Submitted by Jonathan Sypher on the 2017 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the School of Marine Science and Policy and the Department of Geological Sciences….
Sitting on the front of the boat meditating on the Pacific was holy. We followed a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins for over a half an hour. We sat out on the bow and the stern and soaked up the sun. It was beautiful. The ocean was a majestic blue, switching between aquamarine and royal blue and sea-foam green. We drove between islands, and out into the open ocean in search of more pods of dolphins to interact with. The gannets, with their yellow throats and black rimmed wings sat proudly on the water, and dove down into the water to catch their fish. We enjoyed each other’s company, and the ocean breathing salty on all of us as the larger waves buffeted against the boat. To the environmental and marine science majors, this was as good as gospel.