During the Marine Biology, section one, field lab in Shanghai, students visited The Tongchuan Lu Fish Market, “to survey and document the marine plants and live animals for sale, with particular emphasis on taxonomy and morphology.” The class then went to visit the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, “to view and document living examples of marine algae, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals.”

The students from the second section of Marine Biology were also subject to the same objectives during their field lab in Hong Kong, as they similarly explored the Lei Yu Mun Fish Market and Hong Kong Ocean Park.

Both field labs explored the destinations with the desire to learn from hands-on experience, to eventually make educated, comparative observations at subsequent ports throughout the Spring 2015 voyage. The assignment, students had to compose an annotated photo log along with a journal type entry about the marine organisms observed throughout the day.

Professor Sal Genovese did not shy away from proactive instruction, to highlight the many different varieties of marine life in the region, he was quick to dive right in and explain.

A global education, taught outside of the classroom by world-class instructors, are what help make the Semester at Sea program unique and irreplaceable.