SCUBA certified

I am now officially an open water diver!!! It was so incredible brething underwater. I thought I would be nervous and freak out because of the equiptment, but I love it!! It is such an amazing experience. I am so happy I went through with the course.

On sunday, Luke and I went bonefishing in Deep Creek with the local bonefishing guide. He is my buddy, we always dance at all the local festivals. He wanted to take us out bonefishing since I have never caught one before. He has been a guide for 60 years. I didn't catch any fish, but we saw some huge schools. It was an awesome day!

Morning Training- June 28, 2011

Today Niels and I decided to do some free diving training. Since he squeezed his lungs last time, he is slowly working his way back to free diving again. The Nurse shark team (Jana, Niels, Zack, and Grace) went over to the boat house around 7:30 before breakfast. We started out with some breathing excercises that Niels showed us. There was this cool one that stretches out your lungs, it felt so cool. Then we went into the water for some practice. We found some cinderblocks under the water. We all had one and ran at the bottom of the ocean. I felt straight out of Blue Crush the movie. It was so cool. There is a film crew here with National Geographic’s filming a project aquaculture is working on, and the camera man saw us out there this morning, so he got in the water and took underwater footage of Niels. Apparently now that Niels and the camera guy are friends he is going to come out with us on Thursday when we tag sharks and get footage of us. After we did our swimming, we headed to breakfast. There is an educational program here of kids ranging from 9-13 year olds, they are awesome. I sat with them for breakfast; they had me laughing this morning.

After breakfast it was out into the field. Zack and I just had to do Paige this morning. We only saw one shark. It is beginning to be the end of mating season, so we are seeing fewer sharks. When I got back from the field I sat in the octagon (which is the common room in between the dorms) and entered data. I sat on a couch that was right in front of a window so I entered data while being touched by the tranquility of the magical sea breeze. Matt, a kid from South Africa, gave me some of his music, most of which I have never heard of before. So I was expanding my horizons and listening to peaceful music while entering nurse shark data.

Today was all in all a great day. I was hyped up and had a lot of energy. This afternoon I went to powell point with Niels. We only saw one shark. After we were done observing we swam for a little bit at 4^th hole before heading back to campus. When we got back to campus I thought it would be fun to do some yoga on the beach. Zack led me, Jana, Grace, and two other girl interns in some amazing yoga on the beach. It was so peaceful and amazing. Then after yoga Grace, Zack and I did a beach workout consisting of 6 minute abs, squats, pushups, lunges, and triceps dips. I took an outside shower after our workout and brushed the dreads out of my hair. Then I went and lay down at the beach in my towel and enjoyed the beautiful breeze.

Dinner time was fun; I sat with the little kids again. They all are beginning to feel comfortable with me. They were having a bon-fire on the beach tonight, and I was invited to attend! We played games around the fire for a while until it was time for them to get ready for bed. After that Zack and I went to the mentor’s apartment to hang out with them. Mentors are Island School alumni who return to help out with the current Island school kids. Then it was off to bed, I have the long haul tomorrow.

Free Diving

Today was a half day of work. Got to the lab entered some data at 7, until it was breakfast time! Today I went out into the field with Grace and Niels. We went to Powell Point and Kemps creek today. It was a good morning; I got to know Grace better. She is a really cool girl. We only saw one shark today, nothing too exciting in the shark world.

After lunch Niels had the idea to go free diving. I always love going out with them because it is so beautiful to watch. They stay under water for over a minute. It is amazing. Niels, Justin, Matt, Zack, Jana, and I packed up the boat and headed out into the ocean. The first place we dove was called hole in the wall. There is a hole about 80 feet down and then there is a cave that is about 30 feet in length. Justin and Matt went through the hole, it was incredible. I always love going to watch them. I haven’t quite figured out how to equalize the pressure, so I can’t go down far. I love going out with them because I always practice, seeing how far I can go down. They speared a few lionfish, and then we headed to a shallower spot. Niels started spitting up some blood so we moved to shallower water to catch some more lionfish. He looked it up later and found out that his lungs got squeezed because of the pressure.

