Today we headed off to the South Shore with a forecast of scattered showers in the afternoon and evening. As I've indicated before, this is not one of my favorite trips as it is a long moped ride with only a slight chance of a great snorkel at Church Bay. The view however, is always spectacular. Today, even a bit more of an adventure as the scattered showers came early in the day. Even though the mopeds are traveling at 35 km per hour, when it rains, it feels as though your face is being hit with sleet. When we got to Church Bay, we (me and my co-instructors Todd and Jamie) had a nice lunch on the beach while the students remained up in the parking area. I think this might have occurred as Todd & I were scouting the area trying to decide if we could get in the water and what the weather might hold, the students, apparently famished, began eating their lunches. When we started our way down to the beach, they elected not to come with. This might, in retrospect, be the beginning of the end as a mutiny was soon launched.
After they finished lunch, we were informed that they had decided unanimously to abandon the snorkel and go to Crystal Caves. This as the sun was breaking out and the storm clouds were leaving the south side of the island. The students seemed somewhat taken back that we did not agree. Students do not have to snorkel at any given site - but Crystal Caves - on your non-academic time please.
Most everyone did get in the water; it was pretty choppy and not great snorkeling. The water temperature was quite pleasant and at least I had a nice swim. The weather turned nice for the rest of the trip home, which was a relief as I did not want to watch the students navigate wet roads (navigating round abouts with buses was frightening enough today - at dinner I invoked the words shared with me by a wise Chicago policeman near Wrigley - never challenge a bus).
The afternoon was beautiful, sunny, warm and fairly calm waters at the beaches near the station. With Crystal Caves still on their minds, a group of four headed out. They returned a little later with our first case of moped road rash. The student is fine, a little scraped up. Apparently she was somewhat nervous about passing cars and got too close to the side of the road and clipped her mirror on something - splat. The Bermudians were quite helpful as were the people at Crystal Caves. Somewhat shocked by the ticket price ($20) they returned home. Luckily I did not see and one of the four students was a first responder. Maybe tomorrow they will start working on their research projects.
Our stops on the way to Church Bay included one at the world famous Spittal Pond intertidal area. Just to give you a glimpse of some of the exciting wildlife and research potential, I include the clip below with live sound. Hmmm, in hindsight maybe I better understand the motivation for the mutiny.
After they finished lunch, we were informed that they had decided unanimously to abandon the snorkel and go to Crystal Caves. This as the sun was breaking out and the storm clouds were leaving the south side of the island. The students seemed somewhat taken back that we did not agree. Students do not have to snorkel at any given site - but Crystal Caves - on your non-academic time please.
Most everyone did get in the water; it was pretty choppy and not great snorkeling. The water temperature was quite pleasant and at least I had a nice swim. The weather turned nice for the rest of the trip home, which was a relief as I did not want to watch the students navigate wet roads (navigating round abouts with buses was frightening enough today - at dinner I invoked the words shared with me by a wise Chicago policeman near Wrigley - never challenge a bus).
The afternoon was beautiful, sunny, warm and fairly calm waters at the beaches near the station. With Crystal Caves still on their minds, a group of four headed out. They returned a little later with our first case of moped road rash. The student is fine, a little scraped up. Apparently she was somewhat nervous about passing cars and got too close to the side of the road and clipped her mirror on something - splat. The Bermudians were quite helpful as were the people at Crystal Caves. Somewhat shocked by the ticket price ($20) they returned home. Luckily I did not see and one of the four students was a first responder. Maybe tomorrow they will start working on their research projects.
Our stops on the way to Church Bay included one at the world famous Spittal Pond intertidal area. Just to give you a glimpse of some of the exciting wildlife and research potential, I include the clip below with live sound. Hmmm, in hindsight maybe I better understand the motivation for the mutiny.
I also just realized that I need to stop looking at the time on my computer - EST - 11:30 pm at the moment - proofreading will have to wait until tomorrow. Off to North Rock via boat at 9:00 am - weather permitting.
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