Life at Sea – The Daily Evergreen

Life at Sea: Poachers will use social media

Southern white rhinos currently have a near threatened status. This nature reserve works hard to change that.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

April 2, 2018

I sat in the back of the safari truck, the shutter of my camera endlessly clicking as we stopped to watch the male southern white rhinoceroses in their environment. This was when our guide asked that we not post pictures of the rhinos, mention the name or the location of the game reserve we saw them...

Life at Sea: Pollution impacts fishing village

The houses are made out of wood and tin roofs, and sit atop blue barrels filled
with air to help keep the structures afloat.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

March 26, 2018

I’d become so familiar with waking up to the smooth rocking of a boat that when we pulled up to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, in a small passenger boat, I almost forgot I was no longer on the huge MS Deutschland in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I looked out my window and saw the iconic rock formations...

Life at Sea: Docked at island of birds, tortoises

Grand tortoises inhabit Ile aux Aigrettes, which works as a nature reserve to protect this species. They are some of the biggest tortoises in the world, weighing up to 900 pounds and reaching over 4 feet in length.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

March 19, 2018

Off the coast of Madagascar, there are multiple islands, which are home to millions of animals and humans. One of these, Mauritius, is a small island packed with life, with a total landmass of 784 square miles and a population of 1.3 million people. These islands are home to some of the rarest species...

Life at Sea: Asian elephants take a bath

Courtesy of Ryan pugh
Semester at Sea student Sydney Hamilton feeds Hmin Sit Wai, a 23 year old Asian elephant, pumpkin slices on Feb. 20 at Green Hill Valley elephant sanctuary in Myanmar. She came to the sanctuary after suffering a gunshot wound and dislocated hip.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

March 5, 2018

I never thought one day I would run my hands along the rough, wrinkly skin of an elephant. While in Myanmar we visited the Green Hill Valley Elephant Sanctuary just outside of Kalaw. The owners of Green Hill Valley strongly believe in an ethical environment when it comes to their elephants. The sanctuary...

Life at Sea: Seven teams compete for first place

Austin Chandler of the Yellow Sea serenades the crowd during the lip-sync battle in the MV World Odyssey’s Sea Olympics on Feb. 16. Students were divided into sea teams based on their room numbers.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

February 26, 2018

Each student aboard the MV World Odyssey, another name for the MS Deutschland, is assigned to a sea based on their cabin numbers. Each voyage the ship hosts the Sea Olympics, a full day of competitive events that range from tug of war to a rap battle. The seas that make up our ship’s population are...

Life at Sea: Meet Shuyin, local Chinese merchant

Shuyin hikes the steep mountain trail up the Great Wall every day to provide for her family who live a modest, rural life in China.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

February 12, 2018

Our tour guide prepared us for the local farmers who would hike along with us in hopes we would buy some of the souvenirs they were selling at the Great Wall. These people make a living off of tourism and I figured I’d buy a thing or two. Once we stepped off the bus we heard someone shouting, “Panda...

Life at Sea: Americans face cultural differences

As they travelled using Japan’s transit, North American students became aware of how loud they can be in public places.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

February 5, 2018

All public transit in Japan is meant to be silent. You get in quietly, sit down quietly, wait quietly, get up quietly and leave quietly. That is just the way it is done in Japan, especially when it is rush hour in the subways and hundreds of individuals pack into these tin tubes like sardines. If everyone...

Life at Sea: Learning to love lightning on stormy ocean

While heavy rainfall may deter some, others see it as an opportunity to capture a dazzling moment.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

January 29, 2018

Good evening voyagers. This is your captain speaking. I would like to inform you that we will be seeing swells larger than we have ever experienced. But do not be alarmed. You are always safe. Remember, one hand for yourself, and one for the ship.” Lovely. I remember watching shows about deep sea...

Life at Sea: Navigating friendships while on a real ship

For students prone to seasickness or excessive clumsiness, living with sea legs is an everyday struggle as they navigate the MS Deutschland.

RYAN PUGH, Evergreen columnist

January 22, 2018

Living aboard a ship for four months can prove quite a jarring experience when compared to life on land. Semester at Sea, the study abroad program run by Colorado State University, is currently ferrying over five hundred students around the world on the 575-foot-long MV World Odyssey, also known as the...