PAST Foundation presents

Thursday, July 21 – Day 5

We started our day at 8:00am by loading on the boats and setting off once again to a location unknown to us. Again it was a perfect day, barely any clouds in the sky and a nice breeze as we set off across the water and through the mangrove canals out onto the reef. We went out far from the land. Way out onto the reef, probably farther than we have ever gone before. We all applied sunscreen and prepared ourselves for our first dive. It was at a place called The Banana. I am guessing it was called that because the coral reef was in the shape of a banana. The water was pretty deep and there was coral everywhere. We had about 60 ft. of visibility. The reef was HUGE and there were all types of animals there. One in particular was the Nurse Shark. It’s completely harmless though so no one freaked out. We tried to chase the shark but we couldn’t catch it. After staying there for an hour, we went to our next site called The Horseshoe. Here the water was much deeper, 25ft in places. Probably one of the deepest waters we have been in during our trip. Here we saw another rare sight, two Spotted Eagle Rays! They came and went in a flash, but not before people took pictures. The coral was gorgeous here too, all different colors and shades. Then after this we went to a third site. This site was called The Cigar. It was shallow making it rather murky, only about 20 ft. of visibility. But the coral was big here, and there were lots of minnows swimming everywhere. It was a nice last snorkel spot to end the day.

After that we came home and we all took showers and ate lunch then we loaded into the cars and went to a Windley Key Geological Park. Though the education center was closed we got to take a look at the quarry. In the rock were the fossilized remains of coral. So that was super cool to look at, and luckily the mosquitoes weren’t that bad here so it was fun to stop and see. Then we drove even farther down into the keys and stopped Robbie’s, where we got to feed these huge fish called Tarpons. It was a very tropical looking place; it really made me feel like I was in paradise. We all took a small fish and we had to hold it really close to the water. The fish would literally jump out of the water. Sometimes putting your entire hand in its mouth along with the fish. No worries, Tarpon don’t have teeth. After this we shopped a little bit and headed back to the dorm. This evening we celebrated Jamilah’s birthday with a beautiful ocean themed cake. We sat around the table and told jokes and just had a good time. Then when the time came we went outside and watched the sun set on the dock. The perfect end to a perfect day.

— Amelia, Jamilah, and Cameron

Quiescence Dive Charter	At “The Banana”
Girls at The Banana	Relaxing at lunch
Jamilah’s Birthday

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Wednesday, July 20 – Day 4

Today we went to the Captain Tom’s Ship Wreck. Everybody woke up early this morning and we headed out to sea. On our way to the shipwreck we noticed some dolphins up ahead of us, so we decided to take a pit stop. Everybody immediately jumped into the water and we swam with them. It was the most amazing thing.

When we arrived at the wreckage we realized that the site we were looking at was a large sunken barge that had sunk over 100 years ago. It was filled with all kinds of great things. We soon noticed that the fish identification class we took the night before would come in handy because we were able to identify a lot of different fish. It was really awesome.

After we finished at Captain Tom’s we went to the south Cary’s Fort lighthouse, we were able to see lots of fish that we were able to identify and to enjoy the variety at our finger tips. There was an old boat engine at the bottom with lot’s of coral all over it.

After going there we came back to shower and then headed out to a wild bird center. We were able to see lots of birds, even some in the wild. There were owls, cormorants, pelicans, and peregrines. As we were looking at all of the birds, mosquitos were everywhere eating us up. So it was a quick trip but well worth it. We all had a great day.

Thanks & Love, Breanna, Audra & Jessica!

Dolphins on the way to the shipwreck

 

Tuesday, June 19 – Day 3

Our second day of diving was a lot of fun. We had to travel through a channel in a mangrove to get out to the reef and the dive site. The water was crystal clear and glassy. Even when the water got to 35 feet deep we could see the sandy bottom. We snorkeled at the Grecian Rocks first. The boat moored at a spot that was sandy but we swam to the coral area. We saw a bunch of brain coral and purple sea fans that had many fish, such as stripped grunts and angelfish swimming around and through. A few snorkelers swam to the sandy bottom and saw Queen Conch. Near the end of the dive we saw a barracuda that was about eighteen inches long. After seeing the Barracuda most of us were ready to move on to the next site, so we happily swam back to the boats when Captains John and Don called us.

