How many people does it take to install an underwater Webcam at Lameshur Bay, along the south shore? The answer is nine teenagers and five teachers from Kent Denver School in Englewood, Colo.
Teens4Oceans.org, as they're known, use their own funds and donations to do go works to learn about oceans, conservation, and public service. Although, honestly, to read the blog they wrote about their week on St. John, they also learned a lot about snorkeling, hiking, and enjoying beaches.
During their week, they installed a high definition camera inside a glass dome and lights underneath the dock at the Virgin Islands Environmental Research Station.
It can turn 360 degrees and is 10 times more sensitive than a human eye, said one of the Colorado teachers. Helping to document the project was world class photographer Steve Simonsen of St. John. He passed along a short video.
Friends of the Virgin islands National Park, the Park itself, and Sadie Sea's Capt. Tom and Gracie helped support the project with donations.
The link to the Webcam's Internet address is http://teens4oceans.org/cam-saint-john.htm. The picture is supposed to be sent to the Web using the VIERS satellite uplink. Completing that project, to judge from the blog, took longer than expected and may still not be done. Folks using Macs and Firefox or Safari browsers have had little luck seeing the Webcam, according to a post on Virgin-Islands-On-Line. Some using Internet Explorer 8 say they've had success.
Internet Explorer 8 Only? What a Fail.
Uplink to the web is provided by Hughesnet Satellite.
Sloop
As with much else in the world today, the pace of progress will depend on the US –the insufficient but still indispensable power.