It’s like stepping outside into hot orange juice. The Florida humidity is thick and muggy. I’ve spent time in humid places before but for some reason, I feel like I’m going to melt here.

I’m in Florida to join the South Florida Caribbean Network (SFCN) dive team; A group of NPS scientists who inventory and monitor natural resources in Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and the US Virgin Islands.

Dr. Mike Feeley of the SFCN has invited me out on their 10-day trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) to conduct lobster surveys. The SFCN has long-term data on coral reefs, seagrasses, and fishes in the Florida and Caribbean parks, but these lobster surveys are a new addition to their dataset, and this is the first year they are surveying in the Dry Tortugas.

The Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is one of the most economically important fisheries in Florida. Dry Tortugas has been a no-take zone for lobster since 1974, today the lobster is under substantial recreational and commercial fishing pressure, including within park boundaries further north in the Keys at Biscayne National Park. The SFCN is hoping to gather data on population density, size, and biological condition of adult Caribbean spiny lobsters. The data collected by the SFCN will then be used to inform park managers of the status of spiny lobsters within their park boundaries and evaluate any potential management actions.

My first day in Florida and immediately I connect with the SFCN crew in Miami, catching a ride with Mike Feeley and Lee Richter as they trailer the 27-foot power cat, Twin Vee, down the Keys. Rob Waara and the two SFCN University of Miami interns Allison Kreyer and Davis Richmond are provisioning for our journey, and we will all meet up in Key West.

It is my first time in the Keys. Atlantic Ocean on one side and Florida Bay and Gulf of Mexico on the other. I notice the painted fish murals, oversized marine creature sculptures, and abundance of anything fishing related. We make a stop at Denny’s café and I get to experience my first real Cubano and café con leche. We then drive the 7-mile bridge and I keep an eye out for the mini deer that inhabit Big Pine Key.

There are thousands of lobster pots lining the road on the way down. Lee explains how they have a “mini-season” where for two days at the end of July before the commercial and recreational fishery opens, the Keys are overrun with upwards of 50,000 people looking to catch lobster. This blows my mind. How could this ever be sustainable? Lee describes how the Keys are situated at this perfect location for lobster recruitment. Larval lobster get sucked up from the rest of the Caribbean by the Gulf Stream and settle in the good juvenile habitat in Florida Bay which is protected from lobstering. Then, as they get older, they migrate out to the deeper reefs. This is one reason why it will be interesting to compare data from Biscayne (legal to lobster in some parts) and Dry Tortugas (illegal to lobster). 5 hours later we arrive in Key West with its pastel-hued wooden Victorian/Caribbean-style houses.

The crew is staying at the Naval base at Trumbo Point where the park boat M/V Fort Jefferson is docked. I had planned to stay with them, but my US passport isn’t acceptable identification and I’m not allowed on base. Mike helps me find a decently priced place in Key West right off Duvall St. A bit of a hassle but the free happy hour wine at the hotel makes up for it. We go out for pizza dinner as a crew. The next morning after another few hours of trouble, Mike manages to get me on base, and once onboard the Fort Jefferson, we shove off, heading 70 miles west out into the Gulf to the Dry Tortugas National Park. Fort Jefferson is a 110-foot park boat used to transport staff and supplies between Dry Tortugas and Key West. It will be our home for this trip, the mothership. We are towing the 27′ Twin Vee behind, she will be the runabout during the dive days. Brian Lariviere is the one-man captain and crew on this voyage.

It takes us four hours to make the crossing to the Tortugas. After leaving Key West there is the occasional mangrove-covered key and then nothing on the horizon but a brown booby chasing flying fish disturbed by our wake. Davis spots it first, a lighthouse on Loggerhead Key and then the low-lying unnatural structure on Garden Key. Fort Jefferson itself, a 19th-century brick-work fort. The channel circles around the west side of the key and we dock on the south. NPS folks lounge in the shade, ready to catch dock lines; boys fish off the pier, frigatebirds, and terns are circling overhead and it is hot. Rob Waara and I get in the water with our scuba gear to complete the open water portion of my Blue Card certification. I’m in swim trunks and a rash guard, it feels unnatural coming from diving in the Pacific Northwest. We submerge and immediately see a lemon shark. It’s a quick dive, I complete the tasks and climb up the ladder on the Twin Vee. “Dude, how’d you miss the Goliath?” Rob asks with a grin. “What!?” I jump back in with my mask. Sure enough, a goliath grouper is just hanging out right under the Twin Vee. I’m frothing, this place is rad.

