FTV January 22

This morning we departed from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico at 0800 making our way towards the island of Haiti. It was another ordinary day on the Kennedy; students worked on maintenance projects, gathered valuable classroom knowledge and stood watch. After the Cadets are finished with their daily responsibilities, some of you may be curious about the activities cadets engage in to keep them occupied on their down time. Many of the cadets will be seen in the ship’s gym lifting weights trying to prepare their beach bodies.

But as we all know the gym is not for everyone, many students will read books, watch movies, and also make their way to the ship’s mess deck, where they can grab a late night snack and can play all sorts of games from the many different card games to our favorite board games. When the night is right many students will make their way outside to star gaze and count as many shooting stars as they can. Here is a webquest where you can learn about the stars.
A select few will even choose the route of going to bed early, but as you know with college students that doesn’t happen very often. Personally, my favorite thing to do in the evenings is to indulge in an entrancing late night treat while I relax and watch a movie.

Science Wednesday:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As the ocean floor plunges off southwestern Puerto Rico, it reveals coral reefs dotted with bright-blue sea squirts and a multitude of other organisms whose existence has given hope to scientists who strive to save the island's threatened ecosystems.

The organisms are an integral part of a group of reefs discovered to be thriving near an area where most shallow coral reefs and the fish that depend on them are in poor health overall.

The reefs – at a depth of up to 500 feet (152 meters) in an area 12 miles (19 kilometers) across – were recently discovered as part of a federally funded mission to conduct research on deep-water corals, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"We stumbled across this area," Richard Appeldoorn, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez who was involved in the mission, told The Associated Press on.

Click here to read the rest of the news article.

Learn more about coral reefs 

Here’s a great video  

What Exactly is a Coral Reef? 
Use egg cartons to construct models of coral colonies showing many aspects of the cora's natural history- including the structure of coral polyps and the coral colon's colonial life style.