I have always been a fan of the marine sciences. Ever since I was a child I would watch Wild Discovery on the Discovery channel hoping that it would be about the ocean. I remember turning my room into an undersea universe with the help of my Little Mermaid sleeping bag and always made sure to place little figures of fish, dolphins and any other sea creature I could find on my floor to make it appear as if the figures were "swimming" on my carpet. When the summertime came I was in the water as much as I could be. Almost every year my family went to Cape Cod in Massachusetts, swimming and exploring there were some of my favorite activities, especially in the bay.

In Cape Cod, we stayed in a house on the bay. I would swim every day and walk out as far as...