After one night back on campus to swap stories and modes of transportation, Summer Term headed back out into the field to explore Eleuthera by kayak and van.
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Cacique Update: Reflections on Kayak and Solo
The following cacique update was written by Miya and Henry as they reflected on their experience on the 3 day kayak/ solo trip. This week, the Island School campus (and blogosphere) is quiet as Summer Term is off on expedition. Miya and Henry dropped off this post in between trips.
The silvery light dances along the water, gracing the gentle waves with its ethereal beams of lights. The sky around the almost perfectly round moon radiates a soft white glow. The wind gently whispers through the trees, accompanied by the calming chirping of more insects than I could count in a lifetime. Our solos varied greatly, some capturing a magical day that can never be forgotten, some a demanding challenge, and all of the places between. The past three days marks a number of firsts for me. I have never been away from people for an entire day. I have never slept away from my bed as long as our three-day kayak and solo trip.
Our escapade began with a lengthy kayak journey against the winds and currents to Red Bay with a brief stop at Broad creek for lunch – a preferential place for me, as it is one of our research sites for the Flats team. After arriving, we set up camp and cooked some delicious homemade pizzas, with Bazl’s onion, peppers, and cheese mountain of goodness taking home the first place prize in my humble opinion. The next day went by in a blur for me – the legendary solos. Twenty-four hours of time to put our tarps, food, sleeping bags, dromedaries, bug nets, and minds to good use. John Schatz collected us in the morning, bleary eyed and slightly mosquito bitten in some cases, and led a brief circle of reflection on our respective days. The remainder of our day involved a much easier and briefer paddle with the wind back past school (and a blue hole) to the picturesque white sand and turquoise water of the sandbars just offshore of campus, where we enjoyed a well earned lunch of PB&J Tacos. After a short trip back to school and a frenzy of unpacking, cleaning the boats, and showering, we reunited with the other half of the class that had returned from their Down Island Road Trip, which we leave for tomorrow morning.
Can You Spot the Mutton Snapper?
[slideshow]Here’s another installment of “spot the mutton” sent to us by an IS Alum:
Brandon Gell (Island School Fall 2010) recently climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, with his sister and father. Brandon brought Island School stickers to place along the climb. The first picture is a sticker on a rescue hut at about 15,000 feet; the second picture is of Brandon with an Island School sticker in the background at Uhuru peak, 19,340 feet, the highest point in Africa!
For more information about Brandon’s experience, visit this site.
Congratulations Brandon!
Bahamian Apprentice Spotlight: Perry Forbes
Perry Forbes is from Wemyss Bight and is a student at St. John’s University in Minnesota. His major is environmental management, and he is back at CEI this year to participate in the Apprentice Programme. He shares his thoughts on working at the Cape Eleuthera Island School below:
My name is Perry Forbes and I am currently in the summer apprenticeship at the Island School. I am working in the boat house under Jessie Pearce who runs the boat house. In the three short weeks of working with him I have learned how to perform basic of maintenance on boats, how to inspect and repair SCUBA equipment, as well as how to drive boats the correctly.
In addition to working in the boat house I also work with the educational programmes at the school. When working in this department I would usually give tours to parents and their children, supervise and be an active part of summer camps, as well as informing children about their environmental responsibilities.
Lionfish, Lionfish, Ra-ra-ra!…Lionfish, Lionfish, Ha-ha-ha!
Have you ever been face to face with one of the ocean’s top predators? They lie in wait, camouflaged spines from head to tail, eyeing any oblivious fish that swims by so they can extend their protrusible jaws and feast. This striking fish has been spotted several times this week by the lionfish research group. Fortunately for us, these lionfish hover harmlessly over the patch reefs as we conduct our research.
Our project explores how currents affect the distribution of lionfish on the patch reefs in Rock Sound. Earlier this week, we took a boat out to a high-current location. The water was too strong for our flippered feet, and we had to bail, go back to campus, and practice using transects near the docks. Transects are like tape measures that we will be using to find the dimensions of patch reefs in Rock Sound.
The next few days were much more successful. In mid-strength current, it was much more enjoyable to snorkel and free dive around patch reefs. We measured seven randomly selected reefs and returned to the middle-sized reef on Thursday for more research.
