By Abbey Zhu ’18, Feature Editor

About 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, and 96.5% of the Earth’s water lies in the oceans.[1] The ocean is believed to be home to around one million species of plants and animals, but only a quarter of them have been formally identified.[2]

We love going to the beach, visiting breathtaking coral reefs, and taking pictures of the sunset over the ocean. Quite frankly though, we take our oceans for granted. Pollutants are dumped into the ocean because we think that the oceans’ vastness will make up for the trash and chemicals deposited into them.[3] Yet, we are now realizing that this is very clearly not the case. Coral bleaching, degradation of shoreline areas, and the presence of millions of plastics and trash in the oceans have been detrimental to marine life. This is why it is so important to teach our school community about marine biology – the study of marine life. And marine biology club does just that.

The presidents of Marine Biology club are Lizzy Sorrano ’17, Hunter Schone ’18, and Francesca Badalamenti ’18. The club was founded in the 2014 – 2015 school year by alumnus, Nina Pusic ’14.  The faculty advisor is Ms. Duszak, who has a master’s degree in marine ecology. The mission of marine biology

club is to “discuss a variety of marine life and their habitats. Within these discussions, we talk about what we can do to improve the life of these organisms by raising awareness about issues like ocean acidification, overfishing, and micro-plastics pollution. The Marine Biology Club also organizes field trips to aquariums and coastal habitats to obtain hands-on experiences.”

In a typical club meeting, Lizzy, Hunter, and Francesca plan to discuss a certain topic. For example, last meeting, the club talked about squids and octopuses and watched a video about them. According to Hunter, “Even Mr. Reed was in attendance and left fascinated!” In addition to spreading awareness to the school community through morning meeting presentations (like last year’s presentation on coral bleaching), the club raises funds for certain causes. Most recently, marine bio raised money for a foundation working to rescue and release thousands of sea lions that were washing up on US coastlines. The club is also planning on hosting a whale-watching trip in the spring, so be on the lookout for that. Other club activities include an annual aquarium visit and the opportunity to participate in the BIOS (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences) summer program. Several members of marine bio have also attended The Island School, which is a semester school based in the Bahamas focusing on discovering solutions to environmental problems. If you want to find out more about these trips or programs, be sure to attend a marine bio club meeting!

I asked each of the presidents what their favorite part of the club was and what got them interested in marine biology in the first place. Lizzy answered, “I love being able to see people get excited about the things we teach them in the club and during our presentations.” Lizzy has been interested in marine biology since she was a little girl, and during the fall semester of her junior year, she went to the Island School where she solidified her passion for marine biology.

Similarly, Hunter said that “My favorite part is seeing everyone’s genuine interest in the actual subject of marine biology. It’s so great to see people fascinated with marine life and what goes on in the ocean.” Hunter got interested in marine bio after joining the club her freshman year and realizing that the majority of the ocean has still been undiscovered.

Like Hunter and Lizzy, Francesca also loves the enthusiasm of the club members: “My favorite part about the club is when I, along with my co leaders, research a topic (like an interesting marine animal or a new eco-friendly product) and share it with the club members. It’s great to see how passionate they get about the information.”

All the club leaders are amazed at how far the club has come since its first year, and they hope that the club will continue to grow in size and popularity. As Lizzy said, “It’s important that people should be more aware of environmental issues pertaining to the oceans.”

Make sure to join marine bio club to figure out how you can make our oceans safer for all living things!

[1] http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html

[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-million-species-of-animals-and-plants-live-in-the-ocean-say-scientists-8320295.html

[3] http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/pristine-seas/critical-issues-marine-pollution/