Share & Voice: An Island Eye Opener

     I decided to do my very first Share and Voice on one of my very first trips away from home.  It was my sophomore year of high school and, with much begging and pleading, my mom finally allowed me to embark on my journey to the Island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.  Now, when most people think of the Bahamas, they instantly think of a fancy vacation, a nice hotel, warm weather, and a pool.  THIS trip to the Bahamas was nothing of the sort.  This was a "science trip" that ended up challenging how I view myself and my environment.  

The dorms we stayed in

     The program we went through is called Wild Studies: Bahama Blue which is a program devoted to educating people about endangered environments through personal observation.  As soon as we landed, we knew we were in for a total culture shock.  There was no outside communication, hardly any fresh water, and 90% of our furniture was made of drift wood.  We drank KoolAid that had been made with diluted salt water for crying out loud.  I had never been in a place that was so conscientious about the environment.  Even our showers were limited to two minutes.  We had to turn the water off while we lathered with shampoo and turn it back on to rinse.  The water was cold and it took many of us the entire week to adjust to this new lifestyle.

Night class and furniture made from drift wood.  

  
      Besides snorkeling and seeing all of the beautiful exotic fish, we also took a one hour class each night.  We had to learn how to dive and how to respect the coral reef and its inhabitants.  We also learned about ecosystems through the human knot activity which emphasized that communication, competition, and team work were key in figuring out the twisted mess of arms.

Human knot activity

     Similarly, in a coral reef, all of the organisms compete with and depend on each other, from the tiniest of plankton to the greatest of sharks.  The classes stressed that when we over fish our oceans or pollute our oceans, we end up damaging this interconnected web.  Sure, usually the system bounces back.  But, what happens when it doesn't?  Put simply, coral reefs die.  To put this into perspective, I will reverse the roles.
     Imagine an entire town, city, state, or even a country that completely runs out of resources and dies off because of something that the fish are doing to us and our environment.  Imagine not having any control over it and not being able to fight back.  Can you even fathom a world where an entire population of people dies out?  In a sense, that is what is happening in the under water world.  Eventually, at the rate we are going, ocean life as we know it will cease.

Here is my group building our castle

Winners of the contest!

     Another activity that I remember vividly during my time on the island, was a sandcastle building contest.  The rules were simple.  We could not use sand to build our castle.  Instead, we had to use anything we could find on the beach.  We did not have to search very hard to find a plethora of washed up garbage that had drifted to shore.  It really made me stop and think about how much we dump into the ocean and how wasteful we can be.  I actually got to see first hand the garbage that damages so much of the ocean life and the reefs themselves.  While the activity was fun, I realized that it was a lesson in disguise.

     Besides all of the lessons and dives we went on, we did get a chance to just soak in the sunsets, relax on a deserted beach, and let the waves crash all around us.  It was quite the experience, and I learned not to take everyday pleasures for granted.  I am glad that I have revisited these memories in this assignment because I had forgotten all that I had learned on this one week "science trip."  I would consider it more of an eye opener  than anything.  I challenge all of you to think back to those times when you have been humbled by an experience or a person, and revisit how you viewed your life at that moment.  Sure, for a while after that week I took shorter showers, educated my family and friends about ecosystems, and even got my family to start recycling.  But, somehow, I find myself back to taking those long, hot showers that we all love.  It was definitely worth revisiting this trip and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Sunset on our last day of the Bahamas Adventure

     I leave you with my last picture on my many rolls of film from this environmentally-friendly trip.  Take a little piece of the Bahamas with you this weekend and enjoy some relaxation time before you wake up one day and wonder where all of the sunsets have gone.  Life is beautiful.