CEI 83, the lucky patch reef, was invaded by divers, snorkelers, and forty-eight clod cards. Cinder blocks with the clod cards attached were placed around the reef to measure the speed of the current. After all our hard work, we surveyed the location for lionfish. After coming to a consensus of eight lionfish, our research group headed back to campus. There, we cleaned up our SCUBA gear and began preparing for tomorrow’s exciting day of research!
Best “fishes”!
The Lionfish Team:
Denali, Corey, Kate, Taylor, and Mackenzie
Godspeed K1!
[slideshow]Kayak and Down Island Trip rotations are in full-swing this week at The Island School. On Monday morning the first group of kayakers left Cow Pointe on their three-day paddling excursion, while the rest of the summer term students piled into two vans to head down island. Each group will be out until Wednesday and on Thursday they’ll swap paddles for vans and vice-versa.
Cacique Update: July 6th
[slideshow]The following is a Cacique update written by Maggie and Bazl from Wednesday, July 6th.
7:30 in the morning, the girls woke up and looked out the window to an unusual sight, especially for a Wednesday sleep in day. All the girls swarmed to the deck to cheer on (and laugh at) the boys as they pushed a 12-passenger van through the parking lot. This van wasn’t broken; this was just a small part of the intense disciplinary workout that had been taking place for the last half hour. This workout included running in the woods, climbing a sandy mountain, giving 100-200 pound guys piggy back rides, doing overhead lifts with 40 pound rock, and lots of other ‘fun’ stuff. As tough as this workout was, it left the guys full of energy and ready to face another day at the Island School.
After breakfast, we went on an exciting dive to Cathedral for Human Ecology class. Cathedral is a beautiful maze of reefs 55 feet below the water, with an incredible variety of gorgeous sea life. Swimming through and around these incredible sights was humbling. As we floated weightlessly through the water, we saw stingrays, heard Stoplight Parrotfish munching on coral, and watched Queen Angelfish swam majestically around us. As we ascended, flying fish greeted us at the surface, and everyone agreed that the dive ended all too soon.
After an awesome lunch, we headed out to our research groups for an equally enjoyable time. Though classes taking place in the water were ended early, due to a lightning storm, it was still an exciting time. Everyone cheered as the refreshing rain hit their faces; the perfect way to end a day.
Cacique Update, July 7th
[slideshow]The following is the Cacique Updated for the 7th of July, written by your water-conscious caciques, Mackenzie and Tiffani.
Water. We all need it, yet some people have to walk an average of four miles each day just to get this for their families. This fact was brought to The Island School students’ attention this morning during exercise. As a group, we had to carry a five-gallon bottle of water around a four-mile loop.
Water was definitely an important topic of discussion today, especially during human ecology. Students learned about where the freshwater we use on campus comes from (rain), and we were encouraged to think about where we get our water at home. Also, the Marina, usually popular for its air conditioning and expensive junk food, was explored in a new way as students spoke with the reverse osmosis operations manager, Dan, about how freshwater is provided for the resort.
We also had the chance to speak to our Sustainability and Systems Director, Geoff. He explained to eager students the complexities of how the school uses energy on campus. Our solar panels and wind generator supply the main sources of energy. Excess energy can be sold to residents of Eleuthera as an alternative to diesel based electricity that is common on the island.
After lunch, students refocused on the water during their respective research. The excited sharks team went back to work as they visited a new environment. Beginning the day’s research at Poison Flats, the team trod cautiously on what we like to call “death rock.” Remaining true to its name, the eroded limestone shore created a brittle and jagged surface that made carrying equipment a dangerous activity. Our efforts were rewarded as we successfully caught a healthy juvenile lemon shark.
The lionfish research group, toting bricks and SCUBA tanks, headed out to patch reef CEI 83 to set out clod cards. These devices are vital for measuring current speeds around the reef. Three people tied the plaster clod cards securely to the bricks. Teams of divers lugged the bricks out to the patch reef and arranged the clods at predetermined locations to measure the current most effectively. Our hard work was rewarded by a relaxing dive spent surveying CEI 83 for lionfish; eight were spotted floating calmly above the coral.
Research groups returned to campus just in time to sign out and explore the Island. Some students biked out to High Rock to snorkel around the caves and others enjoyed a nice jog around the Loop. Those content with the day’s work spent the afternoon relaxing in the common room or catching up on homework.
