3/30/10

Counting down the days!

Three confined pool sessions completed (see our progress in the pool here and here), and only one to go before diving into the depths of the turquoise blue Caribbean waters of the Bahamas! My experience so far in SEA TURTLE has been a whirlwind in the best way possible.


Jacki and her classmates are traveling to the Bahamas soon!

From the first classroom session I have been completely entranced with the speakers we've heard from. Dr. Rotjan amazed me with her presentation on coral reefs in the Phoenix Islands and the issue of the shifting perspectives of reef health. Then week after week more incredibly fascinating members of the marine biology world have introduced us SEA TURTLEs to even more about the ins and outs of marine bio. Last week we even got to inspect real lionfish spines after hearing all about how this particular Indo-Pacific species is invading the Atlantic Ocean! (Meet our other guest lecturers here and here.)

Jacki and Tori examine a lionfish spine

In addition to the fantastic experience I’ve had in the classroom, the pool sessions spent working on skills have left me itching for more! I can’t believe it was only a couple weeks ago that I breathed for the first time, underwater that is. Now, here we are in our latest pool session having our oxygen depleted to practice emergency scenarios (sorry to scare you mom!). It was a very weird sensation not having oxygen flow to my regulator, but our dive buddies were close by to supply us with oxygen from their octopus (a second regulator which acts as an alternate air source).

Practice makes perfect, especially with buddy breathing!

The pool sessions have become more and more intense. In our first session we worked on our snorkel skills. Now, we have worked on learning emergency scenarios and free flow regulator breathing. All of these skills were intimidating at first, but Sarah and the Divemasters, Barbara and Bill, help to create a comfortable situation. Let’s hope we won’t need to use those skills in April, but if we do then we're prepared.

Trying to breathe with a free-flowing regulator

Since we had a pool session recently we have had a break from class. Nearly two whole weeks without SEA TURTLE is brutal! It’s quickly become the highlight of my week! Now onto counting down the days until we board the Coral Reef II R/V in the Bahamas!


Everything is A-OK!

-Jacki

(See pictures of Jacki on other SEA TURTLE blog posts here and here!)

2 comments:

  1. Very exciting! Have a wonderful trip to the Bahamas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to hearing more

    ReplyDelete

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