Blog Credits: Aoife, Violet

This morning was peaceful and warm, perfect conditions to make significant progress on our posters, which are due tomorrow. It’s crazy to think that we’re almost finished with our projects, which have been such a big part of life here at Salish Sea!

Everyone is deep into their respective projects, and it is incredibly satisfying to see it all come together. From macro-plastic surveys, to tests on barnacle respiration, there is so much being done!

Lunchtime brought a much needed break—and a sweaty hike up Young Hill to eat, play cards, and toss around a football (courtesy of Ethan). As the name implies, the hike down was much easier than the hike up.

Once we returned to the dorms, it was back to our projects as we began the homestretch. Many people finished up their posters, and others still have progress to make before the deadline tomorrow. While there is no dinner guest tonight, we’re having spaghetti, and that is almost as exciting!

Blog Credits: Aoife, Violet

The start of our last week on the Salish Sea began much earlier than normal. Spirits were rather low throughout breakfast–which was at 6:00 am–as everyone had to switch gears from a fun day out at Orcas to (surprise surprise) science!! Despite this, sacrificing a few hours of sleep in order to catch the low tide was worth it, as most students were able to collect organisms and/or begin the data collection phase of their projects.

We regrouped around 12:00 back at the dorms where some people continued to work in the lab, and others worked on getting back the hours they lost this morning with a mid-day nap. An hour later, we headed into the art room to meet with Augie Kalytiak-Davis, a PhD student at Oregon State University who studies sea stars at the Friday Harbor Labs. He instructed us on how to properly incorporate statistics into our research projects. He also introduced us to the program “R” which is a tool commonly used by marine scientists.

After our chat with Augie, project time resumed and we once again went off on our individual pursuits. Some people spent time with their organisms, and others resumed the hunt for specimens.

After a fulfilling day of project time, we are excited to welcome Will Ballentine for dinner. He is co-teaching the invertebrate zoology class at Friday Harbor Labs this summer!

Blog Credits: Aoife, Violet, Ripley, Wesley

Do you know how many species of clams there are around Argyle Beach? Today we learned about the little neck clam, the butter clam, and the invasive varnish clam, among many other organisms by the beach. The start to today, however, was a little more laid-back.

Today we switched it up with a relaxing, project-focused morning in preparation for Monday, when our topic selection is due. This mainly included background research, hypothesis development, methodology, and much support from our wonderful science team!

For a nice mid-day break, we packed lunch and headed out to Jackson Beach, where we explored the bay and adjacent Argyle Lagoon. While we were there, we dug for clams and waded in the natural saltwater stream flowing from the lagoon to the sea.

Today’s clam dig was both fun and informative, as any good scientific field work should be! Each group of students dug four 1×1” holes, two further up the beach (high intertidal) and two near the water (low intertidal). The extracted sediment was placed into large sieves, where clams were sorted from rocks and other invertebrates. Additionally, invasive Varnish Clