Our Gap Year crew has been very busy in their first month here at CEI with marine research, road trips, classes and community service. We’ve studied human ecology, coral reefs, mangroves and more. We analyzed sustainable aspects of our Island School/CEI community here and compared them to our home communities with the ultimate goal of designing a solution to an issue of sustainability at home.
Outside of our classes, we’ve helped out with many on-site research projects studying everything from green sea turtles to Caribbean sharks to a local favorite, queen conch. We’ve also conducted plastic surveys and helped out in our permaculture garden. Last week we explored outside our immediate community and volunteered at the Tarpum Bay Arts & Cultural center doing a landscaping project (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eleutheras-Art-and-Cultural-Centre/234550843232729). There we met the lovely director, Audrey Carey, who regaled us with stories about what life was like when she grew up in the Bahamas (very sustainable!) and showed us the local students’ and artists’ work. Continue reading →
Here are short bios from our three Gap Year students:
Eryn Dioli: My name is Eryn Dioli and I just graduated from high school in June of 2013. I’m taking a gap year before I start college, and in the fall of 2014 I will be attending The University of Colorado at Boulder where I hope to study international relations. I was drawn to CEI because of the way sustainable living is so much a part of life here. I have grown up on the ocean and it’s a great experience to be living in a place that is so dedicated to conserving it. I’m looking forward to learning more about permaculture and how I can implement that in to my own community at home, and to take part in the turtle research project. Continue reading →
Students from the US and Puerto Rico came to the CEI campus for a week of working with researchers in the Shark, Flats, and Turtle Programs. Here is an update from each group.
Campers tagging and measuring a fish.
Flats Team: Campers working the with flats team got a crash course in learning about flats ecology, mangrove ecosystems, and the economic and ecological importance of one target flats species, the bonefish. They gained experience seining, where they caught bonefish and lemon sharks and were able to practice tagging and releasing. Campers also got to try their hand at fly fishing on the flats, and each group caught a few bonefish. Continue reading →
Last week Justin Lewis, from Grand Bahama, Zack Jud, from Florida International University and Tiffany Gray, from Cape Eleuthera Institute, worked with Cassandra Abraham at Friends of the Environment in Marsh Harbour, Abaco on a flats program with local students from Abaco. This flats program was like a shorter version (just 3 days) of our 7 day sleepover Flats Week summer program at Cape Eleuthera Institute. It gives students a chance to not only learn the basics of flyfishing, but also immerse themselves into the ecology and conservation of the flats ecosystem. We had 5 students, all Bahamians, participating in the course.The program started out on Tuesday, August 13th, with an informational presentation on bonefish and flats ecology. Zack and Justin also spent a bit of time that first day teaching students the basics on flyfishing where they had the chance to practice casting, some of them for the first time! That afternoon we headed over to Great Cistern to do an introduction on methodology and how to use the seine net. We saw lots of turtles, a shark, and caught some shad (mojarra), crabs, shrimp, and other fun stuff in the seine net.
Measuring a bonefish.
The second day we tagged 20 bonefish around Crossing Rocks, about 12 miles south of the Marls. Clint Kemp from Black Fly Lodge in Schooner Bay took us out with two of their flats boats for a beautiful day on the water. After tagging and doing a little fishing, he took us over to the Black Fly Lodge to check out their facilities. It was very quaint and personal lodge, right on the newly developed Schooner Bay. Clint provided a wealth of information on not only what it’s like to be a top notch fly fishing guide, but also some of the background on the development of the unique “Live, work, and play” community of Schooner Bay.
Check out their website:
Black Fly Lodge - http://www.blackflylodge.com/
For the last day, we headed out flyfishing to get more practice using the fly rods and to catch a few bonefish. We went out in Cherokee Sound with local guide Buddy Pinderand found LOTS of bonefish. Those spooky Cherokee bones are known to be tough to catch, but we did have two students get the chance to catch two bonefish that morning! Once the tide got a little high for fishing, we had lunch at the Pinder’s house in Casuarina. Students then learned to make their own flys to take home and use next time they are out fishing!
This blog was written by the 18 incredible students visiting us from Maine.
Campus Life
Students at Lighthouse Beach
The Island School/CEI is located in Cape Eleuthera. The campus faces the water with exotic beaches and fish-filled boat launches as a part of its grounds. Everything about the campus is energy efficient, from its compost at meals to their homemade biodiesel for the vans. The food waste is fed to the pigs on campus and the rest is composted and used for their gardens. The gardens are then used for meals creating the basis of permaculture. We’ve already become aware of the energy we waste every day and can’t wait to put our new energy efficient methods to use at home.
Research
Students socializing at the sand bar.
