First Dive of Antonio and Sumaiyah
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands is a 26-square mile gem of a Caribbean island that has attracted tens of millions of tourists and adventurers. They come to sample our crystal clear waters and massive diversity of benthic wildlife. Our shores are abuzz with exotic life that drives the local economy.
Ironically, most Virgin Islanders go their entire lives without experiencing even a fraction of the marine beauty we share with the world. As such they are not in a position to readily notice how behaviors and actions, both locally and worldwide, are contributing to the degradation of island water habitats.
Antonio and Sumaiyah have spent the 2016-2017 school year reporting on, and participating in, shoreline clean-ups and environmental education activities. Now it is time for Antonio and Sumaiyah to experience first-hand the hidden underwater world whose choices for use and preservation we are handing-off to their generation.