And so as quickly this trip began, it ends. With the ship back in harbor right where we set sail from five weeks ago at a glance it can seem like we never left. Thankfully, we still have the memories, photos and friendships left over to remind us of this amazing experience.

The Program: It seems so long ago, on June 10th, that 22 students and three faculty met to begin S-287 Protecting the Phoenix Islands (aka: PIPA – Phoenix Islands Protected Area). That evening after a number of introductions and orientations it was explained to the students that the cottages were much more than accommodations.

At this point it is T- 2 days until we arrive back in American Samoa and the past day and a half has given me a somewhat odd chance to compare where I started to where I am now. For the past 48 hours we’ve been dealing with some of the roughest seas and conditions since the beginning of our voyage.

Today is the 8th and with the program coming to an end I am sad but grateful for all the memories that I got from this trip. It all started out coming out of American Samoa in huge 15 ft waves. With the boat rocking and rolling, and majority of my shipmates, including myself getting accustomed to the leeward side (sea sickness), we were confused, sick, land lubbers.

Not everyone wants to be woken up at 0100 to hear that there’s a major thunderstorm outside and they are going to stand in it for the next six hours, but that was the fate of B Watch this morning. Items you might want during a thunderstorm include, but are not limited to: rain boots, rain pants, rain jacket, hat, gloves, and a midnight snack, preferably consisting of marshmallows, chocolate, and a little bit of love from our awesome stewards (Marie and Cody).

To wrap up our time at SEASCape, we had a “field day” (cleaning day!) extravaganza. After breakfast, we split into groups to clean the cabins and Madden Center (I got to scrape salmon and gum out of the bottoms of trash bins mmm! - Amelia) (I got to carry plates and dishes and sort them, wooo - Marco).

The waves have been getting rougher and rougher the past couple of days, approaching the heights they were in the beginning of the trip. The Easterly Winds are steadily pretty strong at around a force five, helping to build the swells. A watch had dawn watch this morning, Michelle, Silas and I were in lab.

With our days at SEASCape dwindling, we started our last academic day with our oceanography class on student chosen topics such as deep sea creatures and climate science. Our next class was Ocean and Society, where we learned about the Disney movie Moana and the history behind the film.

We woke up well rested on the Corwith Cramer, after just finishing a night of hourly anchor watches. A yummy breakfast of over-easy eggs, bacon and potatoes was waiting for us on the table in the main saloon, and then B watch took control of the boat for the next 6 hours.

Today’s blog is written by our I-Kiribati observer, Miita. In addition to his role as observer for the government of Kiribati, he has been participating fully in the student experience, beginning with classes in Woods Hole in June.

Living on the boat was very good since it was very comfortable in terms of taking shower in anytime you want. Food was good I like the food so much since I taste food that I never taste before and beside that we ate more a lot of vegetable on this boat. Sleeping was really good and I sleep well in my small bunk. This boat was very clean boat because we do a lot of cleaning on this boat and I love cleaning because I want to live in a clean environment. Those things are very cool to me since sailing in the ocean in a long time with that kind of exciting condition make me happy.