Dateline: August 11th - 18th, 2007 - An expedition team departs from Grand Cayman Island. The destination is Bloody Bay Wall, hailed by the late Philippe Cousteau as one of the three best diving areas in the world.
The Imaging Foundation invites students of all ages to join an expedition to the Cayman Islands in August. While onboard, students will look over the shoulders of documentary film producers as they document Bloody Bay Wall.
Team members will be equipped with the Sony F900 high definition camera, the best tool in the industry. The hardware will be encased in an Amphibico Pro-Housing. Every evening team progress will be reviewed and video subjects identified and logged.
Due to safety and logistical issues, students will not dive with the filming team, but they will tour the reefs with knowledgeable divemasters and marine biologists. Everyday students will attend formal seminars on marine biology and the design and development of natural history documentaries. Students will also be encouraged to ask questions and also discuss these topics, one-on-one with the team on an informal basis. Interested students may volunteer to help log films and assist with topside activities.
Student Group Organized by:
Carrol Florkiewicz
- Stuart CDS Faculty Member for 31 years
- Stuart Athletic Director for 18 years
- Experience - led over twenty Stuart domestic and international trips
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Georgienne Bradley
- Stuart Alumna '77
- Scientist
- Director Imaging Foundation
- Videographer/Writer
- Natural History Documentary Producer
- Women Divers Hall of Fame Inductee
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Jay Ireland
- Discovered Stingray City
- Videographer/Photographer
- Worked in Cayman Islands for 12 years
- SCUBA instructor since 1978
- Paramount, National Geographic, Animal Planet - Among credits
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Expedition Destination : Bloody Bay Wall
 The Cayman Islands are part of an undersea mountain range, the flattened tips just barely emerging from the water to form the islands. Clinging to the tops and sides of these mountains, in the shallower water that rings the islands, is one of the richest accumulations of coral-reef marine life anywhere in the world.
One of the most pristine underwater sites in the world, Bloody Bay Wall is part of a unique ocean reef system surrounding Little Cayman Island, a popular destination for scuba divers in the British West Indies. The unusual characteristics of the reef's architecture provide exceptional underwater visibility, and a diverse profusion of marine life thrives on and about its submerged cliff walls. Many types of hard and soft coral grow along its craggy face. Sharing living space with the corals are vivid yellow tube sponges, red rope sponges and wondrous sea fans. Thousands of mobile creatures inhabit the wall as well, some seeking the wall's excellent protection from predators, and others searching its shelters for prey. Tiny shrimp, brittle stars, Christmas tree worms, lobsters, sea cucumbers, moray eels, and countless varieties of small brilliantly colored fish coexist in timeless balance. Turtles, stingrays, eagle rays, barracudas, groupers and sharks are often found swimming nearby.
The Imaging Foundation was founded and is directed by Stuart alumnae, Georgienne Bradley '77, who is making this classroom opportunity available to all Sacred Heart's students! Imaging Foundation leaders have lead many professional expeditions while working on documentary films and on magazine assignments. Foundation leaders are now making these opportunities available to volunteers who wish an expedition experience.
 On board the Aggressor (our live-aboard dive vessel) students will be given safety and marine biology orientation. Students will dive several times each day and receive presentations and seminars about the flora and fauna in the Caribbean Sea and around the world. Topics will include creative solutions to environmental problems, marine relationships, mutualism, symbiosis and parasitism.
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