Today was an exciting day for all aboard the Cramer.  From a scientific standpoint we have entered into the predicted spawning area of the American eel, Anguilla rostrata.

It’s our third day at sea! After the initial shock of getting used to the constant rolling waves, and the many subsequent donations made to Neptune in hopes of a safe voyage, it seems as though people are starting to get their sea legs.

What a whirlwind these past four days have been! We are in full swing now; Mama Cramer is under sail as we cruise past Eleuthera and into the open ocean. It is wonderful to see everyone becoming more familiar with her, getting the hang of very busy watch schedules and all the various tasks that must be performed to ensure that she is in true working ship shape.

The students of SEA Semester class S-285, Oceans & Climate, have all arrived safely in New Zealand and are now settled in aboard their home for the next five-and-a-half weeks, the SSV Robert C. Seamans. Be sure to follow their voyage on this blog.

The students of Class S-285, Oceans & Climate, join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Lyttelton, New Zealand on March 28th. The voyage ends in Papeete, Tahiti on May 4th, after port stops in the Chatham Islands and Raiatea.

One thousand nine hundred and ninety eight nautical miles, one thousand five hundred and thirty six eggs, and over eight hundred cookies later we have arrived at the end of our voyage.

This day has been a whirlwind of emotions and envirox as we spent our final day aboard the Seamans.

As I write this, the students of C-284 are breaking down the posters they created to reflect on-site observations they made and the conversations they had with people regarding their individual projects in our five port stops.

SEA Semester presents an ocean of opportunity! Many of our alums continue their SEA Semester research back on their home campuses – and beyond. Kalina Grabb, who participated in SEA Semester class S-250 while an undergrad at Harvard University, recently returned to SEA as a coral reef specialist and instructor for our Caribbean Reef Expedition program. She is now a Ph.D. student in the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Joint Program, researching reactive oxygen species (ROS) and collaborating on a new submersible research instrument, called the DISCO, which she brought on board for this voyage for students to see in action. ⁣

The cooking prowess of our one and only Kevin Johnson is no secret aboard the Robert C. Seamans, as members of C house onshore got to experience firsthand. However, over the past few days, there have been murmurings aboard that Kevin would not get his galley day and would therefore not be able to bless us with his culinary genius.

This is it! The crux of anxieties and pressure as due dates arrive and we approach the long-anticipated ‘Puke-atan’ (Thank you, Beth Doxsee for that turn of phrase <3).

I can’t help reflecting back on memories of these final, stressful days from my own student trip, especially as we were joined in Grand Cayman by one of my student-class-mates, Everto! (Sending love to all of S242!)