At the crack of dawn we crawled out of bed, strapped on our helmets, and headed out on a bike/run trip. Our final destination is known as The High Rock. It was a two mile trek both ways, and we each partnered up with a buddy for the day. While one buddy was biking, the other would run, and when either of them got tired, they would switch. When we arrived at The High Rock, we were greeted by towering limestone cliffs, and towering waves crashing against the shore. Our leader, Alex, told us that we were all about to consummate the rite of passage for all Island School students and jump off the cliff. One by one, we took the plunge and catapulted ourselves off the 20 foot drop into the ocean. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!
After eating a hearty meal of bacon and french toast, we traveled to the presentation room to watch the Island School student's research presentation. We watched presentation after presentation, eight in total, in which they presented on a variety of topics: deep-water shark, reef surveys, biodigestion, aquaponics, and many more. After the presentations we were invited to have coffee and brownies and explore their symposium, where we had the opportunity to ask them any further questions we had.
We then ate lunch, and soon after took a tour of the Aquaponics lab. Aquaponics is the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture: they farm fish as well as grow food with their waste. There we saw a variety of things, spanning from Cobia (fish) being raised to be released into the Island School's specialized Aquaculture cage, to the effect of environmental factors on Bonefish.
After that, we had a lesson with Mr. Wilson about water, its basic properties, its draw backs, and its environmental impacts.
During exploration time, Aaron, Cailin, Colleen and I traveled to the Marina yet again on my desperate search for sharks. I pedaled as fast as I could to the docks, dropped my bike, and sprinted to the docks. Our eyes were desperately scanning the water, and after the shark talk last night, I had a gut feeling that today would be the day I finally saw my shark. Who would know that we ended up seeing FIVE SHARKS! :) I was totally ecstatic after spotting the first one swimming under the dock, and then they just all started coming out of nowhere. We saw small nurse sharks and even saw a 7 foot bull shark!
The main event of the day came after dinner, where we had the privilege to attend the settlement of Greencastle's homecoming. A homecoming is when the people of the settlement celebrate the arrival of those who came back from working in the States. Basically, homecoming is a huge festival with LOTS of dancing and delicious food. I, personally, found the conch fritters delicious. Yummmmmmy. We all danced into the night among the Island School Students and natives of Greencastle. It we definitely the best part of our day!
At the end of the day we each decided to pass the task of Kasik onto Ryan and Becca!
We'll keep you posted! :)
Love,
Sara and Arman
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