After releasing the
frog we went meet at the flag pole and sang the Bahamian National Anthem, now
with a flag. With our energized group, we headed out towards the beach for a
game of Nuke’Em. For several rounds one team fought valiantly but they just
weren’t meant to win. Awoken by an overly competitive game of Nuke’Em we showered
and headed to breakfast.
Instead of the
traditional American breakfast we had yesterday, today we had a Bahamian breakfast.
For breakfast today, we had a delicious Bahamian bread with a very tasty turkey
soup (Tofu for the vegetarians). After our breakfast, we split into two groups,
one working in the farm and the other working in the aquaponics.
The group that went to the
farm helped them move the chicken pen, which they rotate every couple weeks to
not wear out the ground. That meant we chased chicken around the pen and put
them in coups. Several students found new creative uses for chickens, such as a
hat!
We
even found a newly laid egg as we moved the chickens.
After helping move
the pen and clear some of the weeds around the fence we were told about 4
elusive chickens. They escaped the pen and were somewhere around the farm. Of
course we had to catch them. The hunt was on! A group of 7 students followed a
chicken into some dense bushes, where she had the upper hand. Despite our best
efforts and some scratches we were unable to catch the chicken as she was way
faster than us in the bushes.
The group that went to the
aquaponics started off transporting the tilapia over to a new cell. This is
important because as the fish produces waste, it essentially becomes nitrate
for the plants in the farm. We then began to fillet some fish. It’s not the
McDonald’s fillet-o-fish, but a live tilapia used in the farm. Today was a
harvest day and our group collected over 70 tilapia to feed everyone on the
island. Everyone was disgusted by cutting the fish and taking its meat out.
After
lunch the groups switched, so everyone had an opportunity to try everything.
The first group tried their hand at filleting fish, it wasn’t easy. Taking the
skin off is really hard, but eventually we all got the hang of it. The second
group got to try some coconuts straight off the tree.
During
our free time the whole group decided to go snorkeling. We heard about a
shipwreck 100m off the coast from our dorms, so we had to go see for ourselves.
It
was during low tide so the water wasn’t very deep, but we got to see a lot of
different fish and coral. The most impressive specimen was a huge starfish.
After dinner we saw
a fascinating presentation about the restoration of coral reefs by a professor staying
at the Cape Eleuthera Institute. She spoke to us about her efforts to restore reefs while also teaching
us about how humans are impacting them.
Hopefully the fish
smell will wear off tomorrow, and we will see that fish during lunch.
Ready for Bed,
Tyler and Zain
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