Harvey Gamage

Breakin’ On Through To The Other Side!

We are finally here! Back in the Estados Unidos. It’s been sixteen days since we left the Dominican Republic, light winds gave us the opportunity to make some stops in the Bahamas. We were gratefully lucky to visit The Island School in Cape Eleuthera (http://www.islandschool.org/) and sneak in some last tropical snorkels. Our journey was livened up with a multitude of dolphin and whale sightings. Things were kept entertaining with costume theme watches, make overs, a “shark week” addition to daily almanacs, and April fools and Easter celebrations. Rough weather lead us to duck into Freeport for two nights where we caught up on some course work. As we made our way up the Florida coast, “Shark Week” concluded with a sighting of a big scary dorsal fin near the boat (we think it may be a Blue or Hammerhead shark).

Our first order of business once back on home soil was to give our mother ship some much needed love. Most of yesterday was spent, scrubbing, washing and disinfecting. Today we explore the sights of Amelia Island that will be followed by a visit to Cumberland Island. Both, barrier islands, with drastic differences in development show us first hand our impact on the environment.

We are quite a privileged bunch to have seen & experienced so much! And there is yet so much more to come!

-Mahima Jaini
Marine Science Educator