Now that the trip is almost over I can tell you my view on science has changed. Science is not just all fun and games. To get results you really need to work hard and put forth your best effort to make sure your data will come out completely unhampered in order to get actual results.

The vegetation survey was a lot of work!

While taking a vegetation survey in East Wells we learned it takes a little sweat and hard work to get results. It was about 95 and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky. We had to walk and make measurements while being consumed by mosquitoes for 3 hours. Experience in the field has completely changed my view on science and the actual findings real scientists have. Experience in the field has shown me that you can never execute a flawless experiment. There are always variables that can throw off your results and lead you to make wrong conclusions.

Everyone searched the reef for fish.

Although science can be frustrating it can also have huge rewards. Doing a fish census at Turtle Rocks was the coolest thing I've ever done. Turtle Rocks has both deep blue water with huge coral heads and big fish, as well as crystal clear shallows strewn with smaller corals and a wide variety of fish. Our job was to snorkel around with waterproof clipboards and record the number of fish that we encountered by species. When we return to Miami we will submit the data we collected to REEF. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation uses the data submitted by thousands of scientists and volunteers to study the health and biodiversity of the world's reefs. Overall this experience has excited me for my future and has inspired me to pursue science past HSMB.

Kyle Cook

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Today we visited the island of Gun Cay to do a vegetation survey and a beach seine. While we were there we noticed a remarkable amount of garbage floating in the water and littered all over the shore. There were all sorts of trash and waste cluttering the shore and endangering many of the native animals. We discovered objects varying from pop bottles, to beer cans, random shoes, oil cans, chip bags, and even a hotel key card from 1957. We were shocked and a little bit disturbed by the carelessness of the people who had visited the island previously. Do you have any suggestions of ways visitors both to Gun Cay and the entire ocean could better manage their trash to prevent such high levels of pollution?

Kyle and Erin

Today we journeyed to a part of Cat Cay that is under construction. It intrigued us to snorkel on this part of the island because we were unsure as to the affect that the construction had upon the natural habitats. Jumping into the water, we began surveying the area and were shocked to see that as we drew nearer to the alleged shore, we could barely see any signs of life at all. We also noticed that the shallow water was quite foggy, which made it hard to see. As we got closer to the shore line we began to notice that dredging that had already occurred from construction. Recognizing this, we were able to decipher from the apparent dredging that most animal life had vanished from the area.

This Cassiopia was one of the few animals living in the dredged area.

Snorkeling along we noticed cement and rocks that had been placed there during the period, which was meant to stop erosion from the already dredged sands. However, once we turned the corner, and were clear of the foggy waters, a whole world of natural life flashed before our eyes. We were able to see on the grassy bottom a lot of fish, urchins, anemone, rocks bottoms, several seashells, and natural habitat. After our snorkel Captain John explained that before the dredging the most of the shoreline looked like the undisturbed area around the corner. During our snorkel we learned that development can be quite destructive, but nature can survive along side progress.

Megan and Tyvae

Answers to some of your questions:

Question:

It's great that you've seen all those species! I had some questions
about the loggerhead turtles - why are they named that way? How big do
they grow? What is their average lifespan out in the wild? I
understand that they can hibernate....can you tell me more about that?

Answer:

The loggerhead gets its name because it resembles your typical deep woods loggerman. It is big and built like a linebacker with hardly any neck between its head and shoulders. They typically grow to sizes of up to 4 feet long as adults that weigh in at 200 to 350 pounds. They have been know to live between 15 to 30 years on average but can potentially live much longer. Loggerheads will take regular naps but they are not known to hibernate. They're kind of like a dad after a football game. They need to rest every now and then, but never completely relax.

Question:

Where are the photos of the barracudas and nurse sharks? Show some love
for the people who aren't cool enough to be there, post more pics!

Answer:

We have seen many barracudas along with a few nurse sharks. The reason we don't have many pictures of barracudas is because they tend to blend in with their environment and don't turn out well in the photos.

Question:

What is your favorite animal? What fish to you see the most?

Answer:

Marty's favorite fish is the blue head wrasse. Chris' favorite fish is the porcupine fish. The fish we tend to see the most are the sergeant majors.

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Today we went to Shark lab in southern Bimini and got to see a ton of cool stuff. After a quick trip on our inflatable boat we were standing on the dock getting consumed by mosquitoes. Retreating inside, we started to talk a little bit about their program and what they are currently working on. Shark Lab consists of 16 researchers who spend their days catching and tagging various species of sharks.

