The second batch of Eleuthera Explorer’s Campers are off after a BBQ celebration this past Saturday afternoon. They had an eventful week full of not only good times but learning experiences they will cherish for a lifetime.
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Each day began with a refreshing daily morning exercise and there after they would dive right into some of the various research projects currently going on at Cape Eleuthera Institute. They got a taste of Bahamian geology in a trip to a nearby ooid sand bar, were able to check out the Cobia cage with Island School students, harvest tilapia with Krystal and the aquaponics crew, as well as go on a night snorkel and have a bonfire on their last night. Sadie’s lionfish introduction and dissection was also a definite highlight for the campers.
The week ended with a presentation for their family where they were given the opportunity to share some of the poems an stories written throughout the week. All of this and the opportunity to live on a sustainable campus, as well as get an all around sense for what it means to endure an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
Here are two of the Perspective Stories shared during the presentation on Saturday:
by Connor Rudzki, Normans Cay, Exuma, The Bahamas
My flesh sizzles and burns under the warm bathwater. The symbiotic algae thrives and its chlorophyll produce tons of f food that I eat. Suddenly, a quick bonefish swishes over me and stirs the sand under me. My reflexes kick and and my body pulses, raising me off the bottom. I flop over and swim to the surface, my boding continuing to pulse. I find a place that is not taken by my friends. Slowly, the pulsing drops off and I flip back, settling onto the bottom. I have found my new home, at least for the time being.
WHO AM I?
An upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopeia.
by Glenroy Rolle, James Cistern, Eleuthera, The Bahamas
Daily I flourish to get very big. I hope that I’m located in a place where I can provide a home for the homeless. Organisms attach to my body which provide food for animals that lurk around my shelter. Some animals sleep here at night but most just come here for food. Also, the upper part of my body is used for support for their homes. I do lots of great things. I look really good when I am fully coloured and long and big. I get nutrients from fish poop and water from the wetland. The best thing that my lower body is used for is to protect little fish from predators even though I get barked up. I am the best in the wetlands. When the land dries up, my body gets crispy.
WHO AM I?
A red mangrove, Rizophora mangle