Today’s Blog: Kira, Andrea, and Abby

After spending last night celebrating the fourth of July, most of us were tired but eager to explore the intertidal zone at the Friday Harbor Laboratory. Although the weather was cool and breezy all of us headed straight into our separate tidepools where we would test for dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH levels, alkalinity and measure temperature with Connie Sullivan, a specialist in environmental toxicology, who works for Ross Strategic, an environmental consulting firm in Seattle. Our findings showed that different tidepools with different abiotic factors had distinct characteristics which was expected if the tidepools differed in exposure and shallowness. We left the labs feeling accomplished and having gathered so much data!

For lunch most of us had left over hot dogs from last night, while others of us had sandwiches along with some delicious lemonade. We enjoyed some potato chips and talked about our siblings. There were stories shared about siblings shoving beans up their nose, other siblings shoving polly pocket shoes up their nose and even hiding food in their diapers. It was very interesting to see how many of us have siblings who loved hiding things as kids!

After lunch we headed up to our lab to join a zoom call with Dr. Cindy Elliser. Dr Elliser is the founder of the non-profit Pacific Mammal Research or PacMam, which strives to research, understand and protect the mammals in the Salish Sea through outreach, research and education. She led us through an engaging presentation on how to identify all the pinnipeds, mysticetes and odontocetes. 

We have been insanely lucky during our time here and have gotten to see many of the marine mammals we learned about today. One of those mammals happens to be the harbor porpoise. The harbor porpoises are often overshadowed by the orcas, but are equally fascinating. We learned how hard the porpoises are to spot and research. Dr. Elliser showed us how these porpoises demonstrate different behaviors and how to identify whether a porpoise was socializing, hunting, or just traveling. Then we  received some data sheets that would allow us to survey these behaviors and contribute to this research!

After our time in the lab, we all collected at the table with Caroline to reflect on our eventful canoe trip. We had a great time discussing the highlights of our different trips, we also laughed about the less fun experiences like the wind and the racoons! 

Our afternoon was laid-back and relaxing. After we reflected on our trip, we all split into different directions; some went to town, others called family, and a few took naps. As of July 1st, we all have the run of the town! We were delighted to hear earlier in the week that many of Friday Harbor’s COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. Some of our favorite spots in town include the docks, King’s Market, and the Friday Harbor Ice Cream Company (of course). 

This evening, we all sat down for a delicious dinner of baked potatoes with Dr. Vik Iyengar, the #1 earwig enthusiast on San Juan Island. After dinner, we sat down in the common living room as Dr. Iyengar showed us a presentation on Sexual Selection and Sociality in earwigs. The presentation was very descriptive, and he had us in a trance! Our questions were endless and Tim eventually had to limit our inquiries.

Our day today was, yet again, fun & interesting. We’re all so happy to have a bit of freedom in the town, and all of the scientists we met today were so inspiring. Stay tuned for more adventures!!

Today’s (short!) update is brought to you by Sara and Miranda after (what felt like) a long day of hiking to the top of Young Hill, a part of English Camp, one of two National Historical Parks on San Juan Island, and waiting for the other half of the group to return from their canoe voyage. After spending the morning working on project development and turning in research proposals, we headed out to English Camp.

Upon arriving at English Camp, Science Director, Tim gave the students a brief history of English modifications to the area including houses, gardens, and introduced species. Making the trek along the North end of the island, we headed West afterwards up Young Hill. Read here to learn more about historical and current day Lummi experiences.

Students spotted Douglas Firs (which are actually pines), Madrona trees, and one bald eagle! 

In the evening, our second Kaigani Canoe voyage group joined us once again at the dorms where we gathered for a meal of leftovers!

Today’s blog was written by Naomi Scott, Elliott Jones, Estevan Torres, Islay Ross, Colette Bennett, and Abby Cooper.

Dry bags packed, bellies full of bagels, and water shoes strapped, we prepared for our canoe journey to Turn Island, a Washington Marine State Park part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge with Kaigani Canoe Voyaging.

Introductions and Islands

Upon arrival, we were introduced to Matt Wickey, the founder of Kaigani Canoe Voyaging society, a company bringing traditional canoe sailing methods to the Salish Sea. We also met his team (Rob, Dani, and Jen), and the canoes we would be traveling in, Hoku’ula and Kaigani. 

Matt is the leader and founder of Kaigani Canoe Voyaging. He’s a wildlife biologist who’s spent a large portion of his life in Hawaii and has recently moved to the San Juans. His time in Hawaii immersing himself in Hawaiian culture is his inspiration for bringing traditional Hawaiian canoes to the islands here. He’s a strong believer in sharing indigenous cultures with people from all over, which he hopes to convey through these experiences.