After a quick overview we headed outside and met one slithery critter that is endemic to Bimini (only found in Bimini). The Bimini Boa's habitat is in danger of being destroyed because of human expansion throughout the island even though they are considered endangered. Our guide Kat, took out their temporary snake resident and let us take turns holding it. It was very smooth and shiny, reflecting the colors of the rainbow.

We then headed down to the shark pen full of about 40 juvenile lemon sharks and one nurse shark. Kat and a resident Diego, carefully and got into the pen and caught one lemon shark pup and the nurse shark pup. The Lemon Shark is the most commonly tagged shark by Shark Lab because Bimini has an abundance of mangroves and sea grass. Baby Lemon Sharks are born in the mangroves alive and swimming unlike most sharks that lay eggs.

Each night for six nights Shark Lab sets up a gill net and attempts to catch every baby shark in the area so they can tag them using PIT transmitters for years to come. The PIT tag is a little chip that goes in right below the dorsal fin and gives each shark an individual ID number. After catching all the sharks they can, every shark is released at the same time and it is a mad dash to freedom.

After the shark pen we loaded back into the boat and took off to the Coral Reef II. On the way back we saw 5 Green Sea Turtles just chillin by the mangroves! A perfect way to end an awesome trip.

Kyle and Conrad

"The sunken portion of Atlantis…a portion of the temples, may yet be discovered under the slime of ages of sea water near what is known as Bimini, off the coast of Florida. Expect it in 1968 and 1969, not so far away." In 1934, Edgar Cayce, the "sleeping-prophet," went into one of his hypnotic trances and made this prediction. Amazing enough, in 1968, indications of an unusual formation of the sea-bed came from observations by an aircraft pilot who noticed distinctive bands of coloration in the water near Paradise Point, North Bimini.

Geologists believe that when dealing with diagenesis, beach rock (also known as the Road to Atlantis) is developed from beach sand under the surface of the beach. When the compacted sand turned into rocks, it was then exposed during periods of erosion which made the rocks crumbles into large regularly sized rectangular blocks and fall onto the ocean floor.

Cultural Anthropologist's believe this formation is truly the Road to Atlantis because many large rocks are perfectly aligned and have uniform shape which continues in a band down the coast. Also found at this sight was a formation of rocks that resemble a human form including a head, arms, torso, and legs. Do you believe that this is actually the Road to Atlantis, or is it just an unusual coincidence?

Megan and Marty

We are trying to determine the health and biodiversity of many different ecosystems but have a limited amount of time on our trip. How can we make sure we don't miss or over look any important ecosystems such as the coral reefs, mangroves (a shelter for young fish), sandy bottoms, grassy bottoms, intertidal zone (rough areas that contain barnacles and small shelters for fish), and terrestrial (land and vegetation).

All of these ecosystems are important because different species live and thrive in them so they are all essential to maintain the balance of the ocean. Which ecosystems do you think we should focus on and why?

Conrad and Erin

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Today aboard the R/V Coral Reef II was quite exhausting. The morning started with a snorkel over a sandy bottom habitat and a snorkel in the mangroves. Our boat later traveled to the shipwreck Hesperus for our first snorkel over an artificial reef. There were tons of new animals on the artificial reef.

The Hesperus was a barge that sunk and is now a refuge to a variety of different animals. The wreck is located roughly in twenty feet of water. It was our deepest snorkel to date. Some of the animals were: southern stingrays, loggerhead sea turtles, horse eye jacks, barracuda, ocean triggers, spotted moray eels, and nurse & reef sharks. Later that night, we snorkeled the wreck again to see the different species that inhabited it at night. It was everyone's first night snorkel.

Although it was choppy and the visibility was poor, we did manage to see some cool wildlife. Again we were able to see some loggerhead sea turtles, cobia, and donkey dung sea cucumbers. Although the four snorkel day was quite tiring, it was also very rewarding. Everyone is looking forward to a future night snorkel!

Answers to some of your questions.

Question: Octopus. I'd like to see a photo of an octopus, because that will mean you'll have seen one. But honestly, any species that can be identified while you snorkel would be great to see!

Karen

Answer: Alright well keep an eye out for one. They are a little tricky to find because they are so good at camouflage and are excellent hiders but we'll try really hard to locate one.

Comment: Look for the Donkey Dung Cucumber.

Answer: We looked today and actually found 2. They were pretty cool and felt weird.

Sam

Question: I'd like to see sharks and schools of dolphins porpoising! Can you all post latitude and longitude coordinates once in the morning and at the end of the day? I'd like to chart your adventure on a map her at home.

Answer: I'd love to see pods of dolphins porpoising as well but it seems they are a little tricky to find here in the Bahamas. We actually post out position every day. Click on the map in the top right hand corner of each page to check it out.