It’s day one of surveys and Lee gives us the briefing. The SFCN wants to hit more than 100 sites in the next 10 days. The sites are randomly selected and they can be anywhere there is potential lobster habitat. This means some sites are 80 ft. deep with towering, complex structures while other sites are in 10 feet of water with low relief hardbottom and rubble. On each dive, we will be surveying two side-by-side 15m diameter plots. Each diver is responsible for searching for lobsters in their half of the circle and collecting abiotic data such as rugosity and percent cover of substrate for the whole survey area. Once a lobster is found, we estimate its size before we try to capture it with a tickle stick and net. We learn later in the week that this works best with help from your dive buddy. If we successfully capture the lobster, we can collect actual measurements of the carapace and more biological data such as if it’s a female with eggs.

These first couple of days we are joined by DRTO divers Karli Hollister and Amelia Lynch. Since there are eight of us, we split the crew between two boats. I am in the Munson, the DRTO dive boat, with Lee, Karli, and Davis. We head to Pulaski shoal to find some lobsters. I submerge and am immediately distracted by all of the fish, gorgonians, and sponges. For the last couple of years all my diving has taken place in the Pacific Northwest so I’m feeling a little spoiled to be diving with no weight, no dry suit, and the ability to see more than five feet in front of my face.

Luckily on this first dive, we find a lobster and all get the chance to practice capturing it. I learn that with the tickle stick, you want to get it behind the lobster and give them some gentle pressure on their tail so they slowly walk forward out of their hidey-hole, and then you can get the net behind them. If you’re too aggressive they may take off backwards with their powerful tail and you might not get the chance to catch them again as they move deeper into their cave.

It’s a daily fun surprise to see what kind of habitat we’re going to get as we explore all over the park. We’re out on the water from about 9 to 4 every day. While the Munson crew is cruising with six to eight dives, the Twin Vee crew is busier, getting in ten dives a day. Some days I catch a couple lobsters, other days I don’t see a single one.

It’s so difficult for me to not get distracted by all the fish on our dives. I feel lucky to have Lee, the fish expert, to answer all my questions. You can almost count on having a friendly red grouper every dive hanging out and checking out what’s going on, trying to eat the juvenile lobsters you’re trying to measure. The SFCN crew tells me that I won’t see big fish like the ones here down in the Virgin Islands.

On our second day, Lee and I have an incredible site with dense coral coverage, which also makes it difficult to search. We’re upside down, peaking under the ledges and shining our lights deep into the caverns. Lee points out a beautiful spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus) which we are also counting in our data. They are much harder to spot as they always seem to be as deep as possible in their cave and holding onto the ceiling.

Day four and we’re hitting our stride and have a couple of logistical successes. Brian fixed the water maker on board the Fort Jefferson, and the Makai, the other research vessel supporting the DRTO divers is rafted up to Fort Jefferson; she has an air compressor on board and fills all of our tanks with Nitrox which will help us hit more of our deep sites.  

On day five, Karli and Amelia go back to Key West, and Mike, Rob, Lee, Davis, Allison and I are all on the Twin Vee for the rest of the trip. The Munson crew is now in the big leagues. Mike gives us the morning briefing, dive plan, and point of contact on DRTO and Davis gives us the weather. As a PNW boy, these tropical storms are fascinating to me. You can see the thunderheads form when you’re out on the water and today we got a good one. Halfway through our dive day an ominous wall of darkness and rain in the east forms and starts heading towards us and the fort. Mike checks the live weather forecasting and sees a blob of red and lightning bolts. “That’s not good” he says, and we speed back to the fort watching a waterspout form and touch down in the distance. So crazy. We make it back to the dock as the wind picks up and the lightning and thunder arrive. I love the color of the dark sky and the churned-up green water, no longer that tropical blue.

After a full day of dives, when we return to the dock, Rob and Allison usually go fill tanks while the rest of us organize data sheets, rinse gear, and prepare for the next day. In the later afternoon, only NPS staff and campers are left on the island and this is when I get to wander the Fort and snorkel the moat wall.  

Fort Jefferson was built between 1846 and 1875 to protect the shipping channel between the Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Supply and subsidence problems and the Civil War delayed construction and the fort was never completed.

I would say Dry Tortugas is inhospitable for humans. Any place where you must bring in fuel to run generators in order to run AC for people to survive is a harsh environment. I feel like I’m always getting too much sun and not enough water. It’s even too hot to fill SCUBA tanks in the middle of the day as the air compressor will overheat.

I wander the different levels of the fort imagining the massive undertaking and slave labor it took to lay each one of these bricks. While it’s too hot for me, some of nature has found its niche and a way to survive. I love the Buttonwood trees that fill the inside of the fort, they’re so gnarled, I wonder how old they are. Right next door is Bush Key with its constant cacophony that is hard to ignore; the only significant nesting colony of sooty terns and brown noddies in the continental US. After dark, Brian loans us interns a blacklight and we go hunt for scorpions in the bricks of the fort. Allison and I also go for a night snorkel around Garden Key and the moat wall to see basket stars and octopus. Brian set up an outdoor shower on the deck. There is something really special about taking a cold shower in the warm night air with the stars, loud birds, boat generator, and flashes of lightning all around in the distance.