The second spot we went to was so beautiful. There were reefs everywhere, and it wasn’t too deep so I could dive down. Zack and I both finally got the hang of free diving. Zack explained to me how he equalized the pressure, and I finally got it. I experienced the real feeling of free diving today. It was so fascinating. I went down about 35 feet, which isn’t too deep compared to the boys, but I was stoked… baby steps. When you go down you can hear everything, it is crazy. It is such an incredible feeling being in the water and hearing everything around you. I was so happy to have finally figured out free diving!

After the second dive, we decided to head in and clean the lionfish the boys speared. They got a total of 9 lionfish. Once we cleaned the fish, we all went our own ways to get ready for the Junkanoo festival tonight. Matt cooked some of the lionfish, so I stopped by and had a few bites. He cooked it with butter, garlic, and passion fruit on top. It was so tasty. Then we had pizza for dinner. The pizza here is amazing, the bread is whole wheat and they don’t put too much sauce on it. I would have to say it is on my top 3 favorite pizzas!

After dinner we all loaded up in a van and headed to Tarpum Bay, which is another settlement about 35 minutes down the island. The festival was great, it was like all the other festivals I have been to here (conch fest, homecoming, and beer fest). Bahamian music, alcohol, and good vibes. We had to leave at 11 to be back on campus by 12, so we missed the junkanoo, but hopefully there will be another one. When we got back we all went swimming in the ocean!

Matt, Zack, Niels, and Justin going free diving

In my element

All the lionfish we caught

The Nurse shark team at the Junkanoo festival

Slacking... sorry!

Sorry I have been slacking lately with this blog... When I say lately, I mean the past 2 weeks. Hopefully I will get some down time today to catch everyone up! Everything is still amazing, and I am still having the time of my life. My time here is becoming shorter, and I am getting sad about it. Stay tuned for more detail about my past two weeks to come!!

Bonefishing- June 12, 2011

I went for a run this morning with Zack. We both almost died, it was so hot today. I looked as if I had just gotten out of the water, completely drenched. We did a little walking during our run, so we didn’t pass out. Once we made it back to the dorms we headed straight for the water. It was so refreshing. I grabbed a float and lay in the water for about 30 minutes. Then it was time for lunch. Which I was super excited about because that meant that it was almost time for bonefishing!!!!

After lunch, I went back to my room and gathered my bonefishing attire and gear. Then I headed to the boat house to load up. Justin was the captain for the afternoon, he is from Freeport, Bahamas. He works on the flats program, really nice kid. Luke also came along. He is here for the summer interning with the flats program. We are in a competition to see who catches their first bonefish. On our way out we picked up Molly’s dad (the girl who used to be a shark intern here, and came to visit on her yacht) and his friend Dave. It was quite the fishing crew. We took the boat over to a place called Poison’s Flats and started our adventure.

Justin walked with me to help me spot the bonefish and talk my through it if I were to catch one. We walked for about 3 hours and only saw 1 bonefish. He said that there used to be large schools on bonefish in this area. Noone caught anything so we headed to Broad creek which apparently always has bonefish. We saw mud, so we poled over and let Andrew (Molly’s dad) have a cast. There was  a large school of them in the mud, but they spooked and left. We didn’t have a successful fishing day, but it was quite an experience. It was awesome just to be out there and see what it is like. I was able to cast while I was walking, so that was nice. Justin said I had a nice cast, he was impressed. Thanks to my grandpa Pop, I didn’t embarrass myself. Here are a few pictures of the bonefishing experience.

The crew

 This is the Intern Crew (Luke, me, and Justin)

Justin poling us around

After dinner, Andrew and Dave invited us over to the yacht to have a beer since we didn’t catch any fish. So, we all headed over there to hang out. We had a few beers before the rest of the crew showed up. We decided to have a bon-fire on the beach that evening. We set it up right on the point looking out from the marina. It was a fun night, but it wasn’t too late of a night because it was the long haul for me tomorrow. I have to do Plum, Deep, and Broad creek in the morning.



Sunrise Beach- June 11, 2011

Everyone was moving a little slow this morning after a long night of dancing! There were not many people who came to breakfast. We had pancakes and granola with yogurt. After breakfast Niels and I were headed out into the field. I did sites that I have not done before. We started at Kemps then went to Powell point which had 4 sites that we had to observe and take measurements. We didn’t see any sharks, just a few people. Powell point is located by the marina, so there are a lot of people. It was extremely hot today and very humid. I ran out of water pretty quick. We made our way back to campus around 12:30 to catch the end of lunch. Today we had pizza, spaghetti, and of course vegetables.

