With towels and yoga mats, we started our morning on top of the dining hall with the "sun salutation" and the sound of the ocean in the background. While some people struggled to touch their toes, others were able to stand on their heads with incredible balance. It was a start to a great day.
After a breakfast of grits, poached eggs, toast, and grapefruit, we gathered our snorkel gear in preparation for an afternoon spent in the water, among fish and coral. After having just learned about different species in class, it was exciting to see the fish and plant life that we had just discussed, in their natural habitat.
We spent the morning at "Fourth Hole", a location previously a golf course, among hundreds of juvenile fish and colorful corals. Many of us were excited to follow around a 5 foot barracuda, see an octopus, a stingray, queen angelfish, eels, and squirrel fish. The reef provided an opportunity to get 'up close and personal' with the animals we had just seen on power-point slides.
Discovering a flat tire, we were forced to make shuttle runs back to CEI with our remaining functional van. Everyone got back just in time for a lunch of stir fry, barley, black bean soup, and salad. With full stomachs, we made our way over to the boathouse to listen to Mike, a shark intern. Everyone, especially Sara (aka: Shark Bait) was excited to learn about Sharks, and get to see them. We leared about the sharks anatomy (they don't have bones), as well as the ongoing research projects at CEI to investigate these apex predators. Equipped with a bucket filled with dead fish, we made our way down to the marina, hoping to lure sharks to the ledge. Within minutes of tossing raw fish into the water, nurse sharks swarmed at our feet, dangling over the edge of the dock. They lingered around the area in a group of eight or nine, ranging from about 60 - 160 pounds. They consumed the fish quickly, and with a vacuum like noise. Some of us (brave Hawken students) leaned over the edge, dangling face first over the circling sharks, clinging to a piece of fish. Aaron went first after Mike's example, and was inches away from a Nurse shark's mouth. I (Colleen) went next, Sara holding my ankles as I leaned over the edge. I would love to be able to say that I fed a shark, bu t sadly, as it came up to the surface with a loud sucking sound and opened its mouth, I threw the bait at it's head. Still, a success.
After the walk back from the Marina, we were given a lesson on coral reefs, and the organisms that we had seen earlier in the morning. We discussed the fragility of reefs, their limitations, biodiversity, and their advantages in an ecosystem. Following a long period of note taking, we split up for "exploration time". With a relaxing 45 minute break, we were all ready for dinner. Lasagna and garlic bread has never tasted so good. Even Sara and Cailin enjoyed it, while being "under siege" of a moth. (There was some screaming involved).
We came back to the Octagon and discussed the impact of oil in our daily lives. Afterwards, we watched a movie on Cuba's response to an energy crisis, following the fall of the Soviet Union.
My night ended, with Danny turning to me and asking, "would you mind, if i farted?"... Did any Ohioans hear it all the way from the Bahamas? (It was loud, and happened repeatedly..). (Oh yeah, Aaron was a bit gassy too, and got rejected from his room. Guess it's all the beans???) We've obviously all gotten pretty close :)
Another successful day in the sunny Bahamas. (We're all really tan)
Goodnight! :)
<3 Colleen and Danny
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