A student checks on the Lameshur Bay web cam soon after it was initially installed.
Earlier this summer a group of high school students from a marine biology club called Teens4Oceans at the Kent Denver School — funded by the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park — travelled to St. John with faculty to install an underwater camera at the Virgin Islands Environmental Research Station (VIERS) in Lameshur Bay.
They spent six days digging trenches, installing conduit and networking the camera feed to take their project live. Shortly after footage of the island’s underwater world was streaming live across the internet, a lightning storm took out the camera putting an end to the kids’ hard work.
Thankfully, a new camera was purchased by Friends of VINP and the Kent Denver School. Since school is back in session, the students were not able to make the trip to St. John to reinstall the camera, and instead gave direction and support to VIERS staff member Jamie Irving who was on the ground to help get the job done.
The camera is now back up and running, and the students in Colorado are busily studying the footage. To see what’s happening under the dock in Lameshur Bay visit the Teens4Ocean website: http://www.teens4oceans.org/cam-saint-john.htm.
