Greetings! I am sure you all are wondering what today's title references. Allow me to enlighten you. Today, we had to do a peak performance buoyancy dive where we needed to work on maintaining neutral buoyancy (sounds easy, but is kinda difficult when you just need to use your lungs to keep from hitting the sandy/corally bottom and rising too fast to the surface), and do a couple other skills. Just for funsies, we played limbo where we needed to swim under a limbo stick held by our two instructors. We didn't have to do the whole "How low can you go" and twist your body backwards thing; it was just swimming. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I was the victor of our little group. I felt pretty proud of myself just because I was having a little difficulty with the buoyancy and was still unsure of my diving abilities. As my prize (or "booby prize," as my mom likes to call prizes of that sort) I got a little wooden sea turtle key chain, which my instructor joked about being a lame prize, but is really something I will treasure.
Anyway, this week's dive bootcamp has really been intense. Yesterday, we did three dives, all with different skills covered and purposes. For the last one we had a fish ID quiz, where one of the interns pointed out five fish and we wrote on our slates their species. Everyone aced it! Best. Quiz. Ever. In addition to learning fish and coral species slowly but surely, we have been really working on improving our diving abilities. As soon-to-be rescue and advanced divers, there are certain skills that need to be learned, such as underwater navigation, which we are working on now. It's a little confusing, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's actually quite fun to just swim about with a compass, la di da. It's important that we master these diving skills now because we will be doing our independent research, which requires proficiency in diving (specifically, scientific diving by AAUS standards; AAUS = American Academy for Underwater Sciences, I think?).
In addition to the diving, we have been introduced to all but one of our classes. They will meet once a week, for an entire day. Sounds kind of intense, doesn't it? I think what will be most difficult about this semester is not necessarily the workload, but will be keeping organized and on-task when in an environment that is so lax and well, beautiful. When classes do start in two weeks (after SCUBA bootcamp), I'm sure I'll get into my usual scheduling habits. It's nice because many other people here are just as organized as I am (if not more), so we're all in the same boat here (haha get it, boat? Like water, and diving? ehh I tried).
I was just about to sign off for the night, and almost forgot to tell you something! Last night, we had a lecture at the CIEE research station led by the head of the Bonaire Marine Park, Ramon de Leon (I hope I got his name right). He discussed the status of the coral reefs here in Bonaire and what the community can do to help preserve them. I was saddened to hear that fish and coral diversity and abundance are on the decline (which isn't exactly new, but is unfortunate nonetheless). However, what was most reassuring was the amount of community involvement that I saw. The room was PACKED with people from all over the island who share the same common interests of conservation. After the lecture, audience members could not wait to be involved in the discussion. Despite the terrible evidences of ecosystem degradation, there is still hope.
The entire coastline and waters surrounding Bonaire are a part of a national marine park, meaning no one can take or bother any of the aquatic life. Divers are actively helping monitor the lionfish population (lionfish are invasive to the Caribbean and are causing MAJOR problems). People are writing to politicians, starting movements, holding lectures, spreading awareness. I am honored to be a part of this island community where people are so dedicated to preserving their natural resources. It's almost refreshing, in a way, from life in the US. CIEE seems to be a metropolis for environmental change here on the island and I look forward to collaborating with community members to learn more about how Bonaire is working to preserve its coral reefs. Bonaire seems to really be sticking to the motto: "Think globally, act locally." I think we all need to do this in order to ensure that some change actually happens or else there won't be the pristine reefs or green forests or crisp tundra that we all know and love (and oftentimes take for granted).
Enough of the preachy, preachy, it's bed time for this mermaid. Good night to you all!
booby prizes are the best ones!
ReplyDelete