Floating Classroom with Acton Academy

On April 16th, 2026, The International SeaKeepers Society hosted 17 students and 5 educators from Acton Academy for a Floating Classroom experience aboard our DISCOVERY Vessel River Queen. Departing from FIU’s Biscayne Bay campus into the beautiful bay, our participants listened to a quick safety briefing from our vessel Captain JD before diving into South Florida ecology. Within a few minutes of leaving the dock our Captain spotted a small pod of dolphins circling a moored boat in the bay. After several leaps, a fish thrown in the air, and many pictures we continued out into the bay responding to questions about ocean acidification, coral protection initiatives, and native species mostly commonly seen. Using our Earth Echo Challenge kits, we segued into our next activity introducing the water quality concepts we would be testing for- temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen level, and turbidity. Our team recorded a temperature of 24 C, a pH of 7, a dissolved oxygen level of 6 ppm, and a turbidity of 0-10 JTU, all normal and healthy observed levels we continue to see. To wrap up our day, we completed a short island cleanup at Sandspur Island where in just twenty minutes our students managed to collect 35 pounds of trash, even after the county wide Baynanza cleanup occurring the weekend before. We wanted to give a huge thank you to Acton Academy for a great afternoon and hope to collaborate with them again soon!