Snorkelling on ship wrecks and coral reefs

A wonderful day filled with snorkelling, field trips and Friday-tacos!

The day started off as usual when we are in a port; with breakfast and then crew gathering on deck. Starboard, my watch, had work shift today but it was an easy day to have shift because we wouldn't be on board Gunilla for more than a couple of hours. On today's schedule for the science students was a visit to BIOS, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, and a snorkelling trip. The sea farers were going to get bus tickets and that way be able to explore Bermuda on their own.

But first of all we were invited on a guided tour on board of our port neighbours, T/S Danmark. This impressive three master is a training ship for Danish sea farers, who are mustered on the boat during three month's time (but during that time do the same voyage Gunilla makes in one year). Danmark has a crew of over 90 crew members, and she really does make quite the impression. Life on board her seems to be a completely different one compared to Gunilla though. The trainees on Danmark sleep in hammocks, 40 people in a space as big as the big mess on Gunilla. Everything on board Danmark shines, from the polished wood interior to the brass details. Trainees always wear uniform that vary depending on the task, and they scrub their uniforms by hand on deck every day. The trainees cell phones are locked up on the bridge, and are only handed out on free days in port once every third week.

After the visit on Danmark we quickly packed our togs, because then us science students were picked up by boat by BIOS. Well arrived at BIOS we got to listen to a lecture about plastic in the oceans, something we will be learning more about next school year. We ate our lunch that we had brought (which lay in a plastic container wrapped in cling foil and which we ate with plastic cutlery) and then those who wanted to could borrow a wet suit. Then we got back into the boat and went to a ship wreck, where we stopped for some snorkelling. Snorkelling, too, was part of a school assignment linked to marine biology and we will be writing a scientific report about the finds we made today. With the cyclops on you could discover heaps of species of corals and fish, and that was really cool! We also visited another snorkelling site a bit further out from the shore where there was a coral reef. The boat ride back to Gunilla took about half an hour, and then those who didn't have watch were free to go ashore.

Like I said I had work shift today, but there wasn't much work to do because by the time we got back it was 4 pm and we started cleaning right away. Two other students and I were kitchen helpers, so we started preparing dinner. We did a lot of vegetable chopping because we were eating tacos for dinner, just like it's supposed to be on Fridays.

It's been an action filled and fun day!

Janne Schilling, Starboard