Written by Jacob and Madelyn

Today we got to sleep in, which was amazing! Then we all got up and had breakfast. After breakfast we headed over to the couch and the surrounding chairs where we recapped the week and thought back to what we had done in the first couple of days. After this reminisce we packed our bags and headed down to the dock to embark on a journey towards Yellow Island. On the boat ride we kept changing positions from sitting on the back, then going up to the front of the boat, and finally finding a comfortable spot on the roof. It seemed to pass very quickly.

Once we (From left to right) Jacob, Joey, Gray, and Madelyn on the boat to Yellow Island  arrived near the island we had to anchor and row boats to shore as there was no dock. Photo by Kika.

It took a bit of rowing back and forth but eventually we all made it ashore. We were introduced to the islands’ steward, Matt Axling. Then, we continued on through a trail onto a rocky outcropping on the other side of Yellow Island. There, we searched for Pisaster (sea stars). We found eleven of them. 

Instead of walking through the lovely terrain and extremely friendly thorns we had before, we trekked back the long way. On the trails, we wandered through the twelve acre island, seeing the bright orange and green madronas stand out amongst the rather unvarying land, pale yellow prairie flowing in the breeze, and Joey even saw a bald eagle swoop down from a tall tree where the land met the sea. Once we made it to the small cabin where we had originally left all of our things, we carried our cooler to a picnic table that looked out over the channel. Some of us sat in the grass, leaning on the old rickety fence that directed trail walkers, while others talked at the picnic table, admiring the view. 

Yellow Island cabin and view, Photo by Madelyn Crist.

Slowly, but surely we loaded all of our things and ourselves into the two dinghies. It took several trips back and forth to get everyone to the boat and some of them may or may not have struggled getting in and out of the boats and rowing them across the blue, green waters from the shore. We rocked back and forth as the waves battered the boat’s sides; the sun warmed the seats and the roof, making for a really nice place to take a break and watch the various islands pass by from the top of the boat, where we all were sitting and talking.
When we got back to San Juan Island, we docked the boat and grabbed our things to stroll up to Spring Street. Derek met us in the living room and we all gathered on the couch to learn about website building and owning domains. We were all helping Miranda own a sea star domain and were figuring out the undertaking ourselves in the process. After a while we ended up with the perfect domain: www.pisaster.org. Gray and Kika then started making our delicious pasta, broccoli, “chicken,” and vegan sausage dinner, while the rest of us took a break.

By Kika Dunayevich, and Gray Rager

We had a leisurely morning today, waking up to a breakfast of cereal, oatmeal, and locally picked wild Himalayan blackberries that were the product of much pain and sacrificial flesh donated to the brambles. We listened to a tragic but riveting lecture by Miranda, who detailed the havoc seastar wasting disease (SWD) is wreaking on the Salish Sea’s localized ecosystem. Subsequently, we were motivated to take action to protect the lovely echinoderms and proceeded to work on our new website, pisaster.org! We analyzed several potential templates for the website and tentatively began to assign titles to our organization’s members. Miranda talked about a localized outbreak of seastar wasting disease she observed on Rosario beach, located on Orcas Island. The intertidal was littered with sea stars dappled with white, oozing lesions – there were piles of goo littered about the beach where their unfortunate cousins had dissolved into white mush.

After finishing our discussion and project work for Pisaster.org we had a rag-tag lunch made up of grilled cheese, quesadilla, nutella sandwiches, and many salads. After lunch, we prepared for our trip to False Bay Creek; our objective was to try and get photographic evidence of salmon and trout populations that had yet to be documented. We departed for False Bay Creek targeting low tide, only to realize that the lack of water had unearthed sulfuric fumes and black muck that reeked of raw sewage. We noted some interesting wildlife (Kika discovered a Lionsmane jellyfish), and continued up the creek. After several attempts that inevitably coated us in fermenting mulch, we gave up our endeavor and departed for Zylstra lake. We walked leisurely around the preserve, debating the merits of a logic-puzzling riddle proposed by Joey. Madelyn discovered a dead juvenile fish, which Kika gleefully seized, delighting in poking and prodding its bloated dead body.

Kika takes her new pet on a walk (photo by Miranda).

Meanwhile, Madelyn was having her own adventure in the murky waters of the algae-riddled lake. Attempting to film local salmon populations and assisted by Joey, who was equipped with a waterproof Gopro camera, Madelyn waded up to her waist into the muck and sacrificed a three-day-old shirt to the escapade. Alas, it was all for naught, as we failed to catch any footage of larval fish. Miranda, who was suffering from a terrible bout of carsickness, didn’t participate in our shenanigans.

Joey prepares to do ritual combat with a fish (photo by Miranda).

Our return to Spring Street was met with the announcement of our first guest: Timothy Dwyer, a marine biologist, avid SCUBA diver, and professor at Friday Harbor High School. We sat down to a meal consisting of flavorful minestrone soup and pasta salad. Tim proceeded to give a fascinating presentation detailing his expedition to Antarctica, punctuated with stunning photos of pristine arctic waters.

Maddy encourages Tom and Joey to maintain focus (photo by Sara).