2022 Marine Biology Trip
Saturday, April 9
After a long delay in Cincinnati we finally left and had a nervous flight to Miami. So, we had to go half the flight without being able to use the restroom but we got to Miami. Every time that the Captain gave updates, many worried eyes glanced back at me. We were scheduled to land later and later in Miami. We finally made it to Miami 30 minutes after our next scheduled flight. We learned that the flight was delayed but had no other information. So, the captain asked that passengers let us get off first and we raced through the Miami airport to our next gate. We made it! This is a miracle because it would not been an easy fit to get all 20 of us to the Bahamas.
15 of us took a flight to Andros and took a tax to Forfar field station. We got to explore the grounds and play volleyball and get in the ocean. The final 5 finally got to the station right before dinner. Taco Night! Yummy!
After dinner we had an introduction and orientation to Forfar. Sailor showers, if it’s yellow let it mellow, and all the unique features of our facilities.
So, played a little more volleyball and cracked a few coconuts before dark. We got a soft introduction to sand fleas and mosquitoes. Thank goodness for bug spray.
Finished the night with euchre and some other card games. Very tired crowd. At 10 everyone disbanded and went to their cabins. Sleep is good!
After a long delay in Cincinnati we finally left and had a nervous flight to Miami. So, we had to go half the flight without being able to use the restroom but we got to Miami. Every time that the Captain gave updates, many worried eyes glanced back at me. We were scheduled to land later and later in Miami. We finally made it to Miami 30 minutes after our next scheduled flight. We learned that the flight was delayed but had no other information. So, the captain asked that passengers let us get off first and we raced through the Miami airport to our next gate. We made it! This is a miracle because it would not been an easy fit to get all 20 of us to the Bahamas.
15 of us took a flight to Andros and took a tax to Forfar field station. We got to explore the grounds and play volleyball and get in the ocean. The final 5 finally got to the station right before dinner. Taco Night! Yummy!
After dinner we had an introduction and orientation to Forfar. Sailor showers, if it’s yellow let it mellow, and all the unique features of our facilities.
So, played a little more volleyball and cracked a few coconuts before dark. We got a soft introduction to sand fleas and mosquitoes. Thank goodness for bug spray.
Finished the night with euchre and some other card games. Very tired crowd. At 10 everyone disbanded and went to their cabins. Sleep is good!
Sunday April 10
After a great night of sleep, we had breakfast. Eggs, hash browns, oatmeal, and sausages.
Then we had a quick snorkel orientation to check out our equipment.
Then off to Pigeon Caye (pronounced “key” like Florida Keys). We hiked around this small island with a Geological lecture from Christian, one of the interns at Forfar. The geology of Andros is affected by various types of erosion and the iron dust arriving from sand storms in the Sahara. Yep. Africa. Cool!
After the hike, we did a Goniolithon lab. This is a calcified red algae. We broke this algae apart to find shrimp, crabs, sea stars, fire worms, and Eva’s baby eel!
Then we had lunch and a little free time on the beach. So, of course it was a perfect time for a hermit crab race! Our first snorkel was at Blue Hole Caye. It’s a little windy so the sediment got stirred up and it was a little cloudy. It was great for a first snorkel and we did see lots of fish. Starting to learn fish names.
Then, off to David’s patch reef. Oh wait. A little boat trouble. Bermuda Triangle is real. After 1, no 2 boat transfers we are on our way. Go with the flow.
We saw some amazing creatures! Porcupine fish, blue headed sea wrasse, spiny lobster, corals, sea fans, lion fish and more!
After the days activities there were some tired faces. Hiking and snorkeling in the sun takes a lot of energy.
Back to Forfar for a shower and dry clothes. Also, started working on their Field Journals to start some journal questions and species IDs.
Dinner is Bahamian BBQ chicken with Mac and cheese, cole slaw, and rice. Apparently some of our kids like lots of cinnamon with applesauce.
Class time! Invertebrate lecture with Abby about Invertebrates. Classification and identifying invertebrates around Andros.
So, the night ended with a ping pong tournament.
After a great night of sleep, we had breakfast. Eggs, hash browns, oatmeal, and sausages.
Then we had a quick snorkel orientation to check out our equipment.
Then off to Pigeon Caye (pronounced “key” like Florida Keys). We hiked around this small island with a Geological lecture from Christian, one of the interns at Forfar. The geology of Andros is affected by various types of erosion and the iron dust arriving from sand storms in the Sahara. Yep. Africa. Cool!
