What a fantastic summer of marine field and lab research! The scientists of Cohort 2019 spent the day supporting each other as everyone put their final touches on their pilot project posters. While the posters went off to the printer, the students tidied up the residence, finished their laundry, and packed. Before scientist mentors, family members, and program supporters arrived, students put on their new Salish t-shirts illustrated, designed, and voted on by the group and gave a last practice for presenting their posters to guests. At 5:00pm the doors opened! Deeply engaging their guests, Cohort 2019 led the charge for a new generation of investigators and science communicators! Speeches were made, food was shared, games were played… and guests went off, leaving the group one last night to enjoy each other’s company and see the sun rise over San Juan Island one last time.

By: Ben Logel and Ella Leeson

Today we had another slightly early morning (7:30) because we had to catch the necropsy happening at the Friday Harbor Labs. For the week leading up to this event, Derek wouldn’t tell us what animal it was, except for that it was a marine mammal. However, when we arrived, we soon saw that it was a porpoise. Members of the Seadoc Society and the Whale Museum participated in this autopsy of the mammal, which they found floating in the water this past Sunday. The whole process took about an hour, and the scientists inspected every part of the animal and speculated the cause of death to be anything from cancer to a boating incident. However, upon further inspection, they concluded that what most likely happened was that this porpoise was hit by a killer whale, which caused internal bleeding, causing the animal to die. It was an incredible experience to see how much scientists can learn from these animals, even after they’re dead. That part was cool, but I think it’s safe to see on behalf of the group that we won’t be missing the smell at all…

When we arrived back at the dorms, it was eminently time to work. With the project deadline drawing ever nearer, we found ourselves scrambling to put the finishing touches on. Some of us had not started the poster (I included) due to the fact that our experiments took longer than expected. Still, even those who had had ample amount of time to do their projects still felt ill prepared. Lucky by the end of the day, after hours of work, most of us had finished our projects. Many of us wear now the glazed expression of someone who has stared at a spread sheet for far too long. Those who have not finished their projects will either be staying up late into the night or else wakening up early tomorrow. After all of this work, I hope that the presentations go well, and that people fully understand how much time and energy went into making them happen (even if it does not appear so).