Regardless of the wind, I am still happy to be here. Not going to lie, I’d rather be IN the water than look at it longingly, but nonetheless, I’m still happy I made this trip. I find that more often than not, I forget why I’m studying marine science because I am eyeball deep in papers and projects. It becomes this abstract idea that I can intellectually explain and understand, but in the same way someone might explain a vacation from years and years ago. The ability to be able to perform field work, whether on Long Island or better yet in Jamaica, is a solid reminder of why I want to do this and why I think it’s important.

For instance, you hear about plastics in the ocean but you don’t really think about it. The amount of plastic garbage that I’ve seen littering the coast and washing ashore is astounding. But there again, until you SEE it, you don’t think about it.
I’d love to tell you all more about the crazy cool things we’ve seen in the water but sadly we’ve only been in the water once and that was 2 days ago now. The hole (a 45m-ish drop in the bay) was overwhelming though. It was a bit disorienting how little I thought I saw vs how clear the water actually was. I thought I was only seeing a couple of inches but it was probably closer to 15ft but the distance didn’t really matter since it was just blue. It was an interesting reminder of how tiny I am in the larger picture… or at least a reminder that as much as we would like to think we are the top of the food chain (and you can argue we are) we are nothing but a guest in the ocean and we are far out of our element.

Ominous skies.

We’re going to the Green Grotto later, so those posts will probably be more fun that this one. But don’t worry, while we may be a little cranky that we are swimming we are well watered and fed and sleeping fine!

– Rachel