New England Aquarium

Getting ready to visit the New England Aquarium in Boston this Tuesday. I expect it to be really fun- 23 of us in total!- and of course we're sure to learn a lot. In addition to increasing our knowledge and understanding of ocean life I'm looking forward to getting ideas on how we're going to share this information with others. In January we'll start visiting other groups to teach what we've learned through games and other interactive tools that we will have created. We're still in our power learning phase, which will continue throughout, but next week we'll start to build curricula for sharing, and gearing up for a big community event on January 24. Save the date!

cohesive group

We had an excellent meeting this past Tuesday. I had assigned a good deal of reading and homework and everyone showed up ready to talk about coral and zooanthanelle and spawning. Really exciting stuff. I'm particularly enjoying bringing to light and discussing the interconnectedness of it all. Every part affects the whole in complex chain reactions. Humans included, of course.

The internet is as always a fabulous resource. I am very happy to find piles of short videos on a variety of coral reef topics. It's so great to be able to read about coral spawning, for example, and then see it in action.

Check out this short National Geographic video about Reef Check, the program we'll be volunteering for:
Reef Check Video

Our group seems to have stabilized. Everyone who is in is all in and tackling the required work. We have a lot more to learn in the coming weeks. We'll be visiting New England Aquarium on December 2. Then we'll spend the rest of December creating ways to share what we have learned with others. In January we'll start visiting other schools and groups to teach them what we know about the reef, its importance, and how our actions on a local level affect our global realities.

It's Coming Togther

The trip is fairly well laid out. We will fly out of Logan on Wednesday, March, 11 on American Airlines, landing in Roatan that evening via Miami and San Pedro Sula. We will return on Friday, March 20. We have reservations at the lovely and affordable Posada Arco Iris (http://www.roatanposada.com/alojamientos/index.html), and the deposit is non-refundable so we are definitely going!

I've been planning with James Foley of the Roatan Marine Park (http://www.roatanmarinepark.com/index.htm) and the vision is for the teens and I to participate in Reef Check, an international reef monitoring program. (http://www.reefcheck.org/). This will entail all of us becoming scuba certified and trained in the Reef Check methodology. There's a lot to this trip but I think it's going to be worth it.

My co-leader, Joe Seitz, will be joining me, along with his partner, Vanessa Serotta, the third adult supervisor on our team. Joe and Vanessa and I took a group to Vieques, Puerto Rico last year and are now a seasoned traveling team. I will also be bringing my daughter, Hope, who is 11. (You only have to be 10 to become scuba certified!) Hope did not come to Puerto Rico but did accompany me on my other 2 long distance North Star trips, to New Orleans in 2006 and Costa Rica in 2007.

Just now I've been working on a sponsor request form. I expect this trip to cost at least $20,000. Yikes! We're really going to need some help.