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 Day 4 (3/30) ---   By Aiden and Tanvi This morning started off a tad later than usual meaning that we could sleep in until 7:45 instead of 6:45. However, not everyone took advantage of this luxury – DJ, Gabby, Ezana, Olivia, Jack, Abby, and Bianca went on an early morning run (four miles at a staggering pace). Then, breakfast: superb pancakes on the island. After fueling up for the day, we were onto learning about the robust aquaponics system – a crucial element of an initiative to maintain a sustainable campus. The aquaponics system grows all the herbs and lettuce used in the kitchen. With this system, they are able to use 100 times less water than traditional agriculture. Here, they grow Tilapia at the school and the waste from the fish is nitrogen-rich, so they cycle that water through grow beds. The lettuce is planted onto rafts so that the roots can float in the nitrogen-rich water. We had a hands-on lesson on how this whole process works, planting lettuce seeds and harvesting th

  Day 3 (3/29) from Eleuthera Island -- By Meredith and Ezana  Hello again from Eleuthera, Our third full day on the island was by far the most water intensive day so far. We started off the day bright and early at 6:45, playing beach volleyball for our morning exercise as the golden sun rose over the striking horizon. We then had breakfast, which consisted of muffins, oatmeal, and grapefruit, and got ready for a day filled with coral reef exploration. For our morning coral reef exploration, we headed up-island to 4 th hole cove. It is called 4 th hole cove because it is the locations of the 4 th hole of the golf course of the failed resort. We had a lesson on coral polyps (their biology, ecological role, anatomy, and how they are threatened), then we entered the water. We slowly and carefully swam through the shallow waters for about 100 feet until we reached the coral reef and then made a loop around the reef before heading back to shore. On this trip we saw many of the exciting

 Day 2 (3/28) in Bahamas  Greetings from Eleutrera,                Today was another jam-packed day out here, we started our morning out with a 6:45 AM snorkel on the beach right out our back doors. We went out just a little ways to explore a shipwreck and saw stingrays and many other new fish firsthand. Afterwards, we went to breakfast and then re-convened to take a DAY TRIP to visit one of the many mangrove forests on the island. Our first stop was at a creek where we learned about the different types of mangroves (red, black, and white) and their key identifiers. We then waded up a fast-moving creek and floated on our bellies downstream and saw many new fish including a baby barracuda and a juvenile lemon shark.               After a field lunch (sandwiches) we waded through another mangrove forest during an incredibly low tide and sunk into some black mud. Fun fact, when black mud from near a black mangrove tree is turned up from the ground, it smells like sulfur so you can on

 Day 1 (3/27) in Island School, Bahamas  By Abby and Zoe and  Our first full day on the Cape of Eleuthera was leisurely and relaxing­. We had a late start, waking up at 7:15am (4:15am Seattle time), and then jumped right into our day. We had a filling breakfast of cornflakes and milk facing the beautiful aqua ocean, in which we swam just a few minutes later for a swim check (all of passed with ease). We were led on a comprehensive tour of the Cape Eleuthera Institute and Island School campuses, including special stops at the Poo-Poo Garden, aquaponics research station, pig pen, boathouse, and recycling/processing center. After a hearty lunch, we learned a bit about the island’s recent history – a failed resort from the 1980s that was torn down after putting the owner hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. We were lucky to explore the ruins that remain, where nature has begun to take over once again. At the end of our long journey, we had the chance to get back in the turquoise Caribb