Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to have Nicole back on Bimini and we’ve been busy the last few days prepping for our field course with Sacred Heart University. The group arrived on Friday 2 June and will be here until Thursday 8 June. So, all the DCP blogs will be written by them – Enjoy!
-Kel
On Friday, we all woke early in order to begin our journeys to Bimini – in fact, Colin started his trip Thursday night, from California! The SHU students traveled in different groups from the Northeast, finding each other along the way or in Fort Lauderdale. The group was scheduled to travel to Bimini together, but unfortunately an airline snafu left Jamie and Victoria stuck in Fort Lauderdale! The rest of us continued on to Bimini while Jamie and Victoria settled in for the night.
For some of us, this was the first prop plane we’d ever been on. And as they were going over the emergency protocol, we chuckled as there was no one sitting in the exit row. Some of our concerns about the small plane were calmed when we knew we were “only” flying at 5000 ft! We enjoyed the view of the blue ocean and then were pleased with the ease of going through immigration and customs. It can be different on different days. We had to split up in two different vans, a bit uncertain as we drove away – but all was good! Next up, it was the water taxi and we got to see the Bimini Police’s Jeep Wrangler! There were lots of bug biting us on South Bimini, but thankfully the bugs were a little better on North Bimini.
We met Kel and Nicole, the DCP team, and had a lecture on the dolphins of Bimini before dinner. Dinner was a BBQ at the marina – it was drizzling, so we were grateful for the tent we were able to eat under so we could still enjoy eating by the water. Nicole spotted a shark in the marina! We were pretty tired, so we skipped our discussion on eco-tourism, but that just means we’ll (hopefully) have Victoria and Jamie here for it tomorrow!
Until then,
The Storm Troopers (SHU 2017)