Pictures of the Day
At the end of each night's class we, as a group, reflect on our 'Picture of the Day.' The Picture of the Day is a snapshot of some event during the day that made an impression on us that we describe to the group. To facilitate our sharing we pass around our mascott Leinster, pictured here. Whomever has Leinster has the floor and the group's attention.
Click here to read the Pictures of the Day from the current Study.
Christina Raynock: Picture of the Day...
I have discovered my new favorite things...the Sea Cucumber. The most plentiful of Sea Cucumbers are the Donkey Dung Sea Cucumbers, whose names are self- explanatory. The best part about these creatures is that they are very friendly and peaceful. There make-up is not too complex. They take in and excrete fluids through two holes on either ends of their bodies. They could be described as the couch potatoes of the sea. When you pick them up, they form to the surface of your hand. If you push on them, their bodies will "melt" to the position your finger is in. They are simple in the complex arena of the ocean.
Brandy Curry's picture of the day...
Today while lounging on the beach after snorkeling, Brenden Myers happened to stumble across a coconut and picked it up to take back to camp. There he managed after quite a few tries and quite a lengthy time period to break it open. He then brought it up to the pavilion to show everyone during the meeting. I thought that it was so cute when everyone passed it around and took a bite. It's amazing the things that can bring people together.
Jason Lamontagne's picture of the day
My picture of the day was when I woke up to the sound of the rain hitting the roof of our cabin. I made my way over to the stove and started making pancakes for breakfast. When I looked out the window, I saw that all of the other islands were bright and sunny but it was still pouring at our camp. It was rather depressing until the sun broke through the clouds and burnt my back. That was bad too.
David Jenny's Picture of the day
Pat, Kyle, and I went snorkeling down past Big Maho. On the way back, I was in front with Pat and Kyle behind me. I went into some of the shallower water above the coral and I saw a Baracuda. I started to follow it and the water kept getting shallower and shallower. I was getting a little too close to the Baracuda and tried to slow down, but Pat was right behind me. He tried to back off, but Kyle was too close to him. My head was about 2 feet from the Baracuda and I was getting a little nervous. After a few seconds, I found a hole and made it back out to the deeper water. It was quite an experience to be face to face with a Baracuda.
Nathan Hahn's Picture of the Day
Today I was snorkeling in Francis Bay and I saw an organism. I was debating whether or not it was a coral or algae. Then all of a sudden it swam away and I realized it was a trumpet fish.
Charles Bache
Today, a couple people chose to go snorkeling in Leinster Bay. Mrs. Allison lead us out to the coral reef. She showed us many new coral and fish. On the way back to the beach, I saw two Spotted Eagle Rays. I called to Charles Spock and then took off after them. One had about a three foot wingspan and a short tail. The other had a six or seven foot wingspan with a ten foot tail. We followed the two rays in a circle before they took off in to deeper waters.
Megan Melick
My first snorkel here was to Big Maho. When I first started my snorkel I was a little surprised and scared I because there were a couple big groupers hanging around and they didn't look very friendly. Eventually I figured out that they were fine and didn't mind swimming with them. That's when I started noticing all of the colorful fish that were around me. They were very beautiful and every time I thought that I had seen them all I saw a new one. It was a pretty cool snorkel. I couldn't believe how blue that the water was.
Stephanie Davis
We got off the plane and boarded a pick-up truck with seats in the back. This was called a taxi island style of course. It definitely is not yellow and these taxis are open. Our group was split into two and we went on another taxi after we took a ferry to St.John. The ride was a bit crazy because they drive on the opposite side of the road and do not really obey the speed limits. Our driver went right over the curb and we climbed he steep hills of the island, and then all of a sudden a crash was heard. We looked behind and saw all of the luggage dragging behind the taxi as bags fell everywhere. Some was damaged but Barry rescued the rest. We arrived safely at the primitive huts which were to make our home for the next 7 days. The taxis are a great way of transportation due to the massive inclines of hills surrounding the island.