After the hike, we did a Goniolithon lab. This is a calcified red algae. We broke this algae apart to find shrimp, crabs, sea stars, fire worms, and Eva’s baby eel!
Then we had lunch and a little free time on the beach. So, of course it was a perfect time for a hermit crab race! Our first snorkel was at Blue Hole Caye. It’s a little windy so the sediment got stirred up and it was a little cloudy. It was great for a first snorkel and we did see lots of fish. Starting to learn fish names.
Then, off to David’s patch reef. Oh wait. A little boat trouble. Bermuda Triangle is real. After 1, no 2 boat transfers we are on our way. Go with the flow.
We saw some amazing creatures! Porcupine fish, blue headed sea wrasse, spiny lobster, corals, sea fans, lion fish and more!
After the days activities there were some tired faces. Hiking and snorkeling in the sun takes a lot of energy.
Back to Forfar for a shower and dry clothes. Also, started working on their Field Journals to start some journal questions and species IDs.
Dinner is Bahamian BBQ chicken with Mac and cheese, cole slaw, and rice. Apparently some of our kids like lots of cinnamon with applesauce.
Class time! Invertebrate lecture with Abby about Invertebrates. Classification and identifying invertebrates around Andros.
So, the night ended with a ping pong tournament.
Monday, April 11
Land day. We took off in our vans for North Andros. First stop was Money Point. This is an intertidal zone with all kinds of great invertebrates. We explored the shallow water and turned over rocks looking for sea stars, crabs, urchins, conchs, clams and more. See just some of what we found! We sorted them in buckets and identified and classified the organisms. So much fun!
The off to Regatta Beach for lunch.
After lunch, we explored Captain Morgan’s cave. He is said to have stored his treasure there. We didn’t find any. Bummer
Then we climbed Morgan’s Bluff. The highest point on the entire island.
Then off to Morgan’s wreck. We snorkeled around a few shipwrecks and saw some fish swimming in and around the wreckage. There was some time after the snorkel to stop by Uncle Charlie’s blue hole. Very relaxing! Also had a chance to jump into the water.
stir fry for dinner and a coral identification lecture.
Land day. We took off in our vans for North Andros. First stop was Money Point. This is an intertidal zone with all kinds of great invertebrates. We explored the shallow water and turned over rocks looking for sea stars, crabs, urchins, conchs, clams and more. See just some of what we found! We sorted them in buckets and identified and classified the organisms. So much fun!
The off to Regatta Beach for lunch.
After lunch, we explored Captain Morgan’s cave. He is said to have stored his treasure there. We didn’t find any. Bummer
Then we climbed Morgan’s Bluff. The highest point on the entire island.
Then off to Morgan’s wreck. We snorkeled around a few shipwrecks and saw some fish swimming in and around the wreckage. There was some time after the snorkel to stop by Uncle Charlie’s blue hole. Very relaxing! Also had a chance to jump into the water.
stir fry for dinner and a coral identification lecture.
Tuesday, April 12
Pancakes for breakfast! Delicious!
today we took a boat up Davis creek to Tarpon blue hole. Tarpon blue hole is surrounded by red mangroves so we snorkeled the area looking through the roots to see several fish hiding out. We duck dove down into the blue hole to feel a thermocline, layers of warm and cold layers. Then we snorkeled back to Forfar with the current.
we had lunch and we headed to Androsia to see where they make brightly colored fabrics with tropical patterns. We got to see the whole process from beginning to end product as a T-shirt or other clothing. Then we had a chance to shop!
After our shopping spree, we headed for Captain Bill’s blue hole. A huge blue hole with a deck that we got to jump off of and we swam across the blue hole. There was a competition for biggest splash, smallest splash, and most creative jump.
Then we headed back to the field station. Had some time for some volleyball and had delicious Lasagna for dinner.
A short lecture about bush medicine, very cool, and a short lecture about blue holes.
after the lectures we got a chance to sample lemongrass tea,
Pancakes for breakfast! Delicious!
today we took a boat up Davis creek to Tarpon blue hole. Tarpon blue hole is surrounded by red mangroves so we snorkeled the area looking through the roots to see several fish hiding out. We duck dove down into the blue hole to feel a thermocline, layers of warm and cold layers. Then we snorkeled back to Forfar with the current.
we had lunch and we headed to Androsia to see where they make brightly colored fabrics with tropical patterns. We got to see the whole process from beginning to end product as a T-shirt or other clothing. Then we had a chance to shop!
