Ella ’26 and Rose ’26, share the groups first day activities; including a stingray sighting, enjoying fresh coconut water, and ending the day with a lesson on coral and stargazing on the beach.
We started off the day on a great note– 6:30am wakeup to a rainy day! We then met up outside our dorms with the rest of our group and took vans to the Island School boathouse to complete our swim test at 7:00am. Ilsa, Sophie, and ourselves took the leap to swim first which included swimming 50 yards to a buoy and treading water for five minutes in one of Eleuthera’s many beautiful coves. As we were about three minutes into treading the water, we had a special friend join us… a stingray! Murph, our counsellor, taught us that when we see any nature that we want the group to notice and appreciate, we should call out “NAMmy”, standing for “nature appreciation moment”.
Following our swim test, we walked back to the boathouse, changed into dry clothes, and headed over to the dining hall for a yummy breakfast. This is when the rain picked up, so we dashed back to the dorms, trying to stay as dry as possible (everyone forgot their rain jackets). The rain continued as we walked around campus for a tour. Our highlight was definitely seeing the cute pigs and noisy chickens, as well as drinking fresh coconut water and low key eating the coconut meat.
After lunch, the weather cleared up and we headed out on boats to catch sharks for research. Unfortunately, no sharks were caught but many memories were made out on the water. On the way back to campus, we stopped by the marina and were able to see several bull, nurse, and reef sharks up close. Upon our arrival back, we were able to have some free time to bond as a group, go swimming, and play beach volleyball. Tonight for dinner we had Taco Tuesday, a fan favorite amongst both the Deerfield and Island School students, and wrapped up our day with a lesson on coral and stargazing on the beach.
