The Spring Gap Year program concluded this past week after an intense past nine weeks here at the Cape Eleuthera Institute.

The students have been involved all over the organization and got their hands into literally everything. To cover all we have done would take a lifetime to explain, but after speaking with two of the students who graduated, there were some definite highlights.

The students got to hang out with DCMS resource center every Tuesday and Thursday evenings. This consisted of them assisting students with their reading skills. Not only that though, the Gappers got to have meaningful conversations about their history, both personal and geographical that has impacted their experience tremendously, making them think differently about different aspects of life here in the Bahamas.

During the final week of the program we held a Triathlon that spanned around the cape; a ½ mile swim, followed by a 12 mile cycle and then finished with a three mile run. It was completed with smiles on faces, as we high-5’d the flag pole on IS campus. It was a triumphant moment as all the training of the past nine weeks paid off.

As these students leave behind a legacy for the next Gap Year program, they embark upon different adventures around the globe. Learning more about the world and how they fit into it. We wish them all the best as their navigation continues.

If you would like to find out more about the Gap Program, please visit us at; http://www.ceibahamas.org/gap-year.aspx

by

The Cape Eleuthera Insitute is excited to announce the launch of CEI Street View!  You can now take virtual tours of The Island School, Cape Eleuthera Insitute, and Center for Sustainable Design campuses, as well as iconic locations around the Cape as if you were there!   To move througout the tours, pan around the “photosphere” and click on the hovering arrows or circles located on the screen.

by

The Cape Eleuthera Institute recently launched a Twitter and Instagram account!  The new Twitter account, ceibahamas, will give updates from the institute, information on research findings & publications, and serve as a news hub for marine sciences, research, and conservation in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and beyond!

https://twitter.com/ceibahamas

Check out CEI’s Instagram account, ceibahamas, for a regularly updated feed of photos and videos from our research programs and events.  You’ll find videos of sharks, pictures of juvenile lionfish & bonefish, sea turtles being caught and tagged, sustainable fisheries, and more marine life from around the Cape!

http://instagram.com/ceibahamas

Make sure to follow both to stay updated!

by

This semester the Lionfish Island School Research Class students will focus on the interaction between the invasive lionfish and the native spiny lobster. It has been scientifically established that the lionfish invasion has a negative effect on the native marine life, with recruitment of native fish being reduced by 80% by a single lionfish.However, the economic impact has not been assessed.

The people of the Bahamas depend largely on their marine resources, particularly the lobster fishery, which is the largest fishery in the country. A recent study found an inverse relationship between lionfish and lobster in lobster shelter traps (condos). Where lionfish were present in the traps the density of lobster was lower. Continue reading →

by

The month of October has been busy and bustling with visiting educational programs from Palm Beach Florida and Nassau.

Palm Beach Day Academy, located in South Florida, recently visited for a 5 day program where they focused on research and sustainable systems at the Island School and CEI. After spending a memorable first day tagging juvenile green sea turtles they spent the next morning with the aquaculture team for an entertaining (and delicious) presentation where they were able to eat some of the Cobia grown in the 3000 m³ offshore cage. Throughout the remainder of their trip they enjoyed a presentation and dissection on the invasive lionfish as well as an engaging bonefish dissection from the Flats researchers just to name a few.

Lyford Cay International School, a K-12^th grade International Baccalaureate authorized school in western New Providence, The Bahamas, brought their grade 10 students last week for a 3 day program focusing on sustainable water usage and conservation techniques at CEI/Island School. Each morning the students joined the morning chore of measuring the water in the cisterns around campus. Continue reading →

by