It’s day seven and Brian gets us going with his good morning playlist. We’ve gotten into a good rhythm; we will get nine dives a day on the Twin Vee and the weather is behaving. We have multiple days of glass out on the water which means the 90-degree air temperature is that much hotter and it’s a relief to jump into the 86-degree water. The Twin Vee bumps the tunes on the surface intervals, I made the mistake of changing the channel from the Dave Matthews Band while Mike was enjoying them, he was shocked (sorry Mike). Snacks also become very important. I look forward to the Wickle pickles on my sandwiches and the frozen peanut butter m&m’s for when we finish the day.

“Let’s get them bugs!” becomes our mantra. I really enjoy the dives on the west side of Loggerhead Key. There are some deep, murky dives with big rocky formations. It becomes known as Mordor. You see lots of fish and the occasional Goliath grouper. It is sad to see the massive coral heads covered in algae and biofilm. Mike points out brain corals, 100s of years of growth now dead, wiped out by coral disease just within the last few years.

Day nine and Mike and I have our most lobster-heavy dive of the trip. Bug City is on a rock wall. The outside edge of our cylinder plot was around 65 feet deep where the wall hit the sand and then the other edge of the cylinder was in 35 feet of water. It’s murky and the wall is full of caves that you can’t see the end of. In total, Mike and I find 12 lobsters on this dive. It was exhilarating. Mike found a large lobster molt that we brought back to the surface and added to our other mascot, Larry the lobster, created by Lee from the foil of our sandwiches. A fisherman gives Brian a bucket full of yellowtail and Brian generously shares his fish with us. Lee and Rob filet, while the Goliath groupers and Lemon sharks come to snack at the cleaning station. We have a nice big family dinner. All week we have been sharing dinner duties. Davis, Rob and Allison make a mean Thanksgiving dinner and Brinner (breakfast dinner). Lee does burritos and Mike ‘cheffed’ it up with his first red curry. Tonight Rob makes an awesome ceviche and Brian uses his Ninja to fry up some fish with a mix of TJ’s hippie chick seasonings. The big lobster molt is our center dining piece.

I catch one last sunset from the top of the fort; watch the tarpon patrol the outside of the moat wall, the Frigatebirds coasting overhead, the sooty terns serenading with their cacophony of voices. In total, we dived 106 sites and recorded 131 lobsters. At first glance, the lobster population density looks similar to Biscayne, but the lobsters in the Dry Tortugas appear to be a much larger average size. We’ll see after the data is analyzed. This is an amazing national park and one I didn’t even know existed before I got this internship. To be able to work with the SFCN and conduct surveys that will have an impact on lobster management in the future has been a dream. Such a solid team of professional, hard-working divers who also know how to keep it light and fun. Mike, thank you so much for inviting me on this trip and to take part in some of the amazing work you do in the national parks. Rob, Lee, Davis and Allison, thank you for taking me into your dive family. I had so much fun working and learning from all of you. Thank you Brian for your hospitality and letting us take over your boat for ten days. And thank you OWUSS and the SRC for providing the support to make all of this happen. I had the most amazing time in the Dry Tortugas National Park and I can’t wait to keep exploring the Caribbean! Check back for the next blog as I head to St. John in the US Virgin Islands.

As I am writing this, I’m thinking about the fragility and the resiliency of this amazing ecosystem. A week after I was at Dry Tortugas the Florida Keys recorded their highest sea temperature on record with multiple days in a row of water temperatures above 90 degrees.

It’s my second week of the NPS internship and I’m in Colorado to prep for my adventures. I visit the Submerged Resources Center (SRC) to get outfitted with the dive gear I will need for the different parks and to get my certifications and training in order to be qualified as an NPS diver.

The SRC is located near Denver, Colorado. For some background, the SRC started as a group of archaeologists in the late 70s working for the Park Service who became divers in order to access and protect submerged archeological sites such as Native American traces in the southwest which had been inundated by the creation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. After the completion of the project, the Park Service saw the value in having a talented group of underwater archaeologists who could document and interpret cultural resources in parks around the country; so, the SRC was formed.

The SRC is one of the most experienced, skilled, and technically adept dive teams in the NPS system. They work everywhere from backcountry lakes to Pacific atolls, basically anywhere parks with underwater resources are in need of assistance with discovery, documentation, and management.

