Whew the hurricane is over. We spent the day cleaning up the damage left behind by Charley. Luckily with all the interns we were able to clean up speedily, we started with our house first. It looks like we were incredibly, incredibly fortunate as no damage was done to the house nor cars, although unfortunately…
After a natural disaster, it’s comforting to see a positive change in public demeanor. Strangers are more than willing to come together and help eachother out. From here on, the only thing we can do is look at the situation with a positive attitude. Meeting new people and sharing stories helped lighten up the atmosphere….
I woke up this morning and walked out of my room to hear the TV on in the living room…reporters are talking about a hurricane! Everyone in the neighborhood is running around today, preparing for Hurricane Charley; it is apparently HUGE and is coming straight for Orlando! As we did extra loads of laundry, Allison,…
Today we went to Wekiva and DeLeon Springs on bacteria collecting missions for Kennedy Space Center scientists Rima and Aaron. We started at Wekiva Springs, where Renee and Terrence collected samples of bacteria from the cave walls. The cave is so confining that they dove no-mount systems, meaning that they push their tanks through the…
While Tim, Lee, Paul, and James were out in the field collecting water samples for the Cambrian Foundation’s Central Florida Springs Project, Josh and I spent the day with Amy and her college professor, Dr. McShafferty, catching Dragonflies and Damselflies. Dr. McShafferty loves bugs. He wants to collect specimens from the Orlando area before returning…
Big day today. We started out early with the cavern course on dry land. Terrence and Renee strung a cavern reel line from around and between trees, picnic tables, and other obstacles in the park so that we could simulate following a course underwater. We began by learning how to use the line as a…
Tomorrow will start off with an early departure to the Rollins College pool for the cavern course, but today we got to sleep late! Josh and I spent the day at Amy’s house with her parents and baby Allie, and with Amy’s rescued tortoise! Amy is helping “Stitch” rehabilitate after she and Terrence found it…
Today the interns spent the day taking a CPR class with Amy and Terrence. CPR is a prerequisite for any Cambrian cavern diving trips. We were split up into two teams: Team Typhoid (apparently my mono is as horrible as typhoid): Amy, Tim and I, and the other team who was sadly nameless because they…
I was greeted at the airport by Terrence Tysall, president and founder of the Cambrian Foundation and Artie the summer intern coordinator, with a “Kate Cambrian Foundation” sign. That was a surprise!! After drinking a Starbucks coffee with a shot of espresso I was finally awake enough to keep up with Terrence’s and Artie’s quick…
This is the first free time that I’ve had in two days to write (or sleep!) so right now I’m in the airport terminal catching up on entries. The past two days have been filled with amazing wreck diving and lots of video editing. My only previous experience with this kind of stuff was with…
Wow. Today is the first day on the internship with heavy rain. Nearly every dive has been in fine weather with great water conditions (with exception to yesterday!), how much more lucky can I get? I guess when it rains in Michigan, it pours. It has been pouring almost nonstop since last night’s thunderstorms. We…
Today is our first day of diving and my first time in freshwater! We dove from the Stayer’s boat, Wildkat, with Mike and Deb who are close friends of the Stayers. If I hadn’t known we were on the shores of Lake Huron, I would have thought we were looking out onto an ocean. I…
For the second portion of the “sleep-away” half of the internship, I will be staying with Jim and Pat Stayer, a couple interested in wreck diving and exploration. They are the founders of Out of the Blue Productions and charter dives on their boat, Wildkat. Jim and Pat have discovered eight shipwrecks in Lake Huron,…
Steve wasn’t able to make the dives today, but he hired a guide who took us to dive two cool sites in “Wreck Alley” of the San Diego coast. We went out on the panga captained by Doug, Julie’s mate, to the first site the wreck of the Yukon. The Yukon is a 366 foot…
Amazing! That is one word of many that could describe this trip. Pat and I got up early to pack our gear into our suitcases because today we fly back home. I’ve had such a wonderful time staying in San Diego, I can’t believe that the week is already over. From the beautiful slide shows…
Today was a very action packed day! We started the day off with a nice long breakfast and then hurried off to the DUI Factory, where we were cheerfully greeted by representative Faith Ortins. Diving Unlimited International (DUI) is a distinguished dry suit manufacturing, company famous for its top-of-the-line custom dry suit products and is…
Today Hiro, Pat, and I spent the day at Sea World. It was neat, we saw the Shamu show, the seal show, and the dolphin show, along with various other exhibits. The shark exhibit was cool because we were moved through a tunnel under the shark exhibit on a people-mover and felt like we were…
Today Steve gave us very a great tour of the San Diego area, including a nice park area that overlooked yesterday’s Point Loma dive site. Basically, I would never study if I went to school here-there are way too many beautiful places to visit (above and below the water)! Today’s breakfast conversation was phenomenal. If…
