On the morning of Sunday, July 3rd, Salish Sea Sciences takes to the water on longboats, courtesy of the Northwest Maritime Center. As the NWC describes, longboats are “26′ open wooden boats. They are historic replicas from Captain George Vancouver’s exploration of the region in 1792 that were built at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. The boats are equipped with 8 rowing stations and 3 sails. Stepping aboard is like going back in time. Both longboats are US Coast Guard Inspected vessels and are staffed by licensed Captains.”

Photo by Tom Grauman

NWC Program Coordinator Nancy Israel tells us, “Captain Michael Sharp and Mate Chrissy McLean are really excited to meet our Salish Sea Sciences team. Michael and Chrissy are experienced longboaters and Marine Educators. Michael is a licensed Captain who has recently been working for Salish Sea Expeditions aboard the yawl Carlyn as the Mate doing inquiry based science. Chrissy used to work for Pacific Crest Outward Bound on kayak and longboat courses and for the last 8 years, she has been working at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.”

Here is Captain Michael’s blurb from the Salish Sea Expeditions website: “Michael [is] a licensed USCG Captain, lifelong sailor and adventurer. His earliest memories are of being aboard sailboats. In early 2015, Michael arrived in Port Townsend after an eight-year Alaskan odyssey aboard his 36-foot steel cutter Bluewater with his wife Susanna and Nisa the Wonderdog. When not working with Salish Sea Expeditions, he is a Maritime Educator and Sailing Instructor with the Northwest Maritime Center, and helps businesses and nonprofits with program development and strategic communications. With more than 25 years of sailing experience on vessels up to 137 feet, he is known for his emphasis on safety and preparedness and his ability to inspire enthusiasm in anyone who is the tiniest bit interested. In his free time, he enjoys exploring his new home in his Vanagon, learning ukulele and marveling at how spring arrives four months earlier at 48 degrees North.”

By Jack, Lynn, and Peder —

Today started wonderfully at 7 o‘ clock. It was a much more blissful morning compared to the teary-eyed days of the past. No more waking up before the rest of the island. We headed to Deadman’s Bay to engage in barnacle research pertaining to dissertation chapter 3 of University of Washington graduate student Will King. Ironically, we talked of horror stories on the way.

Photos by Caroline Grauman-Boss

We exited the van with terror in our minds, but exited to measure, identify, and record data about barnacles. Slipping and sliding, we perilously observed our calipers carefully.

We returned to the dorms, and proceeded to review our data. Jamie, Jack, and Tim headed back to False Bay to release our earwigs because we did not have time to perform our trials and did not wish to kill them. They were eager to return.

Soon we began to plan our costume for the famous Invertebrate Ball. At the thrift shop we encountered deer, orange, and purple.

Photos by Seth Grant

Inspired to be a sea star, we grabbed what we could and headed back to the dorms again.

All afternoon was spent making Sea Stars, Jellyfish, and a Nudibranch.

Creativity was flowing through the room like crazy as we cut, glued, and sewed.

Together we looked like a group of idiots, that was except Indeya who was rocking an 80’s purple get-up.

Photo by Tom Grauman

Our costumes were a hit. We brought home 3 prizes in the name of Salish Sea Sciences.

Now we prepare for our long boat trip around the islands. We will face the cold, feisty water and the smell of 12 individuals who haven’t showered for five days.

We are fortunate. Aside from a tremendous year-round faculty, the University of Friday Harbor Laboratories becomes home every summer to over 200 researchers—many of whom are willing to take the time not only to share their research with our students, but also involve them in it.

On the evening of July 1st, University of Washington graduate student Will King joined us for casual conversation over a sushi dinner prepared by dorm parent Sara Song Grant with the able assistance of three of our students.

Photos by Seth Grant

Three other students prepared the table and welcomed Will, peppering him with insightful questions—these same students wrote the day’s blog entry. The remaining students operated on clean-up crew. We rotate these stations daily.

After dinner, Will gave a presentation introducing us to aspects of climate change, encouraged questions, and informed us how to collect and use data effectively—not just for results, but also to stimulate fresh questions.

His own research aims at understanding climate change through an analysis of barnacle thermal tolerance.

On the morning of July 2nd, we joined Will in the field.

Photos by Caroline Grauman-Boss

Here are a few pictures of students working along their transect lines in the intertidal zone, identifying and quantifying three species of barnacle.