Upon arrival, I am of course nervous to meet everybody. This team devotes a lot of time and resources to one intern each year and that kind of generosity is overwhelming for me. On top of that, I will basically be living with the boss for the entire time. I get picked up at the Denver airport by Dave Conlin – he’s driving a speedy blue Audi and immediately puts me at ease. He is easygoing, easy to talk to, and obviously proud of the work he and his team accomplishes. Dave and his wife Michelle are gracious hosts and make me feel at home at their house, which is located at the base of the Flatirons in Boulder. We enjoy a night out at a brew pub for a burger and beer and end up talking about skiing.

On Monday, I head into the SRC office with Dave. The office is lined with some of Brett Seymour’s photography, shipwreck maps, and historical books on shipbuilding, sea battles, and ancient cultures. To be honest, my original dream job before going down the biological route was to be an underwater archaeologist. So, I am very excited to be here and to potentially work with this team at some time over the next few months. I get to meet Brett Seymour, Deputy Chief of the SRC, photographer, and my other internship coordinator as well as Jim Nimz, dive operations specialist, and archaeologists David Morgan and Matt Hanks. Later in the week I meet archaeologist, Anne Wright (a fellow crew member on the tall ship Adventuress!). Everyone is extremely friendly, welcoming, and just plain excited for me. They are a tight-knit family, their jokes are quick and light-hearted.

My first task is working with Jim Nimz to get kitted out. I love putting together a pile of awesome dive gear. Rashguards, a 3mm and 5mm wetsuit, and a drysuit will hopefully cover all the water temperatures I’m going to experience. Jim then throws in a bunch of NPS SRC swag to wear on my internship. Dave also generously puts together a save-a-dive kit for me from McGuckin’s hardware so I will be prepared for anything whether it be in the middle of the Pacific or the Caribbean. Thanks to tips from previous interns I bought a luggage scale and have gotten my dive bag to weigh almost exactly 50lbs. I will check that and then take a backpack and a small waterproof bag as a carry-on. I think I packed pretty well, but this is still more than I have ever traveled with before.

Next up is the Blue Card exam, a test all NPS divers must take. Jim organizes my swim test in the pool. It humbles me. I’ve never been an especially strong swimmer; I have little body fat and frankly – sink like a stone. Add to that, the elevation of Denver compared to my sea-level home and I am immediately winded. While the swims are terrible, I enjoy the bailout, and ditch and recovery skills. For the bailout, you put all your dive gear in your arms, jump into the pool, sink to the bottom and put all of your gear on. For the ditch and recovery, you take everything off while on the bottom of the pool, including your mask and regulator, turn off the air on your cylinder, swim away a bit and then come back; turn your air back on and put on all of your gear.

My last duty before I leave Colorado is to renew my First Aid and CPR training. Jim provides a DAN Diving First Aid course for me. Thank you, Jim, for taking care of all my training this week.

My time in Colorado is coming to an end and I want to express how grateful I am to the SRC. Thank you for creating and supporting the coolest internship in the world. I am blown away by your generosity and I am humbled by your encouragement. I hope to see more of you this summer. Thank you to the long line of accomplished NPS interns who came before me and left a strong legacy. Your successes have provided the infrastructure for us new interns to be invited back year after year to dive programs in the NPS. Thanks to all of you past interns I got to meet before my internship who shared their experiences and excitement. Hailey Shchepanik, Sarah Von Hoene, Shannon Brown, Shaun Wolfe, and Pike Spector. And thank you so much Dave and Michelle for the hospitality this week and for including me in all your family and neighbor dinner parties. You made me feel like part of your family. It made me happy to throw the ball for your cute cocker spaniel, Maya, even though she never brought the ball back. And I enjoyed all the movie nights- especially the feel-good classic we watched.

I am so excited to visit some unique places in this world that I never would have gotten the chance to see without this internship. I am starting off my adventure in Florida to work with an inventory and monitoring dive team from the Caribbean region who is heading to the Dry Tortugas to count some lobsters! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Hello! My name is Griffin Hoins and I am honored to have been selected as the 2023 Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society® National Park Service Research Intern!

For almost 50 years OWUSS has been supporting young divers as they discover the diversity of opportunities that exist within the underwater field through scholarships and internships. The NPS research internship is sponsored and supported by the Submerged Resources Center which uses its network of connections with other NPS dive programs to craft an itinerary for one lucky intern to experience diving in the US national parks. I will engage with and learn from dive professionals: researchers, biologists, photographers, public safety divers, and archaeologists across the country. I cannot express how excited I am for my summer. I will be blogging about my experiences, so please follow along to hear about some of our amazing parks, and the work being done by the NPS dive community to preserve and protect our cultural and natural resources.

A little background on me, I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by large trees, tall mountains, and the Pacific Ocean on a small island in Washington state. My childhood was made up of hiking and camping with my mom in Olympic National Park, exploring tidepools, sailing around the San Juan Islands with my grandparents, crabbing and clamming for dinner, and swimming on summer nights in a sea of bioluminescent plankton. At the time I was oblivious to the effect that my environment was having on me. Now looking back, it is clear how my upbringing shaped me and directed me on a path centered on the ocean.