We just got back from eating dinner with Howard and Michele Hall!!!! They are incredibly knowledgeable people and so nice to talk to. I was so shy in front of them at first it was embarrassing. It is pretty funny when they start talking about the importance of interpersonal communication to you, when you are…
We are driving back on the California freeway from the site where Steve Drogin’s submarine is being constructed. California has a mountainous topography speckled with lots of bushes and trees. Being from Massachusetts I thought it was funny to see that there are stop lights and multiple lanes on the entrance ramps for “politely merging”…
This morning I met Dave and Pat at the airport because we’re going to SAN DIEGO!! I can’t wait to see the beautiful, warm, area…and especially can’t wait to get into the ocean! Dave, Pat, and I are going to be staying with Steve Drogin in his house in La Jolla. Steve is an incredible…
For the last day of the Advanced class, Dave and Pat came along to dive with us on the Wreck of the Chester Poling, and then for the shallower navigation skills dive at Bass Rocks. The Poling is a tanker that sunk in 1977 and the bottom of its stern sits in 102 feet of…
For the second day of my Advanced class, Ethan and I rode out to Halfway Rock to work on some deep diving skills, and then some more night diving skills at Magnolia Rocks. The dive at Halfway Rock was amazing-so awesome that the view is almost indescribable. Halfway rock may look like a smallish rocky…
Fred Dion is one heck of an entrepreneur; he keeps a tight store, staffed by only a few people but certainly very successful. At his shop, Underwater Photo-Tech, not only did he explain to me how cameras and strobes work underwater and how they differ from land, he gave me invaluable pointers on how to…
Today was the first day of my Advanced Class with Ethan Gordon. Although diving skill is not gauged by how many cards or certifications one has, many dive charters require divers to be Advanced certified to go on boat dives. It is the next certification level up from Open Water, and requires the diver to…
A group of graduate students from University of Rhode Island invented a neat new device, a forward mapping sonar system named Farsounder, and have hired Captain Lori for the past several months to test their invention in the harbor. I went out with the three inventors, Matt, Matt, and Evan, along with Captain Lori and…
Today Kim and I drove up to Scituate, Mass to dive with Tom Mulloy- and his dog Bailey. Before we got the boat ready to go, Tom showed us his artifact collection and the stained glass projects that he makes. Both were very impressive. He has a great boat to dive from because the stern…
Today my sister Kim and I were picked up bright and early (something I’ve noticed is really common in the diving world!) by Dave and Pat to drive down and meet Eric and Lori Takakjian at their dock in Falmouth. Kim finally got to see firsthand some of the cool stuff I’ve been doing this…
Can you believe that all the food that the GOT animals eat is restaurant quality? All the way down to the cooked shrimp! These past two days I’ve spent most of the time feeding. Myrtle and the needlefish are the main ones that I’ve been feeding-the needlefish love the shrimp! Friday I worked with volunteers…
Today started off with food prep again, but not for the GOT…today I prepared food for the Penguins! There are three types of penguins in the exhibit: Rock Hoppers, Africans, and Little Blues. All three species eat smelt, a small arctic fish. Some smelt are injected with water to keep particular penguins hydrated. After the…
The second day at the aquarium was just as fun as the first, if not better. I started off the day with food prep again, and then was invited to help out with the Myrtle Project. Myrtle is the GOT’s oldest inhabitant; she weighs about 650 pounds and is estimated to be between 65 and…
I just got back from an awesome first day of interning at the New England Aquarium. The day started off with a quick tour of the aquarium and the places I would be working “behind the scenes” with Holly, followed by a briefing of volunteer rules and regs. The first thing I got to do…
Owning and running a dive shop sure is a lot of work! For the past three days I’ve been at Bobby Boyle’s dive shop, Undersea Divers, in Beverly, MA. I can’t believe how much Bobby does and still manages to keep sane. The day starts with checking the oil level in the compressor, then off…
Today I learned how to freedive and spearfish with David Sipperly in Rhode Island. The only equipment we needed to freedive was a mask, snorkel, wetsuit, fins, and a weight belt. Freediving is diving while holding your breath, instead of breathing air from tanks. It was wicked fun!! Dave, his friend Eli, and I took…
Dives always seem to end too soon, so what better way to extend your bottom time than to breathe Nitrox? Today I took David Sipperly’s Nitrox class with Lisa O’Malley, and Chris and Mary Sharrigan. A Nitrox mixture has a higher concentration of oxygen in it than normal air does. Normal air is roughly 79%…
Bo·naire (bô-nâr’), n. an island of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of Venezuela populated by friendly inhabitants, exotic marine life, crazy divers and drivers, where you can eat conch and lizard, and practically see forever underwater. Or in other words..the most awesome underwater world I’ve ever been in! Bonaire…
Coffee in hand, I walked into the Copley Plaza Hotel ready for the exciting weekend to begin, although I had no idea how incredible it would turn out to be… The festivities start in Boston on Friday morning at a seminar called Career Opportunities in Marine Science (COMS) coordiated by Sea Rover George Buckley. Held…