As we wind down our last 4 days here on San Salvador :-(, we woke up to our favorite breakfast of pancakes and bacon to start our day here at the Gerace Research Centre. After breakfast the second half of students waiting for the exciting boat ride were unfortunately informed, we鈥檇 have to postpone the trip again due to heavy wind this time instead of the usual rain conditions, fingers crossed for Monday morning! Thankfully this gave us time to work on our final projects at some local sites where the wind and waves are less intense. We split up and one group went to Bonefish Bay and the rest of us collected our data at Government Dock. As lunchtime approached the groups at Government Dock enjoyed a nice walk back to the GRC along the beach followed by a small pickup basketball match before we enjoyed a delicious meal of tuna salad or egg salad sandwiches or the choice of some cold-cuts along with some fresh chicken-noodle soup.
After lunch, the entire class took a trip out to Snapshot Reef. There were two research groups today gathering data at this site while the other groups were enjoying a fun snorkel. We called it a little earlier than planned due to the research groups gathering substantial data in a shorter amount of time than predicted. We got back to the GRC with plenty of time to shower and relax before dinner. Today鈥檚 dinner was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and roasted carrots. It was delicious! With little over an hour before we had to present our organism projects, students were making some last-minute changes and running through their presentations. The class was presented with three presentations about Corals and Anemones, Arthropods and Echinoderms, and Molluscs and Annelids. Once presentations were finished, our professors laid out the schedule for tomorrow and reminded us of what needs to be done for final research presentations. That was our day today at the GRC and thank you for following along!
Connor鈥檚 Reflection:
Coming into this trip I was very excited to be a part of such an amazing experience with my peers which some happen to be my best friends and I was excited to make memorable times and make new connections with everyone on this trip. From the stressful beginnings with travel plans changing to finally making it to the Island, laughing and learning with everyone here has made it feel easy and relaxed in all the stressful times. When we arrived on the island being born and raised in south Florida luckily enough has prepared me well for the conditions we have experienced like the extreme heat and all the bugs making that half of the trip more bearable. Being able to experience the island life like my grandfather who lived in Bermuda and stepdad who grew up in the Florida Keys who have unfortunately passed away has been one of the best experiences of my life and I just know they鈥檙e looking down on me proud of the challenges I鈥檝e overcame and all the progress I鈥檝e been making in my time here. If it weren鈥檛 for them along with my family trips to Emerald Isle with my father, I wouldn鈥檛 have such a love for the ocean as I do today and I鈥檓 so happy I get to learn so much about the marine life. Each day presents a new question or challenge that we find the answer to or overcome and doing it as a group has made it so much more enjoyable and brought us all closer. As my classmates count down the days excited to get back to their air-conditioned homes it makes me sad every time, I hear the number getting smaller and smaller. I have learned so much during my time here at GRC and can easily identify most of the organisms found from the plants to fish to all the little crabs and worms found on the reefs, also, I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever forget the scientific names of the algae鈥檚 we have encountered.
Kelsey鈥檚 Reflection:
I first knew about this program my freshman year at Wittenberg. There was a poster in the hallway of the science building advertising it. Ever since then I was set on making sure I could be a part of this program someday. I am fortunate and lucky enough to say that I have officially made and almost completed this trip of a lifetime. From a very young age I knew I wanted to work with the ocean in some form and I discovered the title of marine biologist. I鈥檓 happy to say that this trip has only increased my passion and made me excited for the future. There鈥檚 so much I鈥檝e learned from memorizing fish identification to planning and performing my own experiment in the field. I鈥檝e gained useful skill that I know will help me in my career. Aside from the course, I couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better group to experience this trip with, from professors to students. They鈥檝e all been there for me in someway this trip whether they know it or not. As a group, we鈥檝e become close friends, and I can鈥檛 wait to see how that progresses into the upcoming fall. I鈥檓 sad the program is coming to an end but I鈥檓 so appreciative that it happened. I would do this program again in a heartbeat.
-Connor Blake 鈥�25 and Kelsey Ragan 鈥�25