Kirsten Larsen
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 06/99) - A tropical vacation in Venezuela isn't going to be all sun-filled fun for a group of students studying marine biology with the Sir John Franklin high school scuba club.

Fourteen grades 9 to 12 students left the country last weekend with their scuba and marine biology instructors and chaperons to study the under-water world surrounding Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela.

The students will have a chance to observe and swim among the marine life they have been studying for 12 weeks in the after-school marine biology course they have been taking as part of their membership with the Sir John Franklin Scuba Club.

Besides the obvious tanning potential and fabulous under-water show the students will gain during their week-long scuba trip, they will come back with first-hand observations and underwater photos to add to research projects they will be presenting to instructors and parents.

The students won't just be diving blindly into the waters around Curacao, they have been training to become certified divers, and will achieve full certification after completing a required 40-foot dive and final test while in Venezuela.

Carey Sibbald, a student and first-year member with the scuba club, said that not only did the club combine two things she had an interest in -- scuba and marine biology -- but it is providing her with experience and education that could be valuable to her in the future.

"I'm kind of looking at a career in marine biology probably (focusing on) the preservation of reefs," said Sibbald

"If I do reef preservation I will definitely be (scuba diving). It's something I've wanted to try and after this I will be (certified) to dive anywhere in the world."

For Chris Buchanan, the trip won't be his first scuba/marine biology research trip as he attended the scuba club's trip to Fiji two years ago. His experience with the underworld in Fiji peaked his interest to continue studying marine life, and he is looking forward to his reunion with the under-water world as well as his first night dive.

"It's one thing to study fish but it's another to be down there and touch it," recalls Buchanan.

"I got to hold a sea cucumber (on a prior trip).

"This will be my first time doing night diving. I can't wait because you get to see things that you don't see during the day. There's a whole bunch of things like Octopus and eels that come out."

The students have worked hard and stuck through not only all the course work, scuba training, and extra time on developing their projects in order to attend the trip but were involved in the numerous fund-raising efforts to cover the cost of the trip.

Each student was responsible for coming up with $3,000 for the trip and had the option of helping with the club's fund-raising efforts to cover some of their individual cost.

"Those that participated (in the fund- raisers) got credit and more cut (off their cost)," said John Stewart, co-ordinator for the club and trip. "Some kids raised at least $1,000 and others had good part-time jobs that they focused their time on and only raised a couple hundred (in fund-raisers).

The club, which has been running since 1996, only hosts a trip once every second year due to the funding that has to be raised for all the gear, the cost of the marine biology and scuba courses as well as the trip itself.