With a net in hand, Isabella Fiermonte, a senior at Nazareth Academy,, prepares to take samples of plankton populations near Bimini in the Bahamas. | Photo courtesy of Isabella Fiermonte

Lyons Township senior Abigail Kittler spent a week in the Bahamas as an intern over 2012 spring break for the Shedd Aquarium doing various research projects. | James C. Svehla~for Sun-Times Media

Isabella Fiermonte, a senior at Nazareth Academy from La Grange, handles a Biminia boa, a docile, yet endangered species in the Bahamas during a trip March 31-April 7. | Photo courtesy of Isabella Fiermonte

Isabella Fiermonte, a senior at Nazareth Academy from La Grange (third from left, top row), poses with fellow high school researchers during a trip March 31-April 7 to the Bahamas. | Photo courtesy of Isabella Fiermonte

Isabella Fiermonte examines supplies for a research project studying coral reefs in the Bahamas March 31-April 7 through the Shedd Aquarium high school program. | Photo courtesy of Isabella Fiermonte

Isabella Fiermonte, a senior at Nazareth Academy, holds a sponge while studying coral reefs in the Bahamas March 31-April 7 through the Shedd Aquarium High School program. | Photo courtesy of Isabella Fiermonte

Seniors from La Grange and Western Springs were among the high school students who lived in a floating classroom for a week in the Bahamas aboard the Coral Reef II, an 80-foot reserach vessel used in the Shedd Aquarium program. | Photo courtesy of Isabell

Lyons Township High School senior Abigail Kittler spent a week in the Bahamas as an intern over 2012 spring break for the Shedd Aquarium doing various research projects. | James C. Svehla~for Sun-Times Media

Senior Abigail Kittler spent a week in the Bahamas as an intern over 2012 spring break for the Shedd Aquarium doing various research projects. | James C. Svehla~for Sun-Times Media