It is the end of winter when I get the news that I have been selected as the NPS intern. I am absolutely elated, and I ride that high through an unusually warm Washington Spring as I prepare to start my adventure in New York City.

I fly from Seattle and get situated by getting a pumpernickel bagel, bacon, egg, and cheese and sitting under the Chrysler building, my favorite building in New York.

The first event of the weekend is a dinner at The Explorer’s Club. On my way to the hotel to get ready, Shaun Wolfe, one of my OWUSS coordinators, reaches out to meet up in person. With him is Hailey Shchepanik – Shaun was the NPS intern in 2017 and Hailey is the 2022 intern. They welcome me into the family graciously and their enthusiasm gets me hyped for my summer as they swap stories until it’s time to get ready for dinner.

I will be spending most of my time this upcoming week at the Explorer’s Club. The club itself is a mix between a natural history museum and an upper east side 19th-century mansion. Once a home with an impressive art collection, it is now the headquarters of the Explorer’s Club and its many artifacts from historic adventures and expeditions. The club has supported scientific expeditions since 1904 and members have been the first to reach the North Pole, South Pole, climb Mt. Everest, descend into the Mariana Trench, and walk on the moon, to name just some small firsts. You could say I’m very excited to be included in that cadre. There are many famous expedition artifacts, books, and art as well as taxidermized animals lining the club walls but the first item that sticks out to me is Roy Chapman Andrews’s whip from his dinosaur egg expedition to the Gobi Desert. Roy Chapman Andrews was a famous explorer and was the inspiration for Indiana Jones, but before his more famous adventures, he was invited as the naturalist on an expedition to the Alaskan Arctic to collect a Bowhead whale. The expedition ship he sailed on was the Adventuress and she was built in 1913 in East Boothbay, Maine. She is also still sailing to this day, and I’ve been lucky to be a deckhand and marine educator on board the ship in the Salish Sea for the last couple of years!

At the dinner, it is immediately apparent that all of us new scholars and interns have stumbled into something truly remarkable, a society of extraordinary ocean heroes and advocates. You can tell OWUSS has a strong legacy through the voluntary involvement of so many previous scholars and interns who are here to support the scholarship society and its future. I am honored and grateful to join such a community.

The following day I dress up and enjoy the final presentations from the 2022 interns and scholars. It is exciting to listen to everyone’s incredible stories and watch the scholar’s year-end films. Hailey gives a brilliant recap of her time with the NPS, and it is difficult to not get even more excited for the upcoming months.

Congratulations to the 2022 scholars and interns, well done, and to the 2023 scholars and interns I cannot wait to follow along on your upcoming experiences.  

The awards weekend wraps up on Sunday and we immediately roll into events for Blue Generation. OWUSS scholars and interns join other young ocean stewards from all over the world with backgrounds ranging from shark research to marine policy.  

We start out the week with a lecture from a UN senior legal officer about ocean governance. We talk about the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty which sets up a procedure for the establishment of large-scale marine protected areas in the high seas. It was adopted by the UN in mid-June and is a big deal because until now, there has never been any international law governing the high seas. Throughout the week we also cover topics like ecotourism, successful grant writing, and the blue economy.

One of my favorite talks of the week is from Sylvia Earle and John Vermilye on the rights of nature and protecting the ocean through criminal law. Sylvia Earle talks about ecocide and changing our habits and ethics so that we prioritize ocean health which is undeniably linked to our own health and survival. Also, shifting the burden of proof so that instead of ocean supporters having to prove that protection is possible, industry supporters must prove that exploitation is environmentally safe, and the ecological impact is acceptable. She shares a powerful short film about deep sea mining, called Deep Trouble, which I highly recommend watching.

While we are having these positive discussions in the Explorer’s Club, outside New York is experiencing the worst air pollution in recorded history from wildfires in Canada in June. It is hard to wrap my head around how massive and out of control the issues seem to be. There are people out there who want to start tearing up the deep sea and we clearly have enough going on being in the middle of a climate catastrophe. What can I do to make a difference?

I’m privileged to have a choice and I am also here about to embark on an internship that will have me flying across the country, massively increasing my carbon footprint because of the number of flights I will be taking. Is it hypocritical to call myself an environmentalist and then take 15 flights over a few months? I feel conflicted and confused, but I think a good first step is acknowledging that my lifestyle choices have consequences. I will continue to critically reflect and keep searching for how I can best be a power for change.

