Today is our final day with the New England Aquarium summer program and students began the day by remembering their goals for the trip.  We started our day with a field day and students cleaned the Ernestina from top to bottom.  By midmorning the watches were ready to present their science projects to the group.  Each watch presented their hypothesis, their results, a conclusion, and discussed the possible errors in their experiment.  There were some great graphs, maps, and drawings of copepods, a zoea, and a megalops.  These science projects gave students the chance to collect real data and go through the scientific method.  At the same time, it gave them an understanding of some of the factors that influence our world’s oceans.  With science presentations complete, we filled out some program evaluations and cast off the heat with a swim call.

After lunch we hauled back the anchor and began motoring the rest of the way into Boston Harbor.  Students were split into two teams as part of the Ernestina Olympics: team spaghetti and team lasagna.  The teams competed in three competitions, a line chase, pictionary, and Ernestina charades.  Miraculously, there was a tie between the two teams of 1.378.  Every student proved how much they had learned over the last few days and we had a moment of silence as we returned to the dock.

After some closing comments and the handing out of certificates, the crew decided we would have to turn the participants back over to their families waiting on the dock (despite our desperate plot to sail away with them to Bermuda).

The crew from the Ernestina want to send a big thank you to Dana and Dave, the chaperones, for all their help and hard work over the week.  As chaperones, they both set the example for the students, and their actions created excitement and a willingness to learn in every participant.  They definitely made the crews’ job easier and we look forward to seeing them back onboard in the future.  In addition, we want to congratulate and thank all the students onboard for their dedication and hard work over the past week, they all became salty sailor, and we hope we’ll see them again in the future as part of our extended Ernestina family.

Program Coordinator: Gretchen Stuppy
Captain: Sophie Morse

The final run into the dock at Fan Pier.

A final presentation of a science investigation during the trip.

Group Shot at Fan Pier. Great Trip!