Day 13 - The Cage

Today we woke up to the familiar 6:15 alarm. Although for many of us it was a bit of a struggle to get out of bed today, we all threw on our swimsuits, grabbed our towels and headed out to meet Scotty at the gazebo. Once we were all there we headed towards the beach to play a bit of water polo for our morning workout. It was a very intense game: people splashing other people, people pulling others under water, it can be clearly stated that we were all very into it. After the last goal was scored (by me I might add), we all helped to get the goals out of the water and back onto the beach and than headed back towards the dorms to clean up before breakfast.

For breakfast we had a hearty meal of bagels and granola, very filling. Some of us finished early and walked back to the dorms to chill, while others were on dish crew. At around 9:15 we all met at the octagon to listen to a short presentation on aquaculture. We went over some of the things we had learned before we left Hawken, and learned a little new material, all in prep for our morning activity: the cage. The cage is kind of what it sounds like, a cage filled with cobia (kind of fish) that is submerged into the water (the top is about 20 feet deep, bottom is about 80 feet).  We all hoped onto the boat (ironically named The Cobia) and drove out for about 20 minutes and finally got to the cage.

You cannot really see it from the boat, but soon enough we would be in the water for a swim. Serena (the intern) prepped us on some safety rules and we all chose partners. Once we had our partners we all put on our snorkeling gear and hopped in the water. At first it was terrifying, partially because you could not see the bottom, but than you start to get use to it. You also had to get use to the fact that you were most likely swimming over sharks, even though you could not see them. The cage was huge! You could also see some different fish swimming over it. After swimming for a little bit someone grabs my arm and points down. Deep, deep down in the water I could see the shadow of a shark swimming. Terrified, I grabbed my partner and told her, luckily the waves were a bit choppy and she wanted to get out anyways. Once on the boat I could hear everyone else in the water exclaim how he or she could see all these sharks swimming deep below them. Eventually it was time to go and we all loaded back onto the boat and went back to the docks.

After we got back we went back to the dorms to change for lunch, which was very good. It was pizza and leftover pasta. When we were all done we all met at the bike shed to follow Serena to our secret challenge that we would be doing all afternoon. We rode to a little behind the marina and met Scotty who was waiting for us with two buckets. We were then informed that our challenge would be to split up into two teams and build a shelter. It was very project runway; we had 20 minutes to make a plan and 90 minutes to build. It was pretty difficult in the beginning, but ultimately everyone got into it and both teams built very impressive shelters. We looked and judged each other’s shelters, which were pretty cool if I do say so myself. After we finished looking at the shelters it was finally exploration time.

Some of us went to crack coconuts with Serena and others went back to the dorms to rest. After our nice 2 hour break we circled up before dinner and did happy’s and crappy’s, quote of the day, and the next leader hand-off  When we finished we all rushed over to get in line for dinner. For dinner we had shepherds pie, and a very nice surprise of cake! Both of which were extremely good. Once we had finished all the dishes we went back to the dorms and changed quickly for night snorkeling. We then all headed over to the boathouse. Unfortunately for some, and relieving for others, we did not do what was planned because we saw a shark feeding in the water we were going to snorkel in. So, instead we did snorkeling in much shallower, in a more constricted area.  We also got to see 3 spotted eagle rays cruising around just off of the dock.  Afterwards we all went back to the dorms to shower, journal, and just wind down for the night. Overall it was a very adventurous day full of laughs and smiles. Looking forward to seeing parents when we return in just a few short days! 

Ta-Ta for now!

Liz Riley