Well, here we are. The end of our last full week here at San Sal. Today was actually pretty fun, and much better than yesterday where we lost 2 hats on the truck. Before we even left the GRC, we got an !ALERT! in our group chat that the GRC boat was sinking. What felt like a rite of passage, all the guys of the group dropped everything and ran down to the dock to witness the only boat the research lab owns half tilted and being pelted with waves. We all jumped in the water and pulled the boat on shore. Somehow, we managed to successfully save the boat from being capsized. For us, this felt like the first time we felt like we were a family at the GRC helping when others need it. It started with painting a building, to now saving a boat. After that excitement, we got on our original truck Y (which was taken by the high school group) and headed off to our new site: Blackwood Bay. Making sure our hats were cinched tight, we headed out. There we experienced tons of new inverts by flipping rocks like we did at Bonefish Bay. The best find was a sponge hat crab, which really holds a sponge on its head as a hat. Due to the site being on the south end of the island, we took a field lunch day – unfortunately missing hot dog day in the cafeteria. Before diving into our sandwiches, we stopped at a broken-down castle which used to be the finest house on the island – now rubble. It belonged to the original owner of the island who was a wealthy plantation owner who was gifted the island by the King of England at the time. We then made our way down to monument – a spot that is said to be Christopher Columbus’ landing spot. It is also the place where the 1968 Olympic torch reached the Western Hemisphere on its journey to Mexico City. Before our food was ready to be absolutely devoured, some waited patiently for the food, some pondered deep thoughts while others looked out to the open sea, but little did they know that Mason rediscovered dinosaurs on the beach, watching a battle unfold before his eyes. After much interrogation, he decided to tell us the scientific breakthrough he found. While eating, we noticed some clouds roll back in… and just like the past few days, we got pelted with rain on the truck. Luckily this time, our karaoke song was “Unwritten” – screaming “feel the rain on your skin…” - which seemed to keep the rain away after about 2 min of some light pelting. After our wet karaoke session, we got to another site close to Snapshot reef called Telephone Pole, spending the next hour and a half there. We ended our night with an open snack bar and listening to the fish group and plant groups give their presentations. Hopefully they have some caffeine so we can stay awake on some of these longer presentations. While we are all excited to get back home, as a group, we all got so much closer in the past 2 and a half weeks. From sharing a rain pelting, to sharing rooms, and sharing a love for marine science and the creatures we find.
Parker’s Reflection:
Part of why I chose Wittenberg was for this very trip. Growing up in the Midwest, there aren’t many options for studying marine science effectively. Being able to finally be here felt like the last nail in the coffin for my love of marine science – specifically fish. Being here has been so enjoyable, despite the hundreds of bug bites (247 in the first 3 days to be exact), the gnarly sunburns, and the power outages. But waking up and seeing that blue ocean across the street filled with so many unanswered questions beats any coffee. I came here with no particular friend group and as an introvert. It’s usually pretty hard for me to be as social as I have been, but our group has made that very easy. What makes things even better, is that many of us are going to be in another marine science class together in the fall, which I look forward to seeing them all again. As a senior, the fall will be my last semester. Being able to finish my year with this trip and with the people I met here back on campus makes me relieved that I made the right choice to go to Wittenberg and open myself up to the people I’ve spent the last couple weeks with.
Mason's reflection:
I came into this trip with hopes to grow my knowledge of the ocean and of marine animals in general. I can say with certainty that this trip accomplished that and will be one I remember forever. I have made friends here that I never thought I’d even have a conversation with back at Witt. It felt like only 2 days ago I was worried if I had packed enough for the trip, or what the flight schedule looked like. I had never been out of the country before, and to do it without my parents, I was scared. I had no idea what this trip had in store for me. But I knew I had to stay strong and persevere. Back when I was a child my parents would play Finding Nemo on repeat to keep me entertained, it was my life, and to this day it is still one of my favorite movies. Right around then I also remember watching shark week, the moment I saw the deep blue ocean and the animals that it held, I knew then and there that was my calling. For years I had dreamed about becoming a true marine biologist and exploring what the ocean had to offer. Now looking back at it, this trip had accomplished something for me that I have missed in years, true happiness and excitement to wake up every day for the day ahead. I have been in awe almost every single moment on this trip seeing all the wondrous things and taking in the new opportunities that will carry me a lifetime. I cannot express in words what this trip has done for me. And I cannot thank the people enough who got me this far and who made this happen. My dreams are finally becoming a reality.
-Parker Roach '25, Mason Steen '26