Samantha, CUR- What I stand for is what I stand on.

Collecting water quality data at Canal Street Canal 

         We are tied to the ocean and when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch we are going back from where we came.  As a child I was brought up to base my beliefs according to my parents which has been the same for generations.  I could not submit however, I believed in so much more.  My fondness for the ocean started with my yearly trips to SeaWorld.  I was drawn by the animals I was seeing right before my eyes.  It wasn't close enough for me though, I wanted to be right next to them, touching, playing, talking. This was the beginning of my determination to become a Marine Biologist in which I could train dolphins ! It sounded great when I was 5, I even got a chance to swim with them.  This was my dream for the next 12 years and then this dream came to a halt.  With age comes knowledge and I began to research any information I could about marine life specifically dolphins when I came across a book, A dolphins Smile, by a former Marine Biologist and present activist, Rick O'Barry . "A dolphins smile is the greatest deception." These words hit me like a knife.  After more research I did not care so much for interacting with the animals, I cared more about their protection.  This is when I knew I wanted to save the world.

Taking water quality samples at
Spruce Creek Canal 

 Well, I'm being facetious but I did want to do something.  I began to volunteer in my area focusing on educating others on the importance of the marine environment and ways to conserve and protect it.  This idea is my dream exactly, to protect and conserve marine life along with the environment, but how?  Associated with my volunteer work I was able to participate in Sea Grass surveys, which led me to my answer my question, I wanted to study the water.  I find it captivating how one drop of water can reveal secrets of the ocean. My infatuation of study is anthropogenic pollution.  My Independent Research Project (IRP) is being continued and consists of monitoring water quality at discharge point in a man made canal associated with a storm drain system. This Site location is an imperative area for many reasons and the water quality accompanying must be monitored which I will discuss in posts to come!