Jen Johnson
Today I went with the group that snorkeled at Maho Bay. I saw a lot of interesting things on my way. On the swim back to the all I wanted to do was go lay in bed, so I really wasn't paying attention to the coral and fish below me. Just then I went by a sea fan and did a double take. I saw this weird thing that I had never seen before. I learned later that it was a flamingo tongue, which Mrs. P had told us about before. It was really interesting to look at, and was like nothing I would have thought I would have seen down here. Unfortunately no one else was around to see this neat creature that I found.
Jeff Ziegler
So there I was, playing some haunting tunes on my harmonica as I sat on the rocks. The waves washing in around me. Suddenly, out of the surf came a ghostly shape. A pure white octopus with a head the size of Daultons fist. (and that's one big fist) Its arms curled and twisted as it receaded away from my flashlight, back into the deep.
Mike Lindley
I decided to go get some water for my cabin mates in the light drizzle. As I was walking up the steps to my cabin, it started to down pore. I decided to start singing the song "My Maria" as the of in water pouring on me. As it was pouring, Andrew came out an yelled at me to come outside.
Pat Callan
Wild donkeys-need I say more? Nothing is crazier than hearing the wailing of a donkey in the middle of the night while trying to sleep. At first you think you are about to be attacked by a pack of rabid squirrels, but then you realize it is some helpless equine. The only thing funnier that the whinnying of a donkey is the laughter that follows. Traces of this animal can be found everywhere. One must be very careful where they step, or they might find their foot submerse in a pile of road apples. Encounters with a wild donkey are quite the experience. Upon seeing a human, the donkey will stand there with a blank, "deer in headlights", expression. Wow donkeys are crazy.
David Chwastyk
On Thursday Adam O., Spock, Jeff and I were walking back to the camp along the beach and all of us told Jeff to watch out for the cactus, and Jeff ended up ramming his head into it anyway. Today I went on an extra snorkeling expedition at Leinster Bay with only about 10 other kids and all of us saw a yellow spotted eel. Ealier at Big Maho Bay I was swimming back to Little Maho and I almost ran head-first into a giant flat and silvery fish but I'm still not sure what it was.
Pat Bogard
During the last few weeks, St. John has had a rain deficit. This drought allowed parts of the Salt pond to dry. During our bird watch we walked across the caked mud and our feet ever so slightly sunk into the mud. All the mangroves were dead and bleached by the sun, the mud was a pale gray color from teh exposure also. All these factors led to a great experience that reminded us of a moonwalk.
Brenden Meyers
The picture of the day for me was having the joy of being the first person to pick up a huge rock and getting fire coral all over my stomach and my forearms. So it wasn't very pleasant having my upper body feel like it was literally on fire.
Katie Skow
My picture of the day was Katie Wachtel holding the sea cucumber by my leg so that it could squirt water all over it.
Katie Wachtel
My picture of the day for today was waking up to the sound of a rain storm then looking outside and still being able to see all the way to the water because it was still perfectly sunny.
Jesse Riggins
One of my most memorable moments so far happened when I was snorkling with Charles yesterday in Francis Bay. We were swimming along and I see this huge barracuda. I swam as fast as possible on the other side of Charles and grabbed him arm and tried to pull him away. He didn't understand why I was flipping out and I started screaming BARRACUDA BARRACUDA!!!!! as if he didn't see it. I am scared of barracudas.
Andrew Broadbeck
I don not have a picture of the day; however, I have a picture of the week. The thing that I remember the most from the trip is the beautiful sunsets. The colors were so radiant and ran from one color to the next. With the sea and sky as a background for this beautiful event, I will not forget how it looked. The sunsets in the mainland do not even compare to what I see here n the U.S.V.I.
Joe Hallowell
My most memorable picture of the day was when we were hiking back from Francis bay there was a Jeep Cherokee blasting out some massive bass. To make it even better there was a Jamacian man driving this beast. Thank you.