Comment: Look for Flamingo Tongue! It's gorgeous and would be a great find.
Good luck with all of your snorkeling adventures!

Joy

Answer: We found some Flamingo Tongue on some purple fans on our dive on Saturday. The picture was posted last night so you can check them out. They are pretty cool looking and we'll be keeping an eye out for some more.

Question: I hope you see sting rays. What type of sting rays live in the Bahamas? How big do they get?

Answer: We saw a TON of sting rays today! We saw mostly southern sting rays which get to be up to 8 feet across and are the most common here. There were also about 7 spotted eagle rays swimming under our boat which inspired all of us to jump in and try to catch a glimpse. Several other species can be found with the Manta Ray being the largest which can be 22 feet across!

Question: What is it like to swim in the ocean? Can you see very far underwater?

Answer: Swimming in the ocean is like gliding through a cloud. The salt water makes you float more but tastes very unpleasant when swallowed. It depends on the day and the conditions but here in the Bahamas the water is almost crystal clear on most days. You can see about 50 feet in front of you.

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Today we learned that there are companies that take tourists on trips to swim with wild dolphins. The dolphins are not fed and are free to come and go, approaching the tourists at their own will. Researchers occasionally tag along on these expeditions and collect data on dolphin behavior and how they interact with each other as well as humans. These trips can inspire people to take action and care more for the environment, and scientists are learning more about dolphins through the data they collect.

However, much like a grizzly bear can become too dependent on humans for food, dolphins and other marine animals can become completely reliant on shrimpers, tourists and other people that feed them. How do you feel about people approaching and interacting with wild animals? As we are interacting with the wildlife on bimini what should we do to keep the animals' best interests in mind?

Kyle and Chris

Today we began our first researching mission as we set out to study the creatures living in the shallow, sandy areas around Bimini. We had just finished our first snorkel (in the reef filled area known as La Chance Rocks), and were fully ready to take on a new adventure. After a few of our group members carried the equipment to shore in the skiff (small boat), the rest of us snorkeled over the grassy bottoms until we reached white-sand shore.


We immediately began the process by having all students grab a side of the collection net, known as a seine, and forming a straight line along the beach's shore. Then we slowly walked out into the salty ocean water remaining in a single file line. When we reached shoulder-deep tides, we made a ninety degree turn so that we were parallel to the beach. The most challenging part was bringing the net back to land. Four of the students grabbed the corners of the long net and began to carefully walk towards the shore, as the rest served as "splashers", who splashed waves inside the net to make sure all of the marine life in our vicinity stayed within the net's boundaries. With the help of a student who served as "the snorkeler" to keep the seine from tangling, and our mentors coaching us through the process, we were successfully able to bring the net back to shore and begin identifying the wide range of species.

The most exciting part of our researching mission was searching through the net for sandy beach creatures. While keeping the net submerged in water we carefully sorted through the sea grass for tiny crabs and many different fish. We found conch shells and many mojarra fish, as well as swimming and blue crabs. After recording our data we set the creatures free and shook all of the sea grass out of the net, and conducted a second trial. We then hauled the net into the skiff and snorkeled back to the boat just in time for dinner. We hope to use our data to determine the biodiversity of marine life in the different ecosystems around Bimini.

Pasama and Erin

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Tomorrow is our first snorkeling adventure! We are very excited to see all the varieties of marine life. What kind of marine life would you like to see pictures of? A variety of colorful fish, stingrays, corals, crabs, and other invertebrates are just some of the species that can be identified where we are snorkeling. Since we are in the Caribbean, unique species can be spotted so there are no limitations to your ideas.

Conrad and Pasama

After 6 months of preparing, we are finally aboard the R/V Coral Reef II. In early February, the application for High School Marine Biology 2009 was released. 100 eager applicants applied for this once in a lifetime opportunity, but only 20 students were lucky enough to be accepted. After acceptance, orientation quickly passed by, and in no time at all, pre-trip classes were upon us.

Today, 10 of those original students had their dreams come true. The flight to Miami was short compared to the amount of time we have waited for this moment. We eagerly boarded the R/V Coral Reef II and are awaiting our time of departure to Bimini, Bahamas.

When our instructors asked us what we would most like to see on our trip, sharks were on the top of the list. The boys are most eager to see a Hammerhead shark, while the girls seem to want to encounter less intimidating animals. We have all been assigned our tasks to maintain the boat's good condition, and our eager to do so with smiling faces. Good attitude is important for an enjoyable and fun trip- none of us seem to be lacking this. Tomorrow will prove who the early risers are as we will Miami at 5 AM.

