Written By Victoria Arutunian
MAST@FIU a school that is unique as it is and what it’s known for. A school with its excellent reputation for marine science studies and fun interactive ways to learn more about sea life; more exclusively, the SEA CORPS program. If you’re into marine science, this may just be the class for you. The SEACORPS class is an exclusive class where students can take here at MAST@FIU. It complements our AP Environmental science class, where students learn about all sorts of things, including ways to help the planet, about different kinds of marine and land species, and their roles in the environment.
In SEACORPS, students get to do all sorts of fun things. Seine netting – where a large net about 50 or more feet with floats on one side, weights on the other, and a purse in the middle is deployed in a shallow area and used to corral fish is one of these activities. These fish are later collected, transferred to smaller tanks, examined, and identified; the fish are then released.
In this process, we catch all sorts of species, sea urchins and other echinoderms, crabs, shrimp, and other crustaceans, jellyfish and ctenophores – types of cnidaria and fish species such as checkered pufferfish, long nose pufferfish, barracuda, mojarra fish, and much more. Learning about these animals and appreciating them up close is nothing short of amazing and truly an experience that you won’t get at any other school.
Incoming freshmen, sophomores, and even juniors should really consider taking this course while you’re at MAST@FIU because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and it's something that will truly be enjoyable.