At this moment in time, I am certain of three things:

1) There is no better place to watch the sunset than on the ocean, - with friends - on top of the Elephant Table.
2) Community is everything.
3) Ginger beer is (and always has been) better than Ting.

Hello from the beautiful city of Port Antonio, Jamaica!  This is our second day docked in Errol Flynn marina.  Yesterday, classmates spent the day exploring markets and restaurants and sampling Jamaica’s famous jerk chicken.  Today was filled with exciting activities and exploring even more new places.

Welcome to one of the most unique ecosystems on planet Earth -  Los Haitises National Park; a region of Samana Bay, Dominican Republic where geologic processes, biological diversity, and human history coalesce into a truly unique environment.

Coming in, secure in the harbor as we are now, generates a comfortable feeling for mariners. We are no longer subjected to the whims of the ocean, the motion of the vessel and other associated voyaging challenges.

I began to write this multiple ways. This beginning paragraph I write the dawn of the 22nd, having watched the orange moon set and the sun slowly become lighter, because I needed to take pause last night. I have so many tangents running in my mind, so many things I want to say about today, yesterday, and every day since I showed up late one night in Woods Hole that I can’t keep them straight and my tired eyes are making matters more blurry.

A heartfelt thank you to Cramer, her crew, and old man Neptune for a successful and safe voyage thus far. A sincere thank you to all hands, especially the students, for their tireless efforts in the water during the many snorkel surveys and their meticulous efforts afterwards ensuring the quality of our datasets! 

As an alum of SEA Semester from more years ago than I’d like to admit, I’m passionate about the value of the experience. I’m part of the Admissions & Marketing team for Sea Education Association and my role focuses on maintaining the website, creating print materials, posting to social media and managing the digital marketing.

Wakeups for Echo at 7 am, I think, but my alarm clock always knows when to wake me up, aka A watch. Eyes are open and at this point, I am surrounded in my cozy bunk, wondering what’s outside my curtains

I really can’t believe it is December. Growing up in Wisconsin I got used to snow and negative temperatures in the winter. Going to school in Oregon I got used to chilly rain. But I have never experienced a December with clear blue skies (minus the squalls) and temperatures fit for shorts and tank tops.

This morning we anchored in Tobago Cays and prepared for our first survey off the Cramer. The area that we decided to survey is in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Eager to get in the water after a couple of days at sea we all shuttled into the small boats and headed towards the reef.