by Caciques Ellen and Zeke

Zeke:

During exploration time today, the waters at High Rock and Fourth Hole were a little less than nice to those of us who decided to take snorkeling trips there. Before brunch, a group of us from the boys’ dorm went to high rock for a snorkel. After being tossed around by the waves for a few minutes, we were soon chased out by the lighting we saw offshore and biked back to school, a little disappointed.

After brunch Erik Canfield and I took a trip to Fourth Hole to see if the octopus we had spotted earlier was still in his den. We couldn’t even find the den, and great deal of our time braving yet more waves that were trying to “turn us into chowder.” We didn’t see too much there, due to the water’s murkiness, so we headed back to school to try our luck at Boy’s Dorm Beach. The water was much calmer there, enabling me to get some great photos with my SeaLife camera. [slideshow]

On this trip, we came across a yellow stingray that appeared to be trapped in a fisherman’s cage. Continue reading →

by Cacique Claire

The day started off with Bizarro tracks. So the students who usually swim, ran and the runners swam. The runners took on the challenge of swimming up the current towards the bridge by the Marina quarter mile down the road from school, while the swimmers ran the four mile inner loop. After breakfast and chores we all had math, then history class. In math we had a Harkness discussion on new possible ways to rotate which cisterns we pull from in order to conserve more water. In History we continued our discussion on race and the role it’s played in History and current-day culture. After lunch everyone headed out into the field for research.

It was a windy day for research here on Eleuthera. The queen conch research team went out after lunch to do density surveys in the sound. Everyone got there gear and piled into our boat, the Bonita and headed out to our research site. Everyone got their gear on and jumped into the waves. We spread thirty meter ‘transects’ or lines, from three sides of the boats, then swim along them and collect the conch we see, to weigh and measure. Everyone was very excited to get into the water. Annie and I were buddies and fearlessly jumped into the water first. When I opened my eyes behind my goggles under the water I Continue reading →

An Update Poem By Caciques Harrison & Katie T.

Each morning we wipe sleep from our eyes

For daily with the sun we rise

Round the flagpole, morning dew

As the day begins to brew

Lift up your head to the rising sun

Echoes, uniting us as one Continue reading →

by Caciques Tessa and James

As we do every Wednesday, we began our day with a relaxing sleep-in. Today half of the students spent a long period in Marine Ecology, while others spent it in Human Ecology. Over the past few weeks in Human Ecology, we have been focusing on ecosystems and agriculture, both marine and terrestrial. Today I had to the chance to see and experience the agriculture right here on campus. For the first half of class I was at the Aquaponics center  at CEI. We caught, weighed and filleted Tilapia that we will be eating for dinner on Friday. I was nervous to handle the fish, but I gave it a shot and helped scale a few fish. After this we moved over to the garden and farm on campus. At the garden we planted some tomatoes and helped fix the drip irrigation system. Josh showed us the most practical way to grow tomatoes in a climate like this one. It was interesting to see the behind the scenes work that goes into our food. Here at The Island School, one thing we struggle with is keeping our food local; both of these systems were put in place as an effort to become more self-reliant. At the end of a long day of classes, we were all surprised by a big load of mail, to lift our spirits!

by Tessa

A cascade of bubbles erupted from my regulator as I knelt down on the sandy bottom. I slowly looked around, surveying my environment, as I always do at the beginning of a dive. Peter gathered us together and gestured that we would be touring Cathedral for a short period before we broke off and studied the reef. We followed him, trying to feel as graceful and nonchalant as the thousands of fish around us. Continue reading →

by Caciques Lincoln Zweig and Jamie Perritt

Today was a long day of classes. The day started off with two intense workouts. The runners ran an extended loop and the swimmers swam sprint interval loops off of girl’s dorm beach. After these workouts we had a wonderful breakfast, as usual! After a morning packed with invigorating harkness discussions about race in America and the Bahamas we ate lunch. Twas great. Today marked the midterm of research. Each research group presented to each others teachers and advisors. The presentations were wonderful. Every single research group did an astounding job. We were finally able to learn about other groups projects and their goals for the rest of the semester. Each project was thoughtful and well rehearsed. This was one of the first times we have seen each other in such a formal environment. We look forward to hearing more about hearing about the final stages of the research process at parents weekend and beyond. It was a magnificent day.