Rose Hollander
My most memorable picture was when we were snorkeling in Francis bay and I saw a sea turtle.
Brianna Lindsay
y most memorable picture of the day was at Leinster Bay. We were walking out to the second different bottom that we were going to visit, the mixed, sandy/rocky bottom. I have never experienced before being able to walk out extremely far into the water without ever going through water that was deeper then my knees. Standing on the beach and looking out to a person standing a hundred feet into the water, and only knee deep in the water is pretty interesting.
Jocelyn Gaspar
Hermit crabs can be found everywhere on the island of St. John, from the ocean, beach, woods, and even in the cabins. Our group first noticed the hermit crabs with a funny observation. One group of guys poured rice outside in the wilderness and within five minutes over hermit crabs came for the feast. The crabs ranged from baby crabs to crabs that were the size of one's fist. Next, when we were snorkeling, we accidentally swept up tiny hermit crabs. They were about the size of your pinky fingernail. There were tons of them. Some of our group experienced hermit crabs in their cabins. The crabs can also be found uder the cabin waiting for you to drain or disgard your meal. Overall, hemit crabs are neat creatures, especially when they are observed in their natural habitat.
Rich Roberts
Francis Bay was cool. We saw many varieties of fish, including fairy basslet, jacks, wrasses, needlefish, grunts, and barracuda. By far, I think, the barracuda was the most impressive. They would hover there and stare you down, mouth cracked slightly as if to strike. Staring at one of these requires enormous courage, and chasing one teeters on the edge of insanity. Or stupidity. Anyway, I liked them the best.
Abby Sears
The first snorkel was in Big Maho Bay. It must have been one of the coolest experiences I've ever had so far on St. John. The water here is clear and very refreshing. I thought it was so neat to have the chance to look at life under the sea. Everthing seemed so peaceful, and most of the fish would just stare back at you, or happily swim along. Nothing about my first snorkel was uneasing, except for an occassional mouthful of saltwater.
Nick Peacock
One of the coolest things that has happened to me while I have been here was when I was with Kyle after snorkeling one day. He was filling up our tank with water, and I was sitting on a wall waiting for him. Right as I was sitting there, a donkey charged out of the woods with a park employee chasing it. He came about five inches from crushing my feet.
Sarah Harlan
Arriving at the island was quite interestig. When we first started got here it was sticky, hot and humid. Then we saw the water ad everything was peaceful and we had no cares at all. Getting to the water ws very different from getting to the ocean in the US east coast. We walk down a mountian in a rain forest type forest then you get to the bottom there is about 2 yards of sand and then you are in the water. You go from 2 different enviroments in seconds. The water is many different shades of blue and is beautiful just like the forest beside it.
Julie Dunkleberger
As we began our venture out into Little Maho, there was not too many fish. When we got closer to the rocks, more and more fish began to come out of all the little crevices. The fish ranged in size from Scad (up to four inches) to Baracuda (about two feet) in this area. ALl these fish were beautiful with their colors varying, including blue, bright yellow, black =, silver, white and purple. Floating over one piece of coral would give you an experience of a lifetime. Many fish were swimming in and out of the numerous holes that made up the coral. As we continued to snorkel, we continued to find the beautiful creatures. Not only did we find fish, we located octopuses, crabs and varying types of corals. All of these beautiful sites left us with a wonderful and unforgettable experience.
Bill Bowen
You haven't really lived, until you've seen the gracefullness of the sea turtle. While snorkeling in Francis Bay, I got the privelage of viewing this massive creature. Just imagine snorkeling with your good friends in the bluest blue water. Now turn to your left and see this fantastic organism. The one I saw was about three feet in diameter. It had a really calm composure and it swam as if it hadn't a care in the world. It let us get pretty close too! We were about three feet from it, when it darted away into the vastness of the deep blue waters. If you ever get a chance to see one, don't pass it up. I garantee you that you won't regret it for a moment.