Some highlights were driving a boat on Lake Michigan, snorkeling in a quarry, eating a butterburger!

Boot Camp is a ton of fun. I have gotten to meet a lot of new people from all over the country and in fact all over the world. We also have learned more about weather than any of us thought that we ever would!

 

There have been many firsts for all of us here at Boot Camp.  Some highlights were driving a boat on Lake Michigan, snorkeling in a quarry, eating a butterburger (a hamburger with a pad of butter on it), wearing a wetsuit, staying in Milwaukee, doing a video conference, and a whole lot of other things that I can’t even count.

 

On Thursday we went on Lake Michigan in a fishing boat turned dive boat.  That was cool.  We got to use side scanning SONAR, an underwater camera, and a whole lot of other scientific instruments.  We looked at a freighter that had sunk fifty years ago.  It was so cool to see all the different plants and animals under the water. We were allso allowed to drive the boat around the lake, which was a lot of fun.  We took samples of the water quality and the visibility level of the water. I got to use a syringe to take a water sample out of the lake. We then filtered the water so that later we could look at the microrganisms that weree living in the lake. While on the boat, Cameron caught a dead fish on the secchi disk. We all took pictures and then he threw it back.

 

Another new thing was wearing a wetsuit. It felt really weird to wear one. The first time I tried one on it was too small and I got my foot stuck in it. Then we found one that fit. Later, when we tried to get it off, it got stuck again! After a lot of tugging, we finally got it off.

 

Boot Camp was a great experience and we are all now looking forward to our Field Assignments this summer.

Another new thing was wearing a wetsuit. It felt really weird to wear one. The first time I tried one on it was too small and I got my foot stuck in it.