Over the weekend, SCUBAnauts from across Florida traveled down to Summerland Key to spend three days working alongside the scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration. The trip was packed — two...

The focus of this trip was to engage in science related to shipwrecks in the Great Lakes (specifically Lake Huron). The water was extremely cold, but the shipwrecks underwater were worth the freezing temperatures.

These shipwrecks varied in size and shape, background, location, etc. Each one had a story to tell about where it came from or why it sank. It was so incredible to experience the cold-water diving, which is something most Nauts are not used to, since most SCUBAnauts opportunities to dive are located in the warmer waters.

Everything that we had taken part of the past week was already a huge step towards helping the ocean recover; the coral work, the data collection, and the debris cleanup dives. SCUBAnauts has done more than educate me about marine sciences—it has given me a community of likeminded thinkers and people I now consider my best friends, and I know that we are all working towards protecting our oceans.

This trip truly changed my life. I cherish the memory of every moment, because there was no place or time I can remember myself happier. When I’m struggling to finish my calculus homework, or my AP US History notes, I think about this trip, because it gave me a glimpse of what I want my future to look like.

After the pool training day, FSU-PC took us to a dock by the City Marina and taught us about underwater navigation and communications in the full face mask. I am still, even after a day, so amazed by all the work they do with the full face masks, and how sonars are used to navigate things underwater. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with and gain so much knowledge from amazing leaders.