So many great memories this week with the Blue Generation; wandering the American Museum of Natural History, going on the field trip to ‘Rocking the Boat’ a youth empowerment non-profit organization building wooden boats in the Bronx, and going out in New York for some Salsa dancing. Thank you, Christina Janulis, for organizing the Blue Generation Oceans Week.

We finished off our Blue Generation week by attending the UN for World Oceans Day. That afternoon back at the Explorer’s Club I had a funny interaction. Out on the patio at the Explorer’s Club, Titouan Bernicot waved me over to say hi, and who did he happen to be talking to but Alex Honnold, the climbing icon, who was there to record a podcast. Alex introduced himself and I had to laugh a little. It felt like a wild dream to be hanging out with all sorts of legends this week.

It is a whirlwind of a week and I am sad to be leaving all of the incredible people and new friends as we go off on our separate adventures. I am hopeful for the future knowing they are all out there making a difference as ocean stewards.

I would like to thank OWUSS and the SRC for their support and a massive thank you to Claire Mullaney and Shaun Wolfe as my internship coordinators for starting me off on the right foot. Next stop, Colorado.

Almost a year has passed since I started compiling my application for the OWUSS NPS internship. Although an organization I had known of and been watching for several years, I never had the “right” qualifications to apply. I knew 2022 would be my chance – I had finally formally completed my Rescue diver training, maintained active scientific diver status over the past several years, and would be graduating shortly, leaving summer open for new adventures and opportunities in learning. 

During my first meeting with Dave Conlin (internship supervisor and Chief of the NPS Submerged Resources Center) and Brett Seymour (Deputy Chief), we wondered aloud if I could take advantage of my Canadian heritage and connect with our friendly neighbors to the north – the Parks Canada Underwater Archeology Team. After exchanging several emails, I soon learned they would have several projects ongoing this summer across Canada, from Lake Superior to the Canadian Arctic and eastern Labrador (did you know this is the only dive team within Parks Canada?). I was beyond thrilled when Jonathan Moore (Senior Underwater Archeologist) put me in touch with Brandy Lockhart (Underwater Archeologist and project lead), putting the pieces of the puzzle together for me to join them in Red Bay, Labrador, at the Red Bay National Historic Site/UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

A historic preservation area dedicated to the excavation and documentation of a 16th-century Basque whaling station, including several transatlantic whaling ships, Red Bay draws thousands of visitors each year (a sizable feat considering its current population of approximately 150 and remote location on the southeastern shore of Labrador). To my surprise, this park was the most challenging place to organize travel throughout my internship. It took five planes, two days, and both car and ship travel to get here (one way) from my hometown in northern Ontario. I was ecstatic to be sent on this “international” project, representing NPS on my home turf, and would be joining Parks Canada aboard the RV David Thompson for two weeks, as part of their regularly scheduled site assessment of several shipwrecks that were excavated in the 1980s and later reburied in situ to preserve the remaining structure. 

Over 70 years (from the 1540s to early 1600s), over 2,500 Basque sailors, perhaps Europe’s most ancient people, crossed the Atlantic annually, from Spain and France to the Strait of Belle Isle. Here, they established a major whaling port where Right and Bowhead whales were hunted, harvested, and processed to render oil used primarily in European lamps. Over 25,000 animals were killed in these extensive efforts. Today, these whales are some of the most endangered large whale species worldwide. 

Our mission was to conduct a UNESCO-mandated 5-year site assessment, focusing our efforts on one of the most extensively studied shipwrecks in the Red Bay harbour, the well-preserved wreck of the presumed San Juan. In her prime, this 30-meter ship would have held over 70 sailors but eventually sank, in 1565, with over 1,000 barrels of whale oil on board. Underwater, we would inspect the protective tarp (laid atop the reburial mound in the 1980s), follow up with several repairs and replacements of damaged areas (repairing tears, burying exposed timbers), and ROV imaging of the current condition of the site. This was no easy feat, considering the tarps (weighing over 300 pounds each) are held down by a hundred or more sandbags and tens of heavy tires. Combined with unpredictable and likely unfavourable weather and a short-handed crew due to illness, we had our work cut out for us!

Before getting to work, I was given a general lay of the land and an introduction to the unique gear configuration used by the Parks Canada Underwater Archeology Team. The bulkiest setup and coldest water I’ve encountered to date, I was warned to anticipate -2° to +2°C seas (translating to 28° to 34°F) and more weight, tanks, and hoses than I knew what to do with. Any trepidation about water temperatures and new gear was overshadowed by my excitement to dive in increasingly extreme, unfamiliar environments and cushioned by memories of feeling invigorated and comfortable with cold water diving in the past. 

