Blue Hole Explorers : Importance of Blue Holes

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Importance of Blue Holes

Blue holes pose significant historical importance because their geologic formations and oxygen void water preserve much from the past. These caves formed in a time when sea levels were much lower but as sea levels raised the caves became flooded with seawater. Because this seawater lost oxygen and has unique chemistry the skeletal remains of many ancient organisms have been preserved in these caves and remain undiscovered. Extinct species, however, are not the only species that are of interest in the caves. Blue holes boast unique biodiversity of microbial and multicellular life. Studying these organisms is important because of the unique harsh conditions they survive in which can show us more about life on earth and beyond. In addition, the geologic formations of the blue holes can be studied to better understand past climate change as well as sea level rise. This information could prove invaluable as global warming and sea level rise continue to be critical issues in today’s world. Blue holes are like time capsules from the past that lack in any significant study and we hope to be the ones to unlock their secrets.

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Team Leader: Wynham Guillemot

Wynham Guillemot is a 17 year old that resides in California. He is going to be the leader of the blue whole expedition. He was born in France, and he lived there for many years. He is bilingual because of this. When he came to the United States, he had the experience of adapting to the United States culture. Having this ability to culturally adapt helped him become a more worldly individual. He is deeply interested in other cultures, and he loves to travel. He loves going to other countries to learn local customs. Traveling is his of his passions, and one of the things that he enjoys most in life. Another thing that he loves to do is scuba dive. When he was twelve, he became deeply interested in marine biology, and he decided that he wanted to become a scuba diver. He earned his license officially through PADI, and he has logged many dives throughout the tropics. He loves scuba diving because he loves adventure, and he loves the excitement that it gives to him.

Project Manager: Carter Kimball

Carter Kimball is an 18-year-old California native who has enjoyed traveling since a young age. When he was 12-years-old, Carter became a PADI certified diver. He has dove in many locales including Fiji, Mexico, Hawaii, and Florida and is now certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver and has logged over forty dives. He has experience with wreck diving, shore diving, deep diving, and reef diving. Carter loves diving and the outdoors and his experience in both will prove invaluable to the expedition. In addition Carter has traveled to five different countries and has experience with many cultures. Carter’s experience in other countries will be very useful when the team’s work in the Bahamas will require them to work with the locals. Carter is also a very passionate science student who has taken six years of science at Redwood and believes his experience will be very important in the team’s scientific analysis of the caves. Carter is very excited and is looking forward to bringing his diving experience and scientific curiosity to the expedition of the Bahamas Blue Holes.

Camp Manager: Kevin Watson

Kevin Watson is a student from Redwood High School. He lives on the coast of California, close to San Francisco. He spent four years of his childhood living in Hawaii, and then returned to his home town. Since spending four years of his life living on the beach in Hawaii, he is a very good swimmer and loves the ocean. He has a lot of experience swimming and exploring the depths of the ocean since becoming a certified scuba diver. All of his life he has loved adventure and travel and has always stayed active. He loves seeing new places and experiencing new things. He has been active his entire life going camping, playing sports, and embarking on various adventures. Kevin has traveled to many places and is looking forward to all of the new places he experiences in the future, especially the mysterious underwater caves of the Bahamas.

Publicity Manager: Ramteen Rafii

Ramteen Rafii has loved to travel all his life. As a child he was very adventurous and would love to explore. He was born in San Francisco on January 8, 1996, and grew up in Sausalito, California. He thought of his backyard as a jungle. Every day he would come home and run to his backyard. He would spend hours at a time exploring in his backyard, finding something new every day. Every time he would make a new discovery, he would try to figure out exactly what it was. Ramteen is also an athletic person. He has played almost every sport at one time or another. He was also on the Strawberry Seals swim team for 4 years so he is a strong swimmer. He is a fast learner and can easily adapt to new situations. He has wanted to learn to scuba dive ever since he was a kid and now he has the opportunity to do so. Ramteen has also visited the Bahamas once before and has wanted to return ever since; now he can follow his dream and touch base with his childhood.