Blog by Trevor, Greta, Susanna, and Pax

This morning we woke up at 7:30 again and after enjoying our breakfast together listened and read about our session capstone project. The project will be an environmental proposal aiming to solve an environmental problem or execute continuing research to further conserve our environment. We saw some project examples and then made our lunches together. This project will be completed throughout the session, and we are excited to begin brainstorming.

At 10:00, we left for Deadman’s Bay, crawling over plenty of seaweed to find different species for a game called Intertidal Bingo. We crossed off squares based on how many separate species we could find in the tide pools and on the beach, and thanks to a bit of teamwork, many of us were able to black out our bingo cards. The sea lettuce caused the rocks to become slippery, but luckily none of us sustained notable injury. This was a great opportunity to learn about the different creatures living in tide pools and how they interact with one another.

After tide pooling, we sat down on some large driftwood for lunch before piling back into the vans and heading to the Whale Museum.

In the afternoon our group toured the Friday Harbor Whale Museum, our tour guide explained the different groups of orcas living in the Salish Sea. We learned about many types of whales and porpoises living in our area. The tour guide talked about the endangerment of the orca whale, human impact, and that there are many ways that we can help.

After a quick drive back from the museum we prepared for our next activity, team town scavenger hunt. Each team had to find specific locations or actions and take a photo of everyone at or doing the task. Each team had a blast exploring the town and finding all sorts of different places. In the end, every team did quite well, with three teams getting over 375 points and the winning team getting a total score of 405. Tonight we will meet with Tim Dwyer who is currently co-teaching the Marine Subtidal Ecology course with Dr. Katie Dobkowski at the Friday Harbor Labs and was the founding Science Director for Salish Sea Sciences. Mr. Dwyer will teach us more about marine biology in the Salish Sea as we enjoy a delicious dinner and, afterwards, he will regale us with his experience with marine science research and communications in Antartica!

Blog by Maxene, Sophia, Morgan, and Carlos

Yesterday was an exciting day, anticipation was high as students finished last-minute packing and readied themselves for a long day of transportation. Two students touched down from out of state before seven more piled into the van for the long drive to Anacortes. After meeting three more students there, we enjoyed a scenic ferry ride to Friday Harbor, the place we’d be spending the next two weeks learning about and exploring the Salish Sea. After being acquainted with the final seven students at the dorms, all 19 of us were excited and ready to begin the program. We met our roommates, settled into our dorms, and ate a delicious meal together before turning into a good night’s sleep before an eventful day.

On the morning of the 22nd, we woke up at a very acceptable 7:30 am, ate a quick breakfast that consisted mostly of Cheerios, and went to Cattle Point to meet Dr. Dobkowski for seaweed surveys! Dr. Dobkowski’s research seeks to provide sound science for future conservation, restoration, and management efforts; she was a perfect fit for this activity. throughout the activity, all groups were able to identify different types of seaweed that are including but not limited to rusty rock, fucus, sea cauliflower, sea lettuce, sea moss, rockweed, and much more. overall a very fun experience, and a perfect way to start out this 2 week adventure.

Shortly after eating lunch, we rode the van to Lake Zylstra, a nature preserve on the San Juan. Lake Zylstra is one of the most fertile lands on the San Juan Islands and is home to many keystone species. Today, Lake Zylstra is used for low-intensity recreation, farming, fishing, and hiking. Students were introduced to Shauna Barrows, a field assistant at the San Juan Conservation Land Bank. Barrows started off by describing the lake and land, that it was important to preserve. She described her stewardship and her dedication to the land, such as the importance of water quality in the streams and creeks. Our 2-mile hike started in the parking lot, then we made our way to the Beaver Dam Analog Area. Barrows stated how the Land Bank worked with native communities on how to best conserve the Land, motioning to the wooden posts. Soon followed a discussion on water ownership, the effect of cow feces on the land, invasive species such as thistle, how the indigenous people burned the land to maintain it, and more. Around us were Gary oak trees, English daisies, Salmonberries, and more. Afterward, we left and rode the van back to Spring Street International School, arriving around 3 pm.

After our long day full of adventures we came back to Spring Street, where Ms. Caroline enlightened us with an orientation to the program. She told us how to preserve and respect the island. This is so important because we want to make sure that everyone can experience this beautiful island as we get to do. We had a great ending to our wonderful first day, officially, with Tom’s delicious Lausanne! Which was graciously prepared with help from the dinner prep team. Our meal was nicely accompanied by a guest speaker, Ms. Shauna Barrows. Ms. Shauna works for the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank. It is her mission to create a better environment by providing help to the numerous ecosystems that are interconnected on the island. She demonstrates how the poor water quality in one stream can have an effect on the wildlife from inland to the bay. Ms. Shauna and her team have already done so much to better this island. We are so very thankful to Ms. Shauna and all of our wonderful staff members who made our first day a success.