As an end to the productive day, students were treated to chocolate cake, courtesy of Molly’s parents. Thanks for giving us energy for tomorrow’s possibilities!
Cacique Update, July 5th
The following is a Cacique update written by Blake and Joe from Tuesday, July 5th:
Although our day began with an exhausting run-swim, the greatest challenged we faced today was learning the harsh reality of how our food is processed in the United States. At The Island School, the core question that has defined our summer term is “How do we live well in a place?” Throughout the summer, our daily experiences have helped to shape our answers to that question. Today was no exception.
For those of us who had Human Ecology in the morning, we began our informative class by visiting the Island School farm. Our challenge of the day was to clip the wings off of the ducks to prevent them from flying away from the farm. I admit that this task was not an easy one. As students entered the squalid pen, ducks became alarmed by our intrusion into their home, scrambling to break away. One by one, we clipped their feathers, while leaving the first two feathers on each side. As I cut the feathers off of each of the ducks, I began to question my sense of morality.
During the afternoon, the second group of human ecology got the chance to have a very similar experience in the aquaponics lab. As I stared into the murky brown water of the tank, I could see nothing, yet was still being urged on to catch these fish that were apparently in there. As I put my net down and pulled it up, sure enough there was a thrashing tilapia in my net and I very quickly put in the bucket. As we progressed to the lab, we experienced the cleaning of the fish, which was needless to say fascinating to see how we get our food. I was eating an animal that was alive a mere 30 minutes ago. Fresh, to say the least. The experience of seeing my food before my eyes be cut up into a meal, made me appreciate The Island School’s approach of locally and sustainably having food at our fingertips. However, I would learn later in the day that not all our food was like this. I realized that the handling of animals at The Island School was far more ethical than that on big American corporal farms. Our exposure to the local farm led us into watching the informative documentary of Food, Inc.
I couldn’t believe what I was watching on the screen. Only minutes ago, I was on the local Island School farm where animals had enough space to roam, could eat food that was free of chemicals and hormones, and could gaze towards the beaming sun. In the farms, animals were fed chemicals that allowed them to grow twice as big as their usual size. The animals were packed into dark, cramped rooms so they would be able to lay more eggs. The humanness of The Island School farm was no reality for the majority of the animals harvested in our country’s commercial farms that we consume in our daily diet. A few huge companies have monopolized the food industries, affecting the lives of poorer families. Minorities are more likely to contract diabetes because they cannot afford to buy healthy food and instead have resorted to fast food. Only a day ago, I was celebrating the birth of a country that represented the land of the free, yet many citizens struggle from the injustices of the food industry. As I watched the movie, my mind turned the question “How do we live well?”
Living well is questioning where our food comes from. Living well is conserving our intake of animals, so we can receive only enough to satiate our needs. Living well is respecting the animals in our surrounding environment. Living well is eating locally. I hope that humans, as we are at The Island School, can learn to live sustainably in a world of balance and respect.
Cacique Update, July 4th
The following is the Cacique Update for Monday, July 4, as written by Ary and Sam.
Sometime during David Miller’s interpretive dance of Don’t Stop Believing I realized that this place really was unlike any other school. Unlike schools back home, the Island School is a place that encourages individuality, sustainability and independence. In order to do this, students are taken on field trips around the community where they are encouraged to talk to locals and pay attention to how the community works together so the individuals can survive. Today we went and toured a local farm in order to see where all our food comes from. This was part of our Human Ecology study of systems. Seeing how hard these farmers have to work in order to feed a small portion of the local community helped us realize that in order for a community to be sustainable, all of the citizens have to work together. Observing how he cared for his animals and realizing that this potentially feeds us at Island School made all of the students stop and realize how challenging the food industry truly is.
The festivities for Fourth of July started with Coffee House, a talent show where students, mentors and teachers are encouraged to share any talents they have with the rest of the community. There were many talented acts ranging from sonnet recitation to standup comedy, and everywhere in between. The festivities continued after Coffee House when everybody went to the dining hall to get brownies before proceeding down to the beach to watch the fireworks.
As the wind blew the sparks across the sky, we all huddled tightly together on the beach enjoying the show. Staring up at the lit up night sky, surrounded by our new friends, we couldn’t help but feel the essence of family. Although, we might not have been with our real families celebrating our Independence Day traditions, the Island School started to feel like home.