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Caren Eckrich of Sea & Discover is one of the best friends of Bonaire reefs. Her aim is to make nature lovers out of her students because once they learn to love it they will protect it, she believes. . She becomes very enthusiastic and excited when she talks about nature. "We need to get people to appreciate, respect and realize how important nature is, to be in awe of it, to admire and do what they can to preserve it. To understand how incredibly intricate and fragile the system is. How wonderfully bizarre." She adds, "Every person counts and each one can make a difference in maintaining nature's delicate balance.
Caren is a young, but savvy marine biologist and dive instructor who established the Sea & Discover educational center.
While she was an undergraduate she went on research trips with graduate students to Costa Rica, South Caicos and Jamaica where the teams studied sea turtles. Upon graduation she began her first teaching experience at a sea camp where she got such tremendous feedback from the kids who were so eager to learn that she was hooked on teaching forever.
While at the University of Puerto Rico's Marine Science department in La Parguera, getting her masters degree in marine biology, she set up a visitors' center where people could view inhabitants of the sea in the aquariums and check out historical oceanographic equipment. Taking study groups of children and adults out on boats to shallow areas to observe the sea grass and mangrove systems motivated her to do research on the effects of trampling the shallow beds.
Caren's love for the sea extended to boats and always wanting to live on one, so while in La Parguera she bought a sail boat and moved aboard. "I saved money that way too," she laughs.
After receiving her masters degree she and some friends sailed her boat to Curaçao where she had been offered an internship at the Seaquariam. She gave talks, lectures and tours of the Seaquariam to tourists and school groups. But always lingering in the back of her mind was the idea of starting her own education center and Bonaire seemed the perfect place with its flourishing reefs, fascinating mangroves and lots of English speaking tourists.
While she and her fiancé Franz were building the Sea & Discover Center Caren worked at Sand Dollar Dive and Photo teaching children how to enjoy and explore the reefs.
Today Caren offers her biology and teaching skills to people who want to know what's really going on down there. "The best way to learn is in the water," she says. "I want to teach them what a reef is, what the interaction is between fish and people, why do fish act like that, the whole workings of the reef. It's easy to miss the little details."
"Evolution has given the sea creatures so many ways to live, eat and mate. They're so well designed. One may have a spine, another a lure," she explains.
Sea & Discover has "Rent a Biologist" programs and "Discovery Dives" as well as guided night snorkel trips. The dive shops that use her services say that she's a hit with the kids and adults alike. "She seems to be able to talk to the kids on their level," one dive shop manager says.
As a volunteer Caren has been teaching local people of all ages to snorkel and appreciate the reef. Sometimes as many as 20 show up for her Sunday snorkels. You may have seen her "mask drop" notices, asking for cast off masks and snorkels to give to her local students when they have achieved a certain skill level.
She welcomes people to stop by her mini-center to just talk and ask questions about science.
The Sea & Discover Center is at Kaya A. Neumann #11. Turn at the Sea & Discover sign on Kaya Gob. Debrot, just south of Marlis' Canvas Shop. Call 717-5322 or e-mail seandiscover@bonairelive.com.
Caren's lifetime aim is to be able to change the way people see and treat nature and teach them just how important that connection between man and nature is. She's right on target. L.D.
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