It’s that time here at the School for Field Studies. We’ve just finished up our
first case study and our first set of tests. For our first case study we tried to
figure out whether or not the lobster and conch stocks here are over-fished
and, if the are, to figure out a way to prevent this from continuing. We have also
been taking three classes--Marine Ecology, Environmental Policy, and
Resource Management. These classes have helped us to understand the
ecology of the area.
Today we had three tests that required us to take everything we’ve learned so
far and apply it to the ecology of South Caicos. As a you know, many things
you learn about are far away from you. Here we are learning about our very
own backyard.
The exams lasted for a total of four hours, and almost everyone did well on
them. We have all worked very hard and are looking forward to our vacation in
the Dominican Republic. Vacation will be a chance for us to relax so that we
will be ready for our next case study when we get back.
Water Conservation
Heather Ludemann
We finally had our first rain storm! On Friday, around noon, a huge group of
dark clouds came in from the south. As the clouds approached the island, the
ocean waves became bigger, crashing on the rocks nearby . Then it began to
rain really hard, and all of the students ran out into it to play.
Unfortunately, it only rained for 15 minutes. I say unfortunately, because there
is very little fresh water on the island. All of the water we use to shower, wash
clothes, cook with and drink is rainwater, and we have to conserve it as much
as possible. We wash our clothes and really dirty dishes with salt water, and
there is salt water in our toilets! We only take one shower a week, because it
has not rained in so long! All of our fresh water is caught by a cistern, and the
water drains into a small cement building where it is stored until we need it.
Then the water is filtered to get out any unhealthy bacteria before we use it.