After our shopping spree, we headed for Captain Bill’s blue hole. A huge blue hole with a deck that we got to jump off of and we swam across the blue hole. There was a competition for biggest splash, smallest splash, and most creative jump.
Then we headed back to the field station. Had some time for some volleyball and had delicious Lasagna for dinner.
A short lecture about bush medicine, very cool, and a short lecture about blue holes.
after the lectures we got a chance to sample lemongrass tea,
Wednesday, April 13
Everyone seems a little tired this morning. We have full days. Eggs sausage and oatmeal for breakfast.
Then we got into the vans and off to Red Bays, the western most town on Andros. It a longer and bumpier trip than our other trips.
We met some truly beautiful Bahamian people. They shared their history and their stories. One in the form of song! They have a unique history that I want your child to tell you about I am appreciative of these people being so kind and open and answering questions. Students had the chance to buy baskets, sponges and wood carvings.
after lunch and our trip to Red Bays, we headed off to Coconut Grove and Conch Sound Blue Hole. Coconut Grove was a great patch reef to see different types of coral land fish! Very cool! It’s windy today so Conch Sound Blue hole had limited visibility but we still saw a few fish. There was also a 3.5 foot dead shark nearby so that was exciting.
Back to Forfar for dinner. Curry Chicken and rice. Very good. Everyone wanted to go get ice cream after dinner. I grudgingly agreed. Also, they bought up all the supplies of Goombay Punch, a pineapple sugary soft drink only found in the Bahamas. Very popular with the boys.
Fish ID lecture tonight.
Everyone seems a little tired this morning. We have full days. Eggs sausage and oatmeal for breakfast.
Then we got into the vans and off to Red Bays, the western most town on Andros. It a longer and bumpier trip than our other trips.
We met some truly beautiful Bahamian people. They shared their history and their stories. One in the form of song! They have a unique history that I want your child to tell you about I am appreciative of these people being so kind and open and answering questions. Students had the chance to buy baskets, sponges and wood carvings.
after lunch and our trip to Red Bays, we headed off to Coconut Grove and Conch Sound Blue Hole. Coconut Grove was a great patch reef to see different types of coral land fish! Very cool! It’s windy today so Conch Sound Blue hole had limited visibility but we still saw a few fish. There was also a 3.5 foot dead shark nearby so that was exciting.
Back to Forfar for dinner. Curry Chicken and rice. Very good. Everyone wanted to go get ice cream after dinner. I grudgingly agreed. Also, they bought up all the supplies of Goombay Punch, a pineapple sugary soft drink only found in the Bahamas. Very popular with the boys.
Fish ID lecture tonight.
Thursday, April 14
This was planned land day because of the high wind forecast but it calmed down enough for it to be a boat day!! Hurray!
We started the day with a short lecture on how to identify and record fish species for the REEF project.
Then off on the boat. It was a little rougher water today. We started with a snorkel on Calabash Caye. We snorkeled around and in red mangroves to see the fish and organisms that were in their prop roots. The prop roots are nurseries for immature fish species.
We headed to Dave's and Kevin's patch reef. While there, we got to ID fish species for the REEF project, a nonprofit organization that tracks reef health from volunteers like us. We saw some great fish and this activity will definitely help them on the fish ID test tomorrow.
Back to Forfar for a Lionfish dissection. Lionfish are an invasive fish that have a negative impact on the coral reef ecosystem. They are native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans and were released on the east coast of the US and have spread like crazy through the Caribbean. The workers at Forfar spear them regularly to try to minimize their impact and we use them to learn more about fish anatomy. Yes they are the venomous fish with the spines but their venom denatures in a refrigerator after 24 hours and we cut them off first thing in the lab.
Dinner out tonight!!! We got to go out for dinner tonight and have some amazing food!! We had some very delicious Bahamian food. We had some rice with fried or BBQ chicken, corn fritters, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. So good!! We stuffed ourselves. Right, Jonas and KJ!! Some people had a pop and, once again, Goobay punch was very popular.
May have gone out for ice cream and . . . Goombay punch also when we got back to Forfar. Then, some field journal work and some games. At 10:15 we went out to a bridge in a plan to see some sharks or fish swimming through a creek but come up empty handed. But still got to hang out and chat.
This was planned land day because of the high wind forecast but it calmed down enough for it to be a boat day!! Hurray!
