Marine Science

For a bunch of years now I have been wanting to teach a Marine Science class during the summer. In accepting the position at Mandarin Christian School to help open the high school I figured I would start pushing for this. For 2 years I worked at getting this class put together. We (the school adminiatration and myself) finally suceeded this year! I had 8 students take a Marine Science course during 4 weeks during the summer for first time credit. Awesome!

Not only did the students come out of this summer class with a full 1.0 credit in Marine Science (basically this portion was Oceanography and Marine Biology), but they also came out of the summer as SSI (Scuba Schools International) open water certified scuba divers! Awesome. Working through a brand new SSI shop in Jacksonville, Aquifer Divers, my wife, Allison, taught the classroom and pool sessions and helped to conduct the checkout dives as well.

We also had the opportunity to have Ned and Anna Deloach, authors and photographers/videographers, come to speak to the class about fish species and critter species for over 3 1/2 hours! That was incredible. Ned Deloach is the co-author of the popular Reef Fish series of books used to identify fishes and other animals and such.

We capped the summer off by going to the MarineLab in Key Largo. MarineLab is the educational facility attached to the Marine Resources Development Foundation. This was an awesome trip. We did scuba dives as well as snorkel trips, and classroom lecture/discussions and lab activities. This was a tremendous 5 days and I tip my hat to Mark Galloway and the gang for the wonderful job they did in educating us during that time!

Upon arrival at the MarineLab we had to do a swim check and scuba skills check. We donned the gear and descended about 23 feet to the bottom of Emerald Lagoon where Jules Undersea Lodge is located. Here we did some scuba skills checks and some exploring for a few minutes. That was our first dive. The temperature in the lagoon was a balmy 88 degrees and the visibility was probably only around 5-6 feet, but at least we were wet!

After dinner we had a discussion on the types of habitats around the Keys and did a water quality lab. By that time it was around 10:00 and we had some quiet time and turned in for the night.

The next morning was an early breakfast followed by a discussion of seagrass ecology and a field trip to the seagrasses for snorkeling. This was a great snorkel session. We saw all kinds of juvenile fishes and upside jellyfish. Just being on the boat for the ride out was good enough for me...I could live with seaspray on my face! Afterward we had lunch and then logged a 3 1/2 hour dive at 22 feet. How did that happen? We scuba-ed down to Jules Undersea Lodge and hung out in the underwater "hotel" for a time...we learned about the history of underwater habitats and how this kind of research evolved over time. By the way, on the way down, we were greeted by a 7 inch red seahorse hanging out on the line! Awesome! We then exited through the bottom of the lodge back into the lagoon and scuba-ed over to the underwater lab. Here we were introduced to all kinds of critters commonly found in the lagoon. We also got to remotely operate a small ROV up and down a pipe to see how our driving skills were...obviously I don't play enough video games as I bumped all over the place! Afterward, we exited the lab and surfaced in time for a shower and dinner. Never before had I logged a dive to only 23 feet and came out an "I" diver!!!

After dinner we had a very good discussion on coral reef ecology and followed that up with the "rock shake" lab. Here we took rocks from Largo Sound that had lovely algae growing on it and shook them out in some water. We then picked through the muck looking for cool invertebrates. From decorator crabs to bristleworms to sea spiders...we found a bunch of critters! Again, it was near 10 pm so we had some quiet time and then went to sleep...much more tired than the previous day.

The next morning was a rush. We had a 7:30 breakfast followed by an 8am departure for our first boat dives. We loaded our gear and headed off to the coral reefs in the ocean. Our first stop was at the City of Washington wreck...a favorite of Allison and mine. As soon as you enter the water after your giant stride off the deck of the boat you are greeted by a massive amount of diversity! From grunts to snappers to barracudas to groupers to damsels to angelfish...all were representing their genera and species seemingly for the sole purpose of showing off to newly certified divers! As always, the City of Washington was not a dissapointment! Massive wildlife diversity at every turn. Impressive as usual! And oh by the way, the Atlantic was a lake that morning! One last thing...Allison and I stayed submerged while the divemaster and the students were at the surface getting back on the boat. During that time she and I actually saw a reef shark swim leisurely by! What an awesome sight.

Our next stop, after a short surface interval, was to The Highway at Elbow reef. Again, after about 45 minutes at 28 feet down looking at the reef and the reef fishes. Trunk fish, filefish, angelfish, grouper, snook, etc, etc, etc... Yet another great dive! After the lovely ride back to MarineLab we showered and had lunch.

After lunch we took a trip to the mangroves for a snorkel. I was hesitant at first, but upon entering the waters I knew I was in for a treat. Chris was tremendous. We had educational opportunities all along the trip to the mangroves and during the snorkel as well. He jumped in an found a bunch of critters for us to identify and we had a wonderfully leisurely swim looking at all the diversity located within these awesome trees! If you ever get the chance to snorkel the mangroves, do NOT turn that down! Then it was back on the boat to get back for dinner.

After dinner we had a fish identification discussion. Quite helpful since we just came off a dive while the kids were looking around at the hundreds of fish species without knowing how to tell one from the other! We then did an activity about sea turtles and went to bed even more tired than before!

The following morning was yet another early breakfast followed by an 8am boat ride to the reef for scuba. We moored off a French Reef and swam around in wonderfully increased visibility for about 50 minutes in 36 feet of glorious tropical water! French Reef never disappoints. After a short surface interval it was to the wreck of the Benwood. Another favorite. Spotted drums, lizard fish, trunk fish, green moray, angelfish, parrotfish, and on, and on, and on. The only bad part of this dive was the weird thermocline near the bow of the wreck...hot water on one side and colder water on the other coming together at the bow made for some interesting looking water. Again, close to an hour of bottom time and up we came to get back on the boat and back for lunch!

After lunch was the trip to Rodrigues Key for the ecology there. Snorkeling was the name of the game here.

Dinner and then night time boat trip to the ocean for some astronomy discussions under the stars and a plankton tow to collect the microscopic critters. We brought them back to the lab to view and identify them. It was a very awesome night as the students learned how to find certain consellations and the North Star. Maybe they can find their way home from the open ocean now?

The next morning was a trip to the hard bottom. Here we had patch coral and rocks. The total amount and the amount of diversity of fishes in these areas was absolutely amazing! I never would have thought that this would be the case. Free diving to check under coral heads for morays and swimming with the fishes was an awesome way to finish our stay at MarineLab.

I will definitely do this trip again, and I highly recommend that if you get a chance to go to MarineLab for some education, please do it! This is one place that is worth every penny spent.

For some photos, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/coachpilliod/MarineScience2008 and view the pictures from the trip...