Archives for August 2018

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Central Caribbean Marine Institute Week 1 Part 3

August 21, 2018 by Nicole Deck Leave a Comment

My first open water dive on a coral reef. Two dives at Cumbers Reef in Little Cayman. The fish and coral were so beautiful and the size of the reef and quality was mind-blowing. Once back in the classroom, I was able to ID some of the fish and other organisms I saw on the reef. This includes a Southern Stingray being followed by a Jack and a Hogfish, French Angelfish, juvenile spotted drum, fairy basslet, Nassau grouper, princess parrotfish, spotlight parrotfish (juvenile and adult), Hawksbill sea turtle, reef shark, nurse shark, longjaw squirrel fish, blue-headed wrasse, creole wrasse, Cassiopeia Andromeda, black durgon, and many more.

After the dives, back in the classroom, we studied coral morphology and worked on ID of local coral species. After the lecture, the class and I went for a snorkel in Grape Tree Bay to practice our coral ID skills. I also saw one of my new favorite fish, a juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish!

Central Caribbean Marine Institute- Week 1 Part 2

August 20, 2018 by Nicole Deck Leave a Comment

My first full day at CCMI. Enjoyed snorkeling on the coral reef right outside of CCMI. Amazing coral, beautiful fish, lobsters. I saw the most amazing fish, a juvenile yellowtail damselfish. It had a laterally flattened body, almost looked like an angel fish, with a dark blue body with bright white spots. The fish was only the size of a quarter, but caught my eye right away.

The sunset over the water was a moment I will never forget. Gil, a senior staff member, explained that the red haze seen over the water at sunset was dust blowing over from Africa.

Super excited to go scuba diving tomorrow!!!

Central Caribbean Marine Institute- Week 1 Part 1

August 20, 2018 by Nicole Deck Leave a Comment

Arrived at CCMI today. Today was one of the longest travel days of have ever endured, leaving from house at 5a.m. and reaching CCMI just before 6p.m. The flight from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman was on the smallest plane I have ever been on. The sights from the plane windows over looking Grand Cayman and Little Cayman were incredible. Gil, senior staff of CCMI, picked me and Sharron up at the airport in Little Cayman and on the way to CCMI gave us the grand tour of the island. One grocery store, one liquor store, a post office, a bank, realtor office, a couple small resorts, and plenty of land crabs crossing the road. We also saw one of the native rock iguanas in the road on our way over. The staff was super welcoming and provided a great dinner after all of our traveling.

Buddy Bears of Berlin

August 15, 2018 by Sarah Cheung Leave a Comment

An interesting thing I noticed when I traveled and explored Berlin was that bears were all over the city. Differently painted bears, but most of them were in the same position with paws up and identical sizes. I took pictures of as many as I could, and a lot were inside buildings of the third or fourth floors. The bears were bought by businesses or stores and displayed with the local artists’ work all over.

Going into a souvenir shop, they were also selling miniature sized bears in the same art as the real, life-sized ones. The employee told me that there’s a website documenting the locations of the bears: https://www.buddy-baer.com/classic-buddy-bears/events-in-cities/berlin.html

So why bears? The city of Berlin has the black bear as its mascot, which is pretty cool. These art installations are called “buddy bears” and they stand as symbols for tolerance and “Weltoffenheit” (world openness). They’re made of fiberglass and stand up with arms raised as a sign of positivity and friendliness. It all started from an artistic event where displays of these bears were shown to the public. From then on, private businesses own a lot of their own buddy bears all over the city.

Green spaces everywhere

August 10, 2018 by Sarah Cheung Leave a Comment

We’ve been walking around Berlin for a couple of days now-about 12 miles average per day. It’s the most I’ve ever walked in a week, let alone each day. My feet are killing me but the sights are really worth it. Berlin seems incredibly huge compared to New York City and the open spaces are plentiful. While not all the parks are well maintained (sometimes intentionally), there are still so many merits to them.

We’ve visited parts of Tiergarten, a mix of naturally overgrown areas combined with well-maintained gardens within. This place is huge! Walking through it reminded me of Central Park, although it’s definitely different. The areas are less manicured, and not nearly as much maintenance going into it as Central Park has. There are also no designated bike lanes within the park, and no regular motor vehicular access.

Everywhere in Berlin, there are so many examples of the community incorporating green design into their everyday lives. The paving in driveways are pervious surfaces, with some even having grass sections. Some homes have their recycling and trash bins underneath a “roof” of succulents-a neat idea!

Exploring this vast city is a lot of fun and convenient with its clean, straightforward public transportation system. Everywhere is connected seemingly, and no site is too far to visit within the day.

We also visited an exhibition forest, Wald. Berlin. Klima. It was interesting to see the different perspectives used within the real life proportions of the space and living nature. I included some pictures below, along with some of the signs that explained the meanings behind the separate exhibitions.