On Tuesday, I had the privilege of welcoming the 2014 Sacred Heart University field course. With students from several universities, I’m thrilled to have this group, led by Dr. Yeater, on Bimini for the next 13 days. I hope you enjoy reading their field reports! -Kel
As we all met and chatted during our layover in Fort Lauderdale, it gave us a chance to get to each other. We hail from Sacred Heart University, Eckerd, Delaware Valley College, UNCONN, Rutgers, Wheaton, and Skidmore. Our small plane ride from FL to Bimini was a new experience for us; walking out to the plane, the shake of the plane and the brief flight were all definitely new. We could see the stretch of land that was Bimini so quickly, then poof, we were on the ground.
As we were exploring, it hit us: this is just one straight road, stretching for miles. When we are standing on the 3rd for our hotel, you can see the ocean on one side – turn your head and see the ocean on the other side. The island is so narrow. And the color of the water: we’d never seen water this color of aqua; it’s a kaleidoscope of aqua throughout the day!
We spent some time practicing our snorkeling skills off the beach and we were impressed by how many fish we could see just so close to shore, including a very friendly triggerfish and some cool crabs. The buoyancy factor was fun – just floating in the salt water with our snorkel gear. We saw conch shells everywhere – on land and in the sea. It is amazing. There were also small abandoned shipwrecks. We got to meet Captain Al; he gave us snorkeling tips and then was behind the grill for our BBQ dinner. We were all so tired from our long day of travel and first day in the sun that we crashed pretty soon after dinner!
What will tomorrow bring?
“Cetacean Nation” (SHU 2014)