K1 headed out for their 8-day kayak expedition on Monday. Here they are, just moments before their departure…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cH_XkaRxzc&feature=youtu.be
Tag Archives: Spring 2012
Cacique Council Video: Week 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAZYU5LU0qQ&feature=youtu.be
What’s Your Favorite Thing About Easter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjsq5qVGKMQ&feature=youtu.be
Lionfish Research Project Update: The First Week
The first week of research was a big week for the Lionfish research project. We oriented ourselves to our goals, methods, and systems. We discussed what an invasive species means, the invasion of lionfish, their life cycles, and their anatomy. On Thursday, we dissected lionfish in the lab. Our project began with learning external anatomy, including how to prevent lionfish stings. Next cut their bellies and look into the internal anatomy. We saw their key organs, and even their super stretch stomach that makes them such a successful predator. I found it especially interesting when we opened their stomach; we identified their stomach contents. This is especially significant because we identified their stomach contents to determine which species were suffering due to lionfish predation. I really enjoyed our dissection. The following week was our first field day. We went diving on a reef and practiced protocol for surveying a particular reef. The group was really excited to begin their work and get in the water. Stay tuned for new updates from the Lionfish research project!
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Conch Research Project Update: Our First Day in the Field
by Amelia Patsalos-Fox, Shane Wetmore, Sterling Wright
On Saturday we went out to free dive for conch in the shallows near the sandbar to see how many adults we could find. It was a nice first experience for us and it taught us how to find conch even when they are camouflaged in the sand. For the past week we have been focusing on queen conch identification, history of the conch fishery, and ways to survey the population effectively. Our most exciting experience so far has been in the field. We were able to travel out into Cape Eleuthera Sound and take our first peek at some conch. As we snorkeled around, we practiced our free diving and determining live queen conch from dead shells. We mostly saw juveniles and a few sub-adult sizes. We then gathered in a group in the water to practice identifying differences between juvenile and sexually mature conch shells. This was very helpful in learning about the shells. It was extremely hands on and we had the help of a visiting conch researcher, Catherine Booker, from Community Conch, a Bahamian non-profit organization. She had given us a presentation previously on conch in the Bahamas and it was amazing to see her teach us about proper ways spot conch. All in all it was a positive experience and was very helpful towards our future in surveying the density of conchs in the Cape Eleuthera Bite.
[slideshow]
The following week we were able to go out and start experimenting with collecting real data. Our project hopes to identify Continue reading
The First Days
Over the next couple of days we will be featuring short narratives written by each of our forty-nine new students in the spring 2012 class. Enjoy these personal, inspirational, exciting, and sometimes surprising glimpses into what its like to be an Island School student, week 1.
Amelia Patsalos-Fox: Originally preparing to come to the island school, I was under the impression that giving up my cell phone, Facebook, and all other plugged in devices would be extremely challenging for me. In fact, though I still find myself out of habit, reaching for my telephone, this part of the experience has been the most fulfilling yet. As my Human Ecology class sat up on the deck tonight, examining the beautiful Caribbean stars, someone pointed out that the simple difference between a star and a planet is that stars twinkle and planets do not. The utter amazement in the faces of all my peers caught my attention. I started to think about why each and every person was able to take that simple fact and truly absorb and recognize the value of it. The conclusion I came to was that we were each able to do this because not one person had their cell phone out, checking Facebook. Not one person needed to communicate with a friend to talk about a spot to meet, or the latest piece of gossip. There was no materialism attached to our session on the roof and without the plug in and utter distraction of the plugged in Internet and outside world, each of us was able to appreciate and ponder the tiniest fact, which we will continue to do as we proceed through the next three months.
Felipe Gomez: When I heard I was in the dish crew, I was very disappointed. Continue reading