The food was great and the activities fun, said several of the 20 youths spending three days at the V.I. Environmental Resource Station for the first of its Eco-Camps.
“And it’s better than sitting at home doing nothing,” said Sean Godfrey, 8, of St. Thomas.
Sponsored by the Friends of V.I. National Park, the four eco-camps run though July 23. VIERS Administrator Randy Brown said all the eco-camps as well as the science camp are filled, but there is still space in the junior ranger camp, which runs July 25 through 29.
The eco-camps are for youths ages seven through 12. About half of them at this eco-camp hailed from St. John and half from St. Thomas. Activities included swimming, hiking and learning about the environment.
“The kids are absolutely mesmerized,” Nancy Prentiss, a marine worm researcher who teaches at the University of Maine in Farmington.
Prentiss, the eco-camp’s resident scientist, used an underwater flashlight to lure plankton. The youths captured the plankton in a dip net, which enabled Prentiss to demonstrate how the bigger plankton ate the smaller ones.
The youths were enthused about this and other activities.
“The best thing was finding a worm,” Megan Godfrey, 12, of St. Thomas said, ticking off a list of worms that included fire worms and spaghetti worms.
Orlando Reyes, 9, of St. John, said he liked it best when VIERS Manager Jamie Irving used a flashlight to look for fish. He also like going to the beach.
Daniel Aribisala, 8, of St. Thomas, liked the hiking and Naima Dolgopolsky, 7, of St. John, liked the swimming.
And Siena Wilkie, 10, of St. John liked the fact that VIERS is “out in the middle of nowhere.” The camp is located at remote Lameshur Bay.
“It seems like a real camp in the states. It doesn’t feel like you’re on St. John anymore when you come to VIERS,” she said.
Alexander Cavagnaro, 8, of St. Thomas, had one favorite.
“I liked the marshmallows,” he said.
While Prentiss usually teaches college students, she said teaching the younger youths at the eco-camps was a “blast.” She said she hopes some of them will go on to study biology or work in a conservation field.
“They’re the ones protecting the resources not too many years from now,” she said.
Helping children learn how to protect the resources is one of the goals of the camp, Friends program manager Audrey Penn said.
“They experience a living classroom right in their back yard,” she said.
