By Harris Yu

It’s another cold and rainy day in the pacific northwest. Fogs and clouds block every single trace of warmth from the sun. To be honest, I did not dislike rainy, the feeling when being alone, sheltered by the sturdy wooden rooftop, surrounded by the paddling sound of drops, the only thing that could make this even cozier is a mug full of hot chocolate in hands. Not long after, the rain stopped. The fresh smell of earth and grass slowly begin to emerge, as if it was suppressed by the rain this whole time, smell particles burst out from the ground and filled every inch of space around you. “There’s no better way to begin a day with such scenery,” I said to my self.

We are about to start our study projects, each and every single one of us is going to do research on specific topics that we are interested in. Derek is very kindly to be our advisor. He has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the people around here, by talking to us individually, we manage to device a research topic and plan for every student here. Personally, I’m interested in shellfish and worms, and Derek managed to hock me up with a local shellfish farm and conduct my research there. I am very joyful that there’s finally a project that I can devote myself completely.

After lunch, we head towards the lab. On our way there, Derek gave us a tour in the STEM building at the local public high school. I was astounded by the amount of resource and support for student to develop their talent here. We saw 3d printers, VR headsets, and unnamable machine we have never seen before. However, what holds the treasure is behind a wooden door. There was a workshop that looks like a hanger, computer hardware, and tools scattered around the room, but at the center of it, there was a futuristic looking car. After a closer look, we found it was powered by batteries. This vehicle itself is a masterpiece of pragmatism and aesthetic at the same time, I was amazed by the complexity and overall built of this beauty, It must have taken a lot of effort to make this come to life. It was even more shocking after we learn that it was built by a group of 8th graders, it was hard to believe the talent and creativity of those students who have made it.

Then we arrived at the Friday Harbor Lab, it wasn’t the most comfortable walk I’ve had in my life because of the rain, but the beauty of the forest on our way there made it a quite enjoyable experience. We split into different groups after the arrival, some dedicated themselves into the collection the lab have in the library, some went to the fish lab with Derek, and some went to explore the tide pools. In the lab, there was that hideous looking fish we found two days ago from the beach. There were also other fascinating fishes in the lab like flounder and rockfish.

Overall, it was a lovely day. we were glad to have a specific study subject for the next couple of weeks, and we had plenty of fun in the lab.

By Leighna, Camden, and Ayla

Using Derek’s convenient acronym, we now know how scientists classify the marine species that we love. Today, the group focused on taxonomy (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).

After a fun and eventful Fourth of July, breakfast began at 9:00 AM, allowing everyone to sleep in and prepare for a whole day of even more exciting activities! After a quick breakfast, all of us loaded onto the vans to head to Reuben Tarte. Once we got to our destination, Derek announced a friendly competition between the house groups (Seals, Orcas – obviously the best of the groups, Salmon, Octopodi, Sharks) that challenged each of the groups to classify as many organisms on the beach as possible.

We walked among the slippery sea lettuce frantically turning over rocks to uncover many crabs, ocher sea stars, and gunnels. A true miracle of biology was witnessed by some of the group members when they saw two crabs reproducing. Four hours were spent at Reuben Tarte exploring the beach, allowing everyone to discover and identify marine species they had never seen before.

Even though a student suffered a sprained ankle from slipping on the cold rocks, we did find a dead 1.5 meter-long fish lying in an obscure corner of a tide pool. Dr. Adam Summers, the head ichthyologist at Friday Harbor Labs, was contacted about the fish. He texted Derek to “leave the fish in a tank if he wasn’t there to shriek with excitement”. After the disgustingly smelly carcass was loaded into a van, Ben and Camden accompanied the fish to Friday Harbor Labs. The rest of the students went to visit the pleasant-smelling Pelindaba Lavender Farm.

At Friday Harbor labs, Camden and Ben carried the log into Dr. Adam Summer’s lab. The log was carefully placed onto a tank while the rest of the group searched for an empty tank to put the fish into. Camden and Nicholas put gloves on to lift the fish into the empty tank. Dr. Summers was there quietly shrieking with joy! The fish head was squeezed to remove the eye lens. Scissors were then used to remove the eye of the fish. The log was then removed from the lab and tossed onto the beach.

The Lavender Farm, on the other hand, smelled very pleasant. Some students opted to take a peaceful and relaxed walk through the abundant fields of purple, while others went straight to the gift shop to taste test and try out lavender products. After a short 20 minutes at the farm, the students arrived back to the dorms to spend some personal time until dinner.

To end the day, we watched the new Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home as a whole group! It was quite unexpected, but it was a pleasant surprise and a fun movie to watch together.

By Grace Davis, Faith Jayaram, Jeremy Davis, and Tony Yuan To

Sleeping in was a luxury meant solely for the Fourth of July. With a good night’s rest, the members of Salish Sea Sciences were excited for San Juan Island’s annual parade held in honor of the independence of the United States. Many cars, people, horses, and dogs were involved in the celebration. It was great to be a part of the island community and participate in Friday Harbor’s events.

