Descending into madness and darkness 🦇

 Ahoy Mateys!

Buckle up, today is a special day. It is Madi and Morgan blog takeover day! Today we will take you through an exciting 24 hours on San Salvador, checking in for live on the scene updates. There will be adventures, there will be drama, there will be tears! Hold on to your hats and loved ones, this might get intense. 

8:17 AM: This is Madi and Morgan Reporting live from room K. We have just returned from breakfast, where we were pleasantly surprised with a new treat: blueberry muffins! This was first for us on the island, and we all savored our delicious pastries. Today also marks the first day that we are almost the only people on campus! It is slightly eerie, and we have moved to the big center table in the cafeteria to assert our dominance. Currently, we are scrambling to put on our perpetually damp swim suits, and lathering up with our various lotions and potions (in general, the magic formula is 1 layer of sun screen- reef safe, of course, 1 layer of your oil of choice to stop the pesky noseeums in their tracks (perhaps coconut oil…others prefer baby oil), and a generous full body spritz of bug spray). We are about to embark on a VERY exciting adventure- the lighthouse and the cave!!! Mike has prepared us for the worst, warning that it will be hot and humid and full of spiders and bats (great heavens….). Despite his warnings of imminent treachery, we march on, and gather at our new vehicle, truck Y. Some of us miss our rickety but faithful truck G that has carried us across the island so many times this trip, but this lamenting subsides as we realize we don’t have to be thigh to thigh with each other anymore. And now we’re off! We shall check in post-adventure. 

12:27 PM: Post adventure here, WOW! FANTASTIC! SPECTACULAR! The lighthouse and the cave were a total hit. We started our adventure at the lighthouse, splitting up into two groups as Mike doubted the structural integrity of the building and the spaciousness. Group one (including your beautiful authors) trekked up the series of steep incline steps to the top. Here, we ventured out of the wee hobbit door and held onto our hats as we faced the horrid wind. It was 26mph today—omg! After taking some hilarious pictures (see below), group one climbed down and group two climbed up. Madi and Morgan must confess we have no idea what group two did up in the lighthouse, we were too busy communing with the goats and petting the dog. 

After our time in the house of light, we ventured through the jungle-esque thicket of overgrown brush, being led by our doggie tour guide, who Mike informed us was named Mikey by his previous Bahamas class. Madi told Mike to use a spider stick, but he insisted on using his bald head to clear the path for the rest of us. At the end of the trail, we were greeted with an ominous hole in ye ol ground with a rickety old ladder, descending into complete darkness. SPOOKY 👻. One by one, we disappeared into the earth, wondering if we would ever return to the surface. 

A haiku written by your authors:

Step by step we go 

Into the darkness below 

What is there? Who knows…

We gather at the mouth of the cave, donning our feet with booties and our heads with headlamps. Mike lit the way with fluorescent twine to mark our path (he said this was just a psychological trick, so that if anyone became frightened, they could follow the string back home). We began to wade through the cool waters, admiring the stalactites hanging above us (Cooper refrained from licking one that had an intriguing green hue). A few people had some gnarly run-ins with sneaky underwater rocks that ruthlessly came for our shins and kneecaps. After 150 feet of doggy paddling, water parkour, and knocked noggins, we arrived at the end of the cave- a magnificent roomy cavern. It was here that we turned all of our headlamps and lights off and (tried) to have a moment of complete peaceful silence. Some members of our group struggled with this task, Mike included, who decided to make peeing noises by trickling water out of his hands (ew Mike, I thought we were all adults here). Abby tried to lionfish me (Madi) in the darkness, but failed as I was too sturdy in my stance (ha!). After our moments of sensory deprivation, we began to meander back towards the entrance, following the yellow brick twine. Mike said to NOT go left, so we all went left to explore and unlock new caverns and convene with the bats. Eventually, we all found our way back, and tried not to think about what the brown stuff on our hands could be (a thought which was difficult to suppress, as bats swarmed in the distance). To all those who may be concerned that we are having too much fun here, we must report that amidst our amusement, we are CONSTANTLY learning (which is also fun!). For example, in the cave, we talked about how caves are often formed by dissolution of calcium carbonate over a very long time! The cave we were in today has formed over the course of 120,000 years!! I bet that’s older than most of you. The porous nature of the island results in the cave flooding every day, so we had to time our excursion with the tides, as to not endanger our precious lives. After reflecting on our learning, we mounted the ladder and extended our arms towards the sun in joyous relief, as we thought we may never feel its warm embrace again. We headed back through the thicket, some members of our crew pocketing air plants from the surrounding trees to bring back home. We washed our dirty little digits in what Mike described as the nicest bathroom on the island (it did not disappoint!) and found ourselves back on truck Y. 

After a smorgasbord lunch of leftover fried rice and ham, pizza for those lucky to be in line first, tuna fish, and yummy, juicy fresh fruit (thank you barge!!!!), we showered off the remnants of the cave. Now, we gear up to start the more academic portion of our day, with figure analyses and group project work lying ahead of us. We will check back in later this evening, don’t go anywhere. 

2:18 PM: This Madi reporting solo on the scene in the classroom. Morgan is beside me, hard at work and looking very studious as she reads our paper about the trophic niches of burrowing shrimp. I’m just here to report that I’m trying very hard to focus on this reading but my poor legs, specifically my poor right leg, even more specifically my poor right foot is oh so itchy from bug bites and it is hard to focus on the task at hand! Trying my hand at Mike’s “noseeum meditation” but I’m not sure if I am strong enough…must scratch….. okay enough lollygagging, it’s shrimp time. 

8:18 PM: Wow, what a day. We have just finished our class for the night, in which we talked about our shrimp paper! Mike had many gripes with it, as did we. The researchers in this study used stable isotope analysis (looking at stable isotopes Carbon and Nitrogen in shrimp muscle) to determine the different dietary preferences of 3 species of burrowing shrimp (here on this very island!). It turns out that these shrimp are able to coexist on this island due to the fact that they occupy slightly different trophic niches. Very cool! 

Our class was preceded by our nightly viewing of the photos Mike graciously takes of us throughout the day. Oh the laughs we had! He really captured us in our true elements in the cave today. 

Currently, we sit, reflecting on our glorious dinner, as it would not be a Marine Ecology blog post without a lengthy account of our daily supper intake. Today the kitchen staff graced us with *drum roll* meatloaf #3, puréed potatoes, the beans of the greenest green that have ever blessed thy eyes, and sugared carrot coins. We washed it all down with orange colored beverage, and the crowd pleasing yellow cake with chocolate ganache. Truly a chefs kiss moment, bon appetit! To top this amazing meal off, the wind danced for us outside, making the palm trees shake and the shutters of the windows rattle. We were all in awe of this show of mother nature’s raw power, however, Kathy Gerace remained unphased. We can only hope to be more like her someday, letting the trials and tribulations of life wash over us like waves on the sand. 

8:38 PM: yes, we are still here. We are truly devoted to bringing you the cream of the crop of blog posts. We’re even sitting out on a game night to tirelessly craft this novel. 

We must wrap this up now, so we will leave you with this urgent message. As the winds turned on us today, and the island became dark and enraged, Mike informed us that we must sacrifice someone to the island. Comment down below who you think we should offer to the sea to appease this great island of San Salvador. 

It has truly been a pleasure,

Madi and Morgan🪳❤️

(Yours truly)