Located on the coast of California, the Catalina Islands is a place of discovery, where many go to vacation and learn about the islands’ history and massive aquatic life. For Perry High school students, it has been a trip of a lifetime.

AP Biology and AP Environmental Science classes took a trip on 23 Oct. to these coastal  islands, in which they were under the supervision of biology teachers Jerry Bell, Melanie Lyon, Tessa Burt, and Christine Watabe.

“The teachers who chaperoned were really into it and made the experience much more enjoyable to get to know the teachers on a personal level,” noted AP Biology sophomore Kathlyn Provins.

“I had Mrs. Watabe [as my chaperone] and she was really nice. She was a great snorkel buddy,” mentioned sophomore student Maya Gaylor.

The group made it to Long Island around 8 a.m. to board the ferry. After two hours of seeing the open sea, the students were finally able to see the mass of land known as the Catalina Islands.

Upon reaching the island, the 51 students and chaperones were set up into four groups with about 12 in each group, in which they were placed with an instructor from the island. Once students settled into their dormitories on Toyon Bay, it was off to the first session: snorkeling.

“The most memorable event was night snorkeling,”  Provins commented, “Seeing plankton bioluminescence was really cool and exciting.”

Sophomore Hayden Brown was elated after the experience, explaining  “I saw a bunch of cool fish and I saw a squid and an octopus, and sharks!”

Gaylor stated her own adventures while snorkeling, “I saw bioluminescent plankton, which was super awesome! And I saw all these cool stingrays and colorful fish that I wish I could see again.”

The students and teachers were constantly interacting with one another, making each part of the trip memorable to the teens.

“Eating the squid-marble-eye-thing. That was awesome,” said Brown.

“ I think the bonfire and the bioluminescent fish were like my favorite,” added Gaylor.

Provins specifically enjoyed the squid dissection, commenting, “I found dissecting the squid to be a very cool activity, figuring out the anatomy and what not.”

The students talked about how they felt after the trip, with brown concluding,“Depressed because we weren’t on vacation anymore.”

Provins finished with her after-thought of the whole ordeal stating,“After coming home I was happy to be home, but leaving was still sad.”

As the adventure came to an end, the students and chaperones both felt much appreciation for the overall ordeal.