A big part of our experience here on Eleuthera has been conducting research through the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). Our Camden Hills students have been split into three different research groups, led by CEI researchers: conch, bonefish (field), and another bonefish team (lab). The Oceanside-Medomak students are studying patch reefs, and the effects of their complexity on the abundance of fish. All four groups will be presenting their findings to an audience of peers, interns, researchers, graduate students, and staff next week. Continue reading →
CEI just completed the second Eleuthera Explorer’s Camp this summer! Camp culminated with presentations for parents at Island School. This gave campers a chance to share what experiences got them most excited throughout the week and to show their parents a tidbit of what they have learned.
The first day started out with a snorkel and sustainable systems scavenger hunt to get everyone acquainted to campus and life at The Island School. Later, they got to do some kayaking, Bahamian dance, and attend a presentation from our plastics research enthusiast, Miss Kristal Ambrose.
Campers in the Deep Creek Explorers Camp explore the mangroves.
On their second day, they had a chance to go on a discover scuba dive! This is for youngsters who are not certified yet but still want to try their hand at breathing underwater. Even Gwyndolyn Domino, who is already open water certified, got a chance to get another full dive under her belt. The day continued with a reef snorkel and presentation on shark ecology.
Space 2 Create, a non profit summer day camp for the youth of Harbour Island, Eleuthera, joined forces with The Cape Eleuthera Institute to initiate Space 2 Explore, a program based around marine ecology and conservation. Founded in 2007 by William Simmons (DCMS Teacher), this comprehensive youth development program aims to enhance the academic, artistic and character development of young people on Harbour Island. Students this summer explored diverse marine habitats under the guidance of Cape Eleuthera Institute researcher Kristal Ambrose and DCMS teacher Carola Walker in partnership with divemaster Shawn Springer.
Students’ eyes were opened as they learned to identify countless organisms in the habitats they explored and also grasped the importance of these threatened ecosystems. These activities were not only academically enriching but helped students to build character as they faced their fears and accomplished things they never thought possible. This learning experience is highly relevant, as Harbour Island is experiencing the pressures of rapid development. It is important that the next generation understands the role of conservation in sustainable development.
This week we said ‘bon voyage’ to an amazing group of students, staff and crew from Seatrek Fathoms. They graced us with their presence for 10 days of science, fun, research, snorkeling, and much much more.
A new experience for the education team with the group staying aboard their 65ft sailing schooner named the Avalon. Each day the group made it to land and delved into our program. The focus of this trip was for the students to really get an idea of how a remote field station functions, all the differing aspects of research at CEI and the reality of setting reachable research goals.
Students clearing access road to the Ocean Hole Park in Rock Sound.
We began our trip with a day sharking out with Owen and his team. It was quite the day long-lining with both the Dave & Di and the Avalon, giving all the students an opportunity to be first hand part on the long-lining crew, switching out with the observers stationed on the Avalon. The day was successful, hooking one Reef Shark, all the students were able to see how shark research works out in the field, and it was a great day had by all. Continue reading →
Last week the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Island School welcomed 18 South Eleutheran children to campus for a sleep away camp focusing on the world we live in and how we can preserve it. Through the camp the kids, who range in age from 9 to 13, are getting to snorkel, dissect fish, participate in research in the fields of conch and bonefish, and travel to the Ocean hole and Rock Sound caves. All of this is coupled with lessons and education on the nature that these children encounter in their daily lives on the island.
South Eleuthera Explorers ready to jump off the dock!
It is the hope of the camp that the kids will take back some lessons in water preservation, harmful effects of lionfish on native ecosystems and living a more sustainable life, and further their education on these topics in the future. Continue reading →
After leading the Deep Creek Natural History Camp, two of our Educational Programs staff helped out with the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) week-long SeaCamp. They met up with the campers in Governor’s Harbour (GH) for a field trip. When they got to the Haynes Library, the BREEF camp leader (and IS/CEI alum) – Allanah – had all the kids excited and ready for their first field trip.
The first stop was the Hatchet Bay Caves and then they toured a brand new, organic farm just across from the caves. The kids learned all about the farm including the mango trees that will fruit twice a year and the miracle fruit that makes anything you eat, after eating this fruit, taste like the sweetest thing. It felt like a field trip to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! Next they went to Cheetah’s pineapple farm and learned about the lost art of farming pineapple in the red soils of Eleuthera. Several kids went home with ‘pineapple slips’, part of the plant you can pop into some water and 19 months late have a fruit to eat. And that was just the morning! Continue reading →
Our Gap Year crew has been very busy in their first month here at CEI with marine research, road trips, classes and community service. We’ve studied human ecology, coral reefs, mangroves and more. We analyzed sustainable aspects of our Island School/CEI community here and compared them to our home communities with the ultimate goal of designing a solution to an issue of sustainability at home.
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