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March 31, 2022

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 creatures that we had studied back in the classroom and you could sense the high amounts of joy in the group!

For our afternoon coral reef excursion, we took a boat from the boathouse and headed back in the direction of 4^th hole cove, but this time we explored coral reefs significantly further from shore. We started at Something to Sea, a 10-foot deep reef. The diversity of fish was stunning; we saw parrotfish, a lionfish, sergeant majors, a queen angel fish, a scorpionfish, doctorfish, french grunts, yellowtail mojarras, and so much more. We also got to practice snorkeling techniques that we will be using for the rest of the trip. We then went to Cathedral, a large rock covered in coral in much deeper water. We loved to float over the deep water and seeing how this large rock attracted so much life. It was beautiful.

It was incredibly valuable for us to see how these organisms interacted with the reefs in real life. We got a sense for how the ecological system worked together and how important the reefs were as habitats for these organisms. After having made field guide entries in preparation for the trip, we had the skills to identify many of the fish we saw, which was very exciting. It was especially exhilarating to see the fish or organism that we researched ourselves; for example, Bianca saw her gold and purple colored Fairy Basslet, and Meredith got a glimpse of her Nassau Grouper. After seeing an organism that they couldn’t identify, students were excited to go back and look it up in a field guide. We were excited to learn to observe defining characteristics and behaviors of these fishes in real life!

Our student leaders (every day we have two student leaders) led us through a sun salutation before dinner, and read the quote of the day (today’s was from the play Aracadia). After dinner, we got a presentation about land crabs from Bill, one of the few people researching these crabs in the world. His presentation was incredibly informative and engaging; he taught us about the ecological role of these crabs, the different types of crab, their significance for the local culture and economy, and his research. He emphasized that it is important to do science with a purpose in mind, not just for science’s sake. For example, it is important to know the different species to understand when one species is declining and how we play a role in their population. It was inspiring for us to see him so passionate about his research, and we had many questions about the crabs and his experience as a scientist. After his presentation, we went out into the dark forest to search for some crabs. We didn’t end up seeing any (probably because it was dry and the crabs like moisture because it helps them breathe through their gills) but it was really fun to climb through the bushes with our flashlights trying to find crabs. There were a few times when we all turned off our flashlights and stood silently together, looking up at the brilliant stars or peering through the velvety darkness. Bill had many fun stories from his field research, giving us an idea of what it life as a scientist is like. We learned a ton from him about crabs, science, and interconnectivity.

Meredith is writing part of this blog, and I have been really excited to see a bunch of cool birds as well! I did some research and sketching of Bahamian birds in preparation, and have identified a lot of birds that are new to me! For the birders that are interested, I’ve seen night-herons, Bahama mockingbirds, Bahama woodstars, killdeer, a greater Antillean bullfinch, a bananaquit (maybe), terns, osprey, ruddy turnstones, common ground doves, laughing gulls, a green heron, and a northern mockingbird. Having the background knowledge from my bird prep gives me a similar exhilaration as my classmates are having as they recognize fish from their research.