After lunch we sat around for a while until some of the interns decided to go hang out at Sunrise beach for the afternoon. It was such a good day, we all just laid around under little cabanas in paradise. It was exactly what I needed for the afternoon. After we were there for a few hours we decided to go jump in the cut. It is a little canal type structure that runs through the marina. The tide pushes through pretty fast, so you jump in an float down. We jumped off a bridge into the water. I busted out some of my old diving moves from when I used to dive. I busted out some flips, it was fun. It was getting close to dinner time, so we biked back to campus. Katelynne, Zack, and I ate on the rooftop. It was so perfect, like always it took my breath away. I will have to take a picture from up there next time, so you can see the beauty.

After dinner we hung around the octagon for a bit. I was able to skype my mom! I got to talk to Bo, Gaga, Pop, and the dogs. It was so nice! When I came back all the boys decided to go for a float in the water outside the dorms. It was really buggy outside so that was the only way to escape them. We played with the waboba ball, which is a ball that skids across the water. We also had a mixture of cranberry and rum, also known as “crum.” We were all just laughing and having a good time in the water as the sun went down. The moon was so beautiful, it reflected on the water. It was a bit cloudy, but it was still amazing. An intern was in town that used to work on the shark team. She is very wealthy and came over with her dad on a beautiful yacht. About 10 of the interns rode our bikes to the marina and hung out on the boat. It was air conditioned, so we were enjoying that. First time I have felt air conditioning in 11 days. We stayed for a while, mostly talking with her dad. He was a really cool fellow, he grew up in the Bahamas. The boat was so beautiful. Down below there were 3 bedrooms, one king size bed, one queen, and then a bunk room. Upstairs was the kitchen, and living room. It was so beautiful. It made you feel drunk being on the boat because of the rocking. I eventually got used to it and it started to relax me. Later in the evening we rode our bikes back to school, I was accompanied by Matt and Luke, two boys who live in the CEI dorms.

This is the Mac Daddy, the boat we hung out on.

Table Tennis Tournament Day- June 10, 2011

This morning I slept in a little bit, we didn’t have anything too crazy today, so I stayed in bed until 7:30. All the other girls did as well, it was a slow morning. Not to mention it was stormy outside again. Breakfast was oatmeal and delicious bread. I put peanut butter and raisins in my oatmeal, it was so good, I think it is my new favorite way to eat oatmeal. After breakfast Niels and I headed to Paige creek in the rain. Jana and Zack were doing the long haul to Plum, deep, and Broad creek. I felt bad for them because the skies were black, I wouldn’t want to ride all the way out there on bikes and get caught in the storm. We took our measurements at Paige and walked back down the beach to find a total of 5 sharks. We observed the first two for ten minutes, and collected substrate samples. Then we observed the next 3 sharks. They were not very active today. They rested on the bottom the whole time we observed them. We saw a lot of star fish today in the water. It was the first time I have seen them in this area. In between observations, we played with them! Once we were done observing, we headed back to the lab. I entered the data and Niels worked on our homemade net. After I entered the data, I looked up table tennis rules so I would be prepared for tonight’s event! The invitation is so hilarious that Matthew sent out to everyone. Hopefully I can attach it. Today we had spaghetti for lunch, along with vegetables. After lunch there wasn’t much to do, so I tried to catch up on some blogging and just relaxed in the octagon. After a while I decided to go on an adventure run. I went through these crazy paths with trees all around me, luckily I made it out alive. I did my sit ups/beach workout on the sand and headed for the shower. It is time to get ready for the table tennis tournament.

 The tournament in action

This was the bracket... official

We had a good turnout for table tennis; there was probably about 15 people. It was so fun; they had a bracket written out and everything. It was a double elimination, round robin tournament. We all had nicknames too, mine was Hayden the Maiden. After the tournament we had a banquet to go to, it was the end of the year party. Basically everyone lets loose and celebrates the work they have done for the semester. I got to see the Maxey’s; they were there for a little bit. There was delicious food, they had conch, ribs, chicken, a beautiful fruit platter, and some other things. During the banquet they gave out recoginition to people who were interning and helping out for the semester. Then it turned into a giant dance party at the boat house. It was an eventful evening!

The crew chowing down on some delicious food

The dance party at the boat house