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On February 6 we returned to port in Honolulu. It was sad to leave the open ocean behind and see the docks again; knowing this was the end to our adventure out at sea learning all about marine technicians. But where one adventure ends, another begins. Before we left the ship, I asked some of the marine technicians what I would need academically to become one of them. They all gave the same answer of how you can come at it from all different angles. There are people who come at it from an engineering background, IT background, marine science background, and even business backgrounds who just love the ocean and tinkering with equipment. They all talked about how a love for the ocean is at the core of all marine technicians’ work and their love and passion showed itself brilliantly on this expedition.
After we got off the ship for the day, we went exploring on Honolulu! We hiked to Manoa Falls and saw the beautiful waterfall and the lush tropical jungle. Then we went to Kaimana Beach and swam in the ocean, some of us used goggles to see some of the reef and fish swimming around us, before heading to get dinner. We packed our belongings in the evening and said goodbye to the R/V Sikuliaq in morning. We are planning a hike to Diamond Head State Monument, an extinct volcano, and I’m excited to see where the last day with this incredible STEMSEAS team takes me.