Parks Canada Underwater Archeology Technician, Joe Boucher, gave me a thorough introduction to our gear, demonstrating how to assemble/disassemble/adjust/use each piece, from our full face masks to bailout and emergency air block. We do a shallow water check-out dive and I am pleasantly surprised by the water temperature at 4°C. What I do not expect, though, or at least underestimate, is how exceedingly frustrating it is to be donning and doffing a full face mask, pulling and pushing the small adjustment tabs that secure the mask in place…while wearing bulky three finger “lobster” gloves. Fine motor skills and cold water mix poorly at the best of times, and I spend several minutes underwater trying to replace and reseal the mask properly. Finally, I find myself searching for alternatives to adjust the awkward back strap and try adopting the “full fist” approach, levering my knuckle under the tab until it releases with greater ease. A sign of relief comes, and I finish feeling confident and ready for the days of work ahead.

My first time aboard a large research vessel, the captain and First Mate of the RV David Thompson, Simon and Dave, showed me the ins and outs of ship life, from the galley (and, more importantly, the snack cupboards) to the engine room and emergency protocols. I quickly became accustomed to ship life, although I didn’t get a chance to test my sea legs (since we were firmly anchored within the shelter of Red Bay and the local wharf for most of the project). On board, the field team is in excellent hands, with the kind, experienced, welcoming, and friendly crew keeping us well-fed and entertained over group dinners – sharing stories about ship time around the world and memories from home. I have to admit, it is nice to be back on Canadian soil for a moment, to share stories of places we all know and love (and not have to Google the locations and names of cities/landmarks that come up in casual conversation as I sometimes did while in the US). On occasions, after a day in the field, we are treated to a spectacular Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October), homemade corn hole tournaments, visits to the museum, and spontaneous hikes, keeping evenings lively even after long days.

Physically demanding work, we prepare the heavy tarps, fill sandbags, prep gear, and lower it all to the site. Once we lay eyes underwater, we are struck by damage that is beyond that of previous reports. We must continually pivot, improvise, and brainstorm new ways to complete and prioritize the tasks at hand. I admire the team’s unique ability to develop a cohesive plan that incorporates the perspectives of each member, coming from various backgrounds, such as science divers, archeologists, and commercial divers. By continually calling into question, “how can we do this more efficiently, with less physical effort, and more streamline”, the project progresses over several breakthroughs in trial, error, and strategizing. 

New tasks underwater require new tools, from crow bars and sandbags to steel bars and thick tarps

Each dive brings a new task, from flipping tires and dispersing sandbags to taking photographs, documenting site condition, and rolling out new tarps. After a few days, I am excited by the growing level of comfort I have in this new environment and feel that I can effectively participate in and contribute to each task (and am also very grateful to Brandy for throwing me in the water whenever possible!). By the end of the project, I have gained many new skills and perspectives, and we are successful in stabilizing the site for further follow-up and repair next year.

The icing on the cake of a summer that could not have been any sweeter – my time in Red Bay proved to be a highlight and valuable addition to my time as the NPS Dive Program intern. Thank you, to the Parks Canada Underwater Archeology Team, for the incredibly warm welcome and the opportunity to learn from you by making space for me in this project (and also for giving me an excuse to put the “u” back in harbour and favourite after 5 months of blog writing in the US). I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and work alongside each of you in such a uniquely beautiful, fascinating, and remote region of our country.

Of course, this excellent collaboration and internship as a whole would not be possible without the decades of impressive work done by the NPS Submerged Resource Center and NPS Dive Program (garnering a well respected international reputation) and the overwhelming support that Dave Conlin and Brett Seymour provide to the OWUSS intern each year. Thank you Dave, Brett, and the SRC team for your confidence in me and continued support. I would like to thank the growing family of NPS OWUSS alumni (made up of excellent divers, researchers, photographers, conservationists, and, now, new friends), who have connected with me, shared valuable advice, and paved the way to make my internship an overwhelming success (a.k.a made my life a whole lot easier!!), and each member of the NPS team who generously hosted me throughout the summer.

Throughout my journey, I have met many NPS employees and collaborators (thank you for following along!) that I see as role models, with exemplary skills as divers, boat operators, and team leaders (however, it is their dedication, passion for the work, and willingness to support learning opportunities for young people that shines brightest).  I have seen and contributed to diving as a tool for not only resource management but also visitor protection, interpretation, training, maintenance, and facilities needs – and some of the most ‘unusual’ dives have shifted my perspective in the most impactful ways.

In truth, this is neither the beginning nor the end of my grand adventure. In part, it is a series of small steps in the exploration of self discovery, expanding comfort zones, and eagerness to learn that has brought me here. However, my perception of diving has been fundamentally changed, showing me it is feasible as a career, and giving me some of the tools I need to propel myself forward. Some of the seemingly most underrated aspects of the internship are ones that drove home the deepest shifts in my ideas of what my future goals are and what my career might look like. And that has made a lasting difference.

