I experienced a vast amount of things going to the Cook Islands; it is almost hard to even put into words. I was able to go snorkeling several times, which I had only done once before this trip. I was in awe seeing all of the coral, beautiful organisms, and clear waters; I am […]
Unstranding Stranded Oil Venoco’s Ellwood Onshore Facility and Mobile Line 96 has had a bunch of pent up oil since the May 19 pipeline break (and associated shutdown) of the Plains All American Pipeline. Shutting down the Plains All American main pipeline stranded oil in upstream feeder lines. Venoco was finally granted permission to use… Read more »
The Cook Islands definitely delivered when it came to giving us ample research opportunities. In particular, the Reef Team was able to travel all over the lagoon in Aitutaki studying and surveying reefs. From less than a meter to over 6 meters deep, the reefs provided us with a multitude of species to learn and […]
I wanted to toss up a quick post to clear up something we were talking about earlier in our trip. We had several conversations earlier regarding the challenges of crown-of-thorn starfish (Acanthaster planci; often called simply “COTS”) surrounding their purported colonial nature. This was a misconception. The original stepping off point was the comment that this […]
I am so lucky to have been able to go on this research trip. The experience was amazing and I will never forget the beautiful Cook Islands. The people there are extremely welcoming and kind, the water was clear and beautiful, the marine life was spectacular. I learned so many new things and have […]
Isnt it funny how before one takes off to a place unknown they picture it in a different light than it may actually be presented in, & one may visualize things that may not even be present when succumbed to the environment itself? When I arrived in Aitutaki my initial thought was that it felt […]
One thing that I thought that was truly amazing about our time on the capital island (Rarotonga) was the big dance competition they had. I thought it would have been a lot more fun if we could have seen some more of that or to learn a quick little routine. I really thought it was […]
Snorkeling in the Cook Islands was by far the most amazing experience of the entire trip. If you go snorkeling or diving off the coast of Southern California, you will see luscious kelp forests and lots of marine life. The marine life in the Cook Islands was definitely different than the marine life seen off […]
Today the AARR team set out to conduct the first reef surveys using ROVs on Aitutaki. The beginning of the day started out a little rough with one of the ROVs flooding which forced the team to return to base to grab the back up unit. Once back underway, a total of five surveys were […]
One thing I wish I got the chance to do more of was snorkeling at while we were in Rarotonga. The lagoon tour that we did was really quite amazing. The water was light blue and unbelievably clear; it is the kind of water I never thought I would see in person let alone snorkel in. […]
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