Soon we were able to get in the canoes and on the water. Colette, pictured below, was chosen to ride on Hoku’ula’s trampoline! We learned to row in sync and listened to Matt’s Hawaiian chant to bless our trip.

Rowing across the San Juan Channel was just as exciting as it was challenging. We were all happy to see land by the time we hauled our canoes up onto the rocky beaches of Turn Island. Once we set up our tents for the evening we were given a few hours to explore the island.

Oysters and Onions

After a long day of paddling and hanging out in the sun, we were pretty hungry, so we set up our camp stove and started to chop up zucchinis, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and chicken to make a really delicious chicken and veggie marsala.

Eating dinner. Picture: Islay Ross

While some of us prepared food for the stove, others of us searched for oysters. We carefully and successfully shucked over eighteen fresh oysters from the rocks around our camp. Some were enjoyed raw directly after being opened while others were cooked in the leftover marsala pan. Those of us who wished to feast on the shellfish!

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Sunsets and Sleeping outside

Once we were bundled up in pajamas and full of warm, sweet apple crisp, we watched the sky turn pink and orange.

Enjoying apples and the sunset. Pictures: Naomi Scott, Islay Ross, Estevan Torres

Headlamps lit and bellies full we went hiking a bit after dinner to go find a rock to climb. The night involved a lot of scaring each other, tripping over roots, and carrying sticks to fend off any raccoons we may have come across. After we made it back to the campsite we settled down either in our tents or on the beach to sleep. 

Morning Visitors

Waking up on the beach that morning was oh, so special. The sound of the water lapping against the rocky pebbled beach was soothing as each of us woke up to the sounds of nature—something not often experienced by those of us who live in the city.

Suddenly, to the north, we spotted orcas. There were two: probably the mother and calf transient whales that have been spotted recently in the area. We watched for about a half-hour as the pair surfaced and resurfaced not far off the coast between San Juan and Shaw Island. Sometime before they disappeared, going south and out of sight, the two whales appeared to be playing as they splashed around their flukes. Nobody will forget that truly incredible moment on this adventure.

After a quick lunch, Matt and Dani explained to us the wonders of medicinal plants. A few of us really took to this idea and started planning out imaginary gardens in our heads. We learned that with a familiarity with the land, you can easily and safely take care of most ailments. 

By this point in the afternoon, we were feeling the effects of the sun. Thankfully Matt and his team had brought all of the ingredients necessary to make organic, chemical-free sunscreen right on the beach. We melted beeswax, zinc oxide, cocoa butter, and comfrey essences together to protect us. 

After we were thoroughly covered in sunscreen, we boarded our canoes and got ready for the paddle back to Friday Harbor. When we got back to San Juan Island some of us swam with the canoes!

Arriving Home

We were told before we left that we weren’t allowed to tell the other group anything about what we had done because each trip is unique. They might not see things that we did, so we kept silent and talked about the few things we could, which wasn’t much.

We told the other group a few things about what we had done. They told us about what they had found and their day and a half without us. They told us about how they had gone on a scavenger hunt and how they went to the whale museum which we got to experience today. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the wild Salish Sea Platypuses the other group ran into while we were gone! 

We are looking forward to another night of bonding and brownies!

Hello everyone! Today’s blog comes from Ana, Andrea, Maddy, Sonja, Meg, Hebaq, Dustin, and Kira.

Today was a little different for everyone. We woke up at our normal time and Morgan told us that we were finally allowed to go into town! We celebrated this by going out and buying coffee from a local shop. Some of us even explored the grocery store. Afterwards, we had a sad goodbye with Group 1 who left for an overnight canoe trip with Kaigani Canoe Voyaging. We think they’ll have a great and safe trip with Matt Wickey (the boating guide) and his crew! The remainder of us had time to work on our independent projects until lunch. 

After lunch, we headed to the Friday Harbor Whale Museum where we received a very informational tour. We learned all about the different species of marine mammals and their importance to the San Juan area and to the Native American Coast Salish peoples. We then had the chance to look around at fun exhibits like the whale brain, whale calls, and beautiful stained glass of whale species. 

Later, Tim handed us packets with historical pictures of the Friday Harbor Town. He told us to find each building and attempt to replicate the picture we saw. We only had an hour and a half, so we split off into groups and started to explore! The scavenger hunt was really fun, and both groups stopped in different shops along the way…to look for historical sites of course. Ana’s team won!

After we found all the images, we headed back and made a delicious dinner for our smaller-than-average sized group. We chatted about finances over our meal, which was a little surprising but overall pretty interesting. We washed the dishes and then started to sing/ shriek karaoke in the living room. We plan to have a movie night and eat plenty of ice cream!!