We started the day with a short lecture on how to identify and record fish species for the REEF project.
Then off on the boat. It was a little rougher water today. We started with a snorkel on Calabash Caye. We snorkeled around and in red mangroves to see the fish and organisms that were in their prop roots. The prop roots are nurseries for immature fish species.
We headed to Dave's and Kevin's patch reef. While there, we got to ID fish species for the REEF project, a nonprofit organization that tracks reef health from volunteers like us. We saw some great fish and this activity will definitely help them on the fish ID test tomorrow.
Back to Forfar for a Lionfish dissection. Lionfish are an invasive fish that have a negative impact on the coral reef ecosystem. They are native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans and were released on the east coast of the US and have spread like crazy through the Caribbean. The workers at Forfar spear them regularly to try to minimize their impact and we use them to learn more about fish anatomy. Yes they are the venomous fish with the spines but their venom denatures in a refrigerator after 24 hours and we cut them off first thing in the lab.
Dinner out tonight!!! We got to go out for dinner tonight and have some amazing food!! We had some very delicious Bahamian food. We had some rice with fried or BBQ chicken, corn fritters, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. So good!! We stuffed ourselves. Right, Jonas and KJ!! Some people had a pop and, once again, Goobay punch was very popular.
May have gone out for ice cream and . . . Goombay punch also when we got back to Forfar. Then, some field journal work and some games. At 10:15 we went out to a bridge in a plan to see some sharks or fish swimming through a creek but come up empty handed. But still got to hang out and chat.
Friday, April 15
So, we are getting eaten up by sand fleas. They are pretty annoying! Chocolate pancakes are a good delicious from the itchiness.
Boat Day today!! Today we got to go to Rat Caye Blue Hole. This doesn't sound like it would be the best snorkel spot but it is! It is filled with so much coral an life. It was amazing. Some of us spotted a large nurse shark, an eel, large french angelfish, many spiny lobsters and so much more. An amazing snorkel!
We also got to to go to the Three Sisters patch reef. This is closer to the barrier reef and so it was pretty choppy. That's OK though since we have a lot of experience snorkeling at this point. Lot of cool fish here. We also saw some reef squid. They were so cool. They were hanging out and changing color before our eyes!
Time for lunch! We landed on Saddleback Caye for lunch. We hung out there and had lunch but an unexpected storm crept up on us. We had to hunker down for a little bit until it passed. The boys decided to dig a little bit and then ended up burying Jonas. We left a message for "SOUP?" for obvious reasons?!? There was a chance for more storms expected so we had to make our way back while it was clear.
Students had some time for some last minute studying. We had dinner and took our test.
We ended with our last lecture about Archie Forfar. It was raining and windy so we had the story in the lodge instead of by the fire. The story was part history, a little bit of mystery and little bit of a ghost story. Spooky. Then, power outage!!! That's ok. We finished the night playing cards with flashlights. The power went on and off a few times this evening. Off to pack. Early morning tomorrow.
So, we are getting eaten up by sand fleas. They are pretty annoying! Chocolate pancakes are a good delicious from the itchiness.
Boat Day today!! Today we got to go to Rat Caye Blue Hole. This doesn't sound like it would be the best snorkel spot but it is! It is filled with so much coral an life. It was amazing. Some of us spotted a large nurse shark, an eel, large french angelfish, many spiny lobsters and so much more. An amazing snorkel!
We also got to to go to the Three Sisters patch reef. This is closer to the barrier reef and so it was pretty choppy. That's OK though since we have a lot of experience snorkeling at this point. Lot of cool fish here. We also saw some reef squid. They were so cool. They were hanging out and changing color before our eyes!
Time for lunch! We landed on Saddleback Caye for lunch. We hung out there and had lunch but an unexpected storm crept up on us. We had to hunker down for a little bit until it passed. The boys decided to dig a little bit and then ended up burying Jonas. We left a message for "SOUP?" for obvious reasons?!? There was a chance for more storms expected so we had to make our way back while it was clear.
Students had some time for some last minute studying. We had dinner and took our test.
We ended with our last lecture about Archie Forfar. It was raining and windy so we had the story in the lodge instead of by the fire. The story was part history, a little bit of mystery and little bit of a ghost story. Spooky. Then, power outage!!! That's ok. We finished the night playing cards with flashlights. The power went on and off a few times this evening. Off to pack. Early morning tomorrow.