So what's the big deal?

Hi, I'm Anelise! I'm originally from Kodiak, Alaska but I go to school at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon where I study Environmental Science. To study abroad has always been a dream of mine, but the traditional route does not appeal to me. Instead, I am taking a semester off to spend two months volunteering at a turtle hatchery in Hawaii, Guatemala followed by a month of travel, intensive Spanish language lessons, and lots of cultural immersion! Thanks for checking out my blog, I hope you are entertained and inspired by my journey.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

10 days with Island Trails Network

A freshly cleaned beach on Shuyak island

Andie, myself, and Maria: marine debris queens
Yesterday, I returned from 10 days of cleaning up marine debris with Island Trails Network on Afognak and Shuyak, both islands in the northern part of the Kodiak archipelago. The experience was fantastic; I got to clean and explore remote Alaskan beaches with a crew of 5 new friends. Wildlife was abundant and seeing animals such as whales, sea otters, seals, sea lions, bald eagles, merlins (the bird, not the wizard), and Kodiak bears became a regular part of daily life. The crew I was a part of worked long, hard hours but it was incredibly rewarding to see the difference we made by ridding beaches of trash. An unexpected perk of the trip was that I got so distracted by digging up seine nets and styrofoam buoys that I forgot to worry about my upcoming trip to Guatemala… the one that I leave in 4 hours for! Wow, time sure flies when you're saving the world. Haha!

Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but here are some of my favorites from the trip:

Maria and Lören take an "Afogsnack" on Afognak
The "Island C" before we loaded it with 10,000 lbs of debris in the first 3 days
A whale waves "thank you" to Island Trails Network for all the awesome work they do! 
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