After the parade, some people went to the Pigs War barbecue. At the picnic, food and drink were provided, along with live music and games. While this was one option for the students of Salish Sea Sciences, others went souvenir shopping, got ice cream, or simply enjoyed the Fourth of July fun and nice weather of the island.

To further the festivities, a trip to Roche Harbor added to the holiday cheer. With the hundreds of tourists walking around the north side of the San Juan island, it was difficult to keep our large group of twenty people together (scrambling ensued). Even though parking also proved to be a major issue, we had a great time anyway.

We ended our trip to Roche Harbor by visiting a peaceful sculpture garden– a large contrast to the loud crowds of the harbor. It was interesting to see the talent of so many artists on display. There was also many interesting quotes scattered around the garden which we found hilarious.

Returning to the dorms that night, we ate burgers, a classic Fourth of July dinner. Thank you Tom for your amazing cooking!

To continue, we drove to the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories to get a front row seat for the fireworks. After some exploring at the UW library, we sat on the pier to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were unlike anything we had ever seen before. These flashed bright across the night sky, making a thunderous sound which reverberated for what seemed like miles. It was quite the experience.

To finish off the night, we placed a light under the water near the dock. We watched with awe as animals swam curiously towards the light. We saw many fish, worms, and crab larva. On our way back up the dock, we saw large worms swimming in the water. Excitedly we placed the light near the worms and studied the interesting creature.

While Fourth of July is fun in our hometowns, experiencing the holiday on San Juan was unforgettable.

By Ezra, Olivia, and Orly

From the neuroscience of nudibranchs to inspection of Iceberg Point, we had a day chock-full of learning. We began the day with an early wake-up call, crawling out of bed and out onto the ferry. We traveled from our home-base on San Juan Island, using a ferry to cross Cattle Pass, and deposited our weary but excited bodies on Lopez Island.

Lopez Island is home to Iceberg Point, a maze of tide pools and bluffs, that proved ripe for exploration. Despite our planned repeat of scientific tests, the identification of animals and the lure of the low tide led our entire group, and our head scientist, to continue our exploration. We combed over the countless barnacles, mussels, sea stars, and crabs, occasionally dipping our hands into pools of freezing water to examine a sculpin or a snail. Splashing through kelp and the rising tide, we found rare sponges and the disease-ravaged ochre sea star, we recorded the movement of tide pools, and 3D modeled different species.

Afterwards, we had the good fortune to hear presentations from two renowned scientists who were presenting at Friday Harbor Laboratories, Dr. James Murray and Dr. Andreas Heyland. Dr. Heyland is a specialist in the field of environmental toxicology. He presented ro many scientists at the labs, and us, on the topic of the effects of different metals and pharmaceuticals on the lifecycle and adaption of freshwater plankton.

Dr. Murray, on the other hand, presented on the neurology of nudibranchs. Nudibranchs are mostly blind and deaf sea slugs that roam the seafloor. Nudibranchs are unique as they own neurons so big, they can be seen with the naked eye. In addition, the sensory inputs of the nudibranch are mostly touch and “smell” related. Throughout the presentation, we learned about how open brain surgery on T. diomedia slugs revealed different links between limbs and senses and how each sense functioned. Afterwards, we got the rare and unique opportunity to got into his workspace and look at how he developed the discoveries. He showed us around the nudibranch holding tanks and his Faraday cage. Throughout the fascinating experience, Dr. Murray was very open and eager to answer any and all questions.

Today was an opportunity for Salish Sea Sciences that very few people get. Take advantage of your unique opportunities in life to learn about our wonderful world.

Today was another rainy day in the San Juans, but thanks to our longboat excursion, this rain paled in comparison to the weather we experienced on the water. It was an earlier start than normal today, and this was mainly because of the low tide we wanted to catch at 11:00 am. We traveled about 20 minutes (a long drive by San Juan standards) to the western side of the island, where we arrived at Lime Kiln Point State Park.

We split our group of 18 into 5 smaller groups, where we were each assigned a scientific task involving the intertidal zone. One group was in charge of mapping the state park using an amazing 360 degree camera. We set it up at different points around the park in order to get as complete an image as possible. Another group was in charge of finding a deep tidepool where we could place a GoPro in to capture common tidepool life. Even without the underwater camera, it was easy to see the incredible amount of life living in the tidepools, from fish to plant life to crabs and sea stars.

The other groups were tasked with activities such as barnacle counts and 3D modeling of ocean life. Although the barnacle count was the least favorite activity, it was no less important than the others- all will give us important data that we will analyze and discuss further. We got back to the house at around 2 o’clock today, and it was a nice surprise to find that we had the day off until dinner started. Almost everyone gathered on the couch to watch a Zac Efron movie. Not a personal favorite of mine, but it was nice to spend a relaxing afternoon with everyone after a chilly and wet day on San Juan island.