The Our World Underwater Scholarship Society is a web of global connections, shaped by countless volunteers and leaders in the underwater world, that has connected me to numerous organizations that I will continue to be involved with long after my time as an intern is complete. I look forward to taking more advanced tech diving courses, exploring more extreme (cold!) environments, and collaborating with new networks within The Explorer’s Club, The Women Divers Hall of Fame, and others. I share the spotlight with everyone who has contributed their time, knowledge, advice, and support on this journey and look forward to presenting this work at the 49th Annual OWUSS New York City weekend next year. 

Going into the internship, I knew that many OWUSS NPS interns get the opportunity to present their whirlwind adventures in learning and diving to various NPS Associate and Deputy Directors at the Department of Interior office in Washington, DC. Of course, this means that the presentation is typically scheduled as the last Hoorah – the final destination once an intern has collected their share of experience, memories, perspective, and photographs from parks across the country.

To say that this week crept up on me is a bit of an understatement, and I found myself having to do a double-take once landing in DC. This can’t really be ‘the end,’… can it? I’m just getting good at this! After five or so consecutive weeks (and many months prior) of park hopping, flinging myself into new field teams, new states, and new environments, I am here now, swapping my well-worn NPS SRC field shirt for an ironed button-up, ready to show off the NPS Dive Program to decision makers who hold the future of this program in their hands.

I ease into the week with some sightseeing, having never visited Washington, DC, before. With the generous help and friendly company of Daryl Avery, NPS Branch Chief for Occupational Safety and Health, together, we walk through the National Mall and Memorial Parks – home to the country’s most iconic monuments commemorating historical events that shaped the nation. While the monuments can be appreciated by any passerby (and details read via interpretive signage or a quick Google search), they truly come to life with the help of Interpretive Rangers placed throughout the National Mall grounds. I was grateful to encounter many knowledgeable Rangers who shed light on the history of these significant events and individuals and their architectural design and construction – revealing small details one would likely miss without a trained eye. An educational and enjoyable day for myself and Daryl (featuring a delicious meal at the iconic Old Ebbitt Grill) and an excellent orientation to the city center, during which I noted additional points of interest to visit during downtime throughout the week.

The following day, I grab a hearty breakfast, settle into my new accommodations, and do one last presentation run-through before heading to the Department of Interior office to meet with Daryl and Michael May, NPS Chief of Office of Risk Management. After filing through security, affixing the necessary visitors pass to my collar, and a short tour of the facilities (including a beautiful display of artwork lining the halls – often attracting tourist groups), it comes time to do what I was brought here for… and I eagerly await the opportunity to share my experience with the NPS Executive team.

A 30-minute presentation passes quickly in a small board room, flipping through slide after slide of NPS Dive Program highlights, history, project goals, and accomplishments. Presenting to both divers and non-divers alike, I am relieved to see many encouraging nods and note-writing in the crowd, leading to positive feedback and curious questions in the discussion that follows. While preparing this presentation, I was taken aback by the fact that across 23 NPS dive programs (and 120 individual divers), over 6,500 dives were conducted in 2021 alone. Across seven National Parks, I worked directly with over 40 NPS divers, speaking to the scope of experience that interns gain in such a short timeframe. Bringing fresh eyes, a global perspective, curiosity, a strong diving foundation, and an eagerness to experience applied science, diving, and monitoring outside of academia, I gained a holistic perspective of the NPS dive program. I can honestly say that the multidisciplinary scope and rigorous safety protocols are unmatched by any other dive program or team I have previously been a part of.

A trip to DC would not be complete without visiting several of the impressive museums (often free for visitors), and as such, I filled my spare time with trips to the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Acknowledging that it is possible to spend multiple days at each museum, I found myself returning to the National Museum of African American History & Culture on several occasions, opting to focus each visit floor by floor (organized in temporal increments from 1400 to the present day), making for a more comprehensive and impactful experience. During the week, I also had the opportunity to meet several NOAA Ocean Exploration employees, including Jeremy Weirich, Director, and Adrienne Copeland, PhD, Grants Program Manager, further enriching my experience in the nation’s capital.

Reflecting on my experiences thus far, I feel empowered. Seeing first-hand the resources dedicated to underwater exploration and monitoring gives me hope – for education, preservation, and understanding of the underwater world, which makes up 70% of our planet. I am proud to stand in DC, representing the NPS Dive Program and sharing just a small glimpse into the work they do. As my time in Washington, DC, comes to a close, I am relieved that it is not yet the final chapter of my internship. Drawing on international connections and collaborating with underwater archeology teams around the globe, the NPS SRC team has connected me with Parks Canada for one last project. I am incredibly excited to represent NPS on my home turf in a few short days. Stay tuned as the OWUSS NPS intern goes international!