So today was our last full day on Bermuda, and although the thought of going home tomorrow is still difficult to process, we didn’t let that slow us down, and in my opinion had one of the best days to date…<\/p>\n
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We started off in the morning with a full-scale behind the scenes tour of Bermuda’s aquarium and zoo. Although we had already visited the aquarium earlier on our trip, our tour today was much more complete and educational. Our guide took us to some of the restricted areas, where she showed us how they slowly integrate new fish into the aquarium by first dipping them in fresh water (to rid them of any remaining disease or anything they might have carried with them in the ocean) and then placing them in holding tanks until they are ready to be put in the display tanks. She also showed us how she fed certain birds that were in the process of being rehabilitated from some type of injury. It was actually pretty simple, she just slowly guided a dead but fully intact small fish into the birds mouth, which they swallowed by shimmying their throats and bodies until the fish was digested. My favorite part of the tour, however, was when we learned that their giant tortoises are 40 and 90 years old respectively. It is pretty amazing that an animal can be that old (and is predicted to continue to live until for at least another 50 years), and that even their youngest tortoise is double my age. The 90 year old tortoise has apparently been in that zoo for about 70 years, which again is pretty mind-boggling.<\/p>\n
The aquarium\/zoo was pretty sweet, but the highlight of the day was definitely our boat ride out to North Rock. We took a faster boat this time, so it only took us about 40 minutes to get out there (its about 9 miles offshore), and the extremely warm weather and calm winds\/seas made it the most enjoyable boat ride of our stay by far (it felt like it was about 75 degrees, and there were barely any clouds in the sky which made it feel even hotter). When we got out to North Rock, we snorkeled around for about an hour, again in perfect conditions with almost perfect visibility in the water. Besides seeing a lot of the colorful and interesting fish that we have seen on other snorkeling trips, I was tracking a really large grouper fish for about 10 minutes, which was an absolute thrill. The grouper actually changed from a sort of dull blue to a mix of tan and black that allowed him to blend in with his surrounding more effectively (I think he changed color because he could sense that I was right on top of him and tracking him). That was by far the largest fish I have ever snorkeled with, and it was really cool to get so close to it and watch it in its natural habitat. I spent alot of time this summer trying to catch a large striper off the coast of Maine (which I was finally able to do after about 25 hours of bad luck) so I really appreciated how special it was to get so close to such a large and cool looking fish. I really cant do that snorkeling trip justice through just words, the variety and numbers of different fish that we saw was so cool and I know I will never forget it. The only drawback was a couple of our classmates were pretty seasick once we got back on the boat, and I can’t say I blame them because I even felt a little dizzy and woozy after getting on the boat, a feeling that I have never really experienced before. On our trip back, I couldn’t help but feel like I had been transported back into summertime at my summer house in Maine, the temperature, sun, water, and boat all brought back all of my great memories of spending time on my boat in Maine this summer. I guess it was just another moment where I felt like I had escaped reality, something that thankfully has happened a lot on this trip.<\/p>\n
Well I guess that we are finally leaving tomorrow, it feels kind of surreal because for the most part I feel like this trip has gone by pretty slowly (not in a bad way at all) and I had just kind of tricked myself into thinking it would never end. I’m just happy we get to go home for a few days before heading back to school and facing the reality of homework, papers, and exams. All I can say is that this has without a doubt been the best school-based trip I have ever been on, and it really even ranks up there with my favorite trips outside of the United States that I have ever embarked on. I have learned so much about the geology and natural history of Bermuda, but more importantly I had more fun that I could have ever imagined in the process. Bruce has been awesome the entire trip, and I couldn’t have asked for better classmates to share this experience with. I really hope that I can come back to Bermuda in the near future, it is really a special place. Wow listen to me, I sound so sappy and corny, but there really isn’t any other way to portray how much fun this trip really was. Peace out Bermuda, hope to see you soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So today was our last full day on Bermuda, and although the thought of going home tomorrow is still difficult to process, we didn’t let that slow us down, and in my opinion had one of the best days to … Continue reading