Smithtown HS West Students Research Ocean In Bid For Brighter Shores

SMITHTOWN, NY — Students in Nicole Carone and Kimberly Williams' "oceans" classes at Smithtown High School West recently went to Sunken Meadow State Park to model how researchers explore, monitor and protect the water, the school district announced.

In the morning, they worked with staff at Western Suffolk BOCES to design and engineer underwater robots called Remotely Operated Vehicles that had to perform various tasks when deployed in the water at the park.

In the afternoon, students participated in a beach cleanup and completed a training they had been working toward with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. The goal of the training was to help students learn how to monitor the beaches for marine debris.

Additionally, students searched for federally protected sea turtles, who, while migrating may get caught by a sudden cold shift in the weather, resulting in a state similar to hypothermia.

Students used models of turtles to role play proper procedures they would use to help facilitate the AMSEAS rescue and rehab process.