The second dive of the day was at the Christ of the Abyss site. It is called that because of the eight-and-a-half-foot statue in the water at the site. He had his hands outstretched to the heavens. When we got there, there was a huge boat of snorkelers, but they left before we got to the statue. There was a bunch of sergeant major and grunt fish swimming around the statue hoping to get food from us. After we saw another barracuda we made our way back to the boat. There was a slight current that made the swim a little bit more difficult.

Josh, Maggie, and Alexis

P.S. We would like to give a special shout-out to the spectacular work being done at the Marine Mammal Conservancy here in Key Largo. We visited this afternoon and got to see the group in action. The Conservancy currently has staff and volunteers working around the clock to care for two pilot whales, a young calf and an older female. Kitty, the baby, is doing well and enjoyed the attentive pats and belly scratches the MMC volunteers and staff lavished on her. The older whale, Carolina, is still in critical condition but is responding to the rehabilitative work of the MMC crew. Director Robert Lingerfelser and some of his staff took time out of their hectic schedules to explain to the students what the MMC is doing to save these animals. It was fascinating and truly inspiring.

Dr. Sheli

Captain John’s crew	Dr. Bruening posing
At the Marine Mammal Conservancy	Marine Mammal Conservancy Dr. Vet
Marine Mammal Conservancy’s Robert Lingerfelser	Salad for Tuesday
Marine Mammal Conservancy Volunteers	Mr. Gerard
On the way out	Team Bir’s salad

Monday, July 18 – Day 2

This was our first day out snorkeling, so we went to a beginner level place to start. We were at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park this was the perfect place for us. Since everybody hasn’t been snorkeling before this was a great place for people to get familiar with the water. While we were in the water we studied a Ship Wreck. It was the Spanish Ship Wreck of 1715. It was a man-made shipwreck using real cannons, so all of the things that were in the wreck were placed there. The cannons that were in the water actually came from people’s houses that had them in their yards.

At the wreck we had to count the number of cannons and anchors. After counting multiple times it turns out there were 14 cannons and 1 anchor. Also at the site there was a huge 20ft drop off that was man-made to allow ships to pull into the bay so we all had fun attempting to dive down the bottom that was shrouded in darkness. The ground was covered in different plants with lots of fish making their way through the foliage and around the cannons. A few students even made their way through the ring of the anchor. It was a great place to start our adventure!

— Cameron, Jamilah, & Amelia, Big O’s/Data Doyens

The Data Doyens’ ebullient salad.	Happy with their creation.
The team after their first exhausting day of snorkeling.

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Sunday, July 17 – Day 1

Welcome to the Marine Ecology Summer Bridge Program! Today many of you put your son or daughter on a flight to Florida, where they will have experiences so foreign to their routine that you can’t help but wonder how they will fare.

Well, they arrived with Dr. Bruening right on time at Fort Lauderdale. Lots of sleepy, travel-worn faces smoldered in the van – until the beach sparkled into view and they got their first look at the beautiful Atlantic.

We had lunch at my favorite café on the beach and got to dabble our toes in the water before heading off to Key Largo. We made good time and everyone immediately got into their swimsuits and jumped off the dock into the water where we are staying at Quiescence. Lots of surprised expressions at the saltiness of the water and squishy feel of eel grass and mud on feet – the waves crashed alongside squeals of laughter.

Tonight we dined on spaghetti and divided into three teams for the program, each of which you will hear from, each day, over the course of the week. We have the Chefs, the Big O’s/Data Doyens, and, last but not least, KP. The teams rotate through the chores as they learn to work together. We also have a salad competition that begins tomorrow evening, with the Chefs taking the first round. They will be given a selection of ingredients and asked to create a salad of beauty and good taste. The other two teams will judge the taste of the salads, but we are asking you, the audience, to use Twitter to share your opinion and help us select the greatest aesthetic presentation.

Can’t wait to get started – we have a full week ahead of us!

Cheers,

Dr. Sheli

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Location: Key Largo, FL
Director: Anne Corscadden Knox, PAST Foundation
Cost: $1450.00 per student (includes accommodation, food, boat, and all activities – transport to Florida NOT included)

Refund Policy: Requests for refunds must be made directly to the PAST Foundation by emailing accounts@pastfoundation.org  Refund requests will only be granted PRIOR to 30 days before a program starts. There is a maximum of $75 processing fee for all refund requests.  Refunds will only be made via check.