The activities ranging from all of the dives to the research centers we will be visiting really got me "stoked." I am ...

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...

Today, after flying for about 9 hours we finally arrived in Kona. We hopped into the two vans and I was eccentric to see our homes for the week. Upon arriving to our homes I found it even more beautiful than I expected. After eating a hearty dinner and some cake to top it off, we were informed of...

Today we started the day with wonderful breakfast tacos and quickly made our way to the vans and went to the beach. At the beach, we cleaned up trash. This trash can harm the ecosystem because animals think that the plastic is food and it can ensnare the animals. While cleaning, we were fortunate to see a sea turtle...