Bon Voyage

Megan Glowacz & Erica Knox

We can't believe that today is the last day of the trip. It has been an amazing experience; none of us want to go home. Today we went to Cat Cay to do a beach seine. It was interesting to look at the homes that were being built as well as a sea wall on Cat Cay. It made us wonder how the building may affect the environment. Also this morning we finally looked at the plankton from the tows we have been doing all week. It was very cool to be able to see the difference between the different tows. The night tow was the best tow, with the largest yield. We really have gotten some interesting data this week which will help us study how development may affect the environment. Later in the day we had some fun surprises.

We were on the way to Cat Cay and we saw wild dolphins swimming next to our boat. It was miraculous to be able to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins. We had encountered dolphins in the distance before, but this was the first time we saw them up close. This week we have seen a cornucopia of spectacular species of many different phylums. We have studied different kinds of zooplankton, squid, sea turtles, as well as nurse sharks, lemon sharks and even sting rays. Participating in HSMB has enlightened us to what we want to do with our lives. It has helped us to realize our aspirations and future job opportunities. This has been an amazing and eye opening trip and we will be extremely sad to leave the Coral Reef II, which has been like a second home for all of us during this amazing week.

Jordan and Olivia

Over the past week, we have learned a lot about the environment especially in Bimini. Hopefully the data we have collected will give us an idea of how development affects its surrounding ecosystems, and eventually we hope to better understand the long-term effect humans make on the environment. What we have all gained an appreciation for Bimini's varied coral reefs, mangroves, sand flats, and grass beds. We understand the importance of conservation and have seen what some people are doing to conserve the environment. For example, if anyone on this research vessel were to take a shower, it would be no more than 5 minutes. Also at the Shark Lab, scientists told us about frustration with animal protection laws, and how animals that migrate can be protected in one country but often are not protected in another. So we got a sense of how important social work can be for scientific progress. We have seen how difficult it is to make change. What would you do? Looking at other obstacles that can get in the way of making a difference, is it worth the trouble to do anything about the cause? Would you take an experience like this, and just be more aware of your surroundings but not make any changes to your lifestyle? Would you be compelled to make a change as an individual and rethink daily tasks that could be performed more eco-friendly? Would you have a need to make a difference in the world by educating others and/or creating change as a group? Amanda Hodo and Maria Murray

Question:

What an incredible snorkel that must have been in the mangroves. You mentioned the upside down jellies...did they worry you? Did you find it hard to keep your head in the water and just drift along? Also, what has been a favorite snorkel so far, and why?

Answer:

Yes, the mangrove snorkel was an amazing experience. The upside down jellies, called Cassiopea, were abundant on the seafloor throughout the mangroves while we were snorkeling. When we were swimming in less than 3 feet of water a strong kick with a flipper could send a jelly floating into the face of the snorkeler behind you. It made some of us uncomfortable, and everyone was a lot more careful than usual. Although a jelly floating towards your face may make you want to get your head
out of the way, the best thing to do was just to float and let the current carry you. A favorite snorkel for many of us occured at sunset on Day 4. We were on a twilight snorkel in the wreck of the Hesperus, where we were approached by multiple sea turtles.

Question:

Is there a difference in doing a Plankton Tow during the day and at night?

Steve

Answer:

Yes, there is a huge difference between the day plankton tow and the night plankton tow. The phytoplankton and the zooplankton follow them in order to feed on them. Another reason plankton come to the top during the night is because theyare not easily seen by predators during the night, as they are in the day because of their huge biomass and density.

Question:
If I want to study sharks what do I need to study in school? How did you get to go on this program?

Answer:

To study sharks in the future, we were told it would be beneficial to take all the science courses (biology, chemistry, physical science, etc.) you can during high school and college. Also, volunteer in different nature-based environments, such as aquariums, nature centers, or research centers. We got into this program by going through the application process, which begins with an online application form found on the Shedd Aquarium's website.

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Today we visited a shark research lab on Bimini. We met a researcher named Kat who worked on not only protecting Lemon Sharks, which is the main species that they study, buy also tag a number of other shark species that live in Bimini. She took us out to a pen and showed us some of the baby Lemon Sharks that they were studying. Some other shark species that live on Bimini are the Tiger, Bulland the occasional Hammer Head sharks. We learned that one of their goals was to protect the diversity of habitats of Bimini, but most importantly the mangroves that are an important nursery for Lemon Shark pups and a number of other species.

Talking with the researchers at Shark Lab opened a lot of our minds to the possibility of choosing a career in science. One way that we could get a career in science would be to volunteer at different organizations that care or are dedicated to protecting and understanding nature. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people that could open up a lot of new doors for you. It is important to us and many other people to get a career in marine science because we want to conserve and learn about our amazing world.

Nick Green
Brockton Malenke

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