Hi everyone,

Today was our last full day on campus, and we made the most of every moment.

Classes
Today was the last day of classes. We had an oceanography class about marine biology and then oceans and society. In Oceanography, we learned about the species of life in the ocean, from the Cambrian era to modern-day. We also learned about the intricate taxonomy of the oceans.

On this day, July 16th, we started with some bagels and cereal for breakfast. After doing our daily chores we headed to our first class, Oceans and Society. Today we learned about the transatlantic communications cable system that runs along the deep dark depths of the ocean floor.

Today we woke up earlier than usual. We took the bus to Plymouth Harbor, embarked the whale watch boat, and joined a guided tour out to Cape Cod Bay.

Today was Sunday! We had no classes and fun activities. After sleeping in, the sweet smell of french toast and bacon woke us up. After a leisurely brunch, we created tye-dye shirts. Though we were firmly told to use only three colors on our shirt, almost everyone went crazy with the paint.

Helen:

This morning we had normal class time.  We did an interesting lab on the relationship between pH and CO2 in oceanography, had a snack, then had a class on the Caribbean Sea.

Today, we went to the WHOI lab, located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. We all took a tour of the lab, and practiced soldering wire, and testing the resistance.

After a few days of all-day field trips, we went back to our normal schedule of two classes, each an hour and a half in the morning. Dr. Ben Harden, an assistant professor, came in as a guest speaker and taught us about the effect of climate change on the currents in the ocean in our Oceanography class.

Today we travelled off the Cape to the port town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Upon our arrival in New Bedford, we visited the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, where we examined commercial fisheries through the perspective of local fishermen. We discussed the growth of fishing in New Bedford, beginning with subsistence fishing, and the subsequent rise of commercial fishing.

Today, after a delicious pancake breakfast, we had a two-and-a-half-hour class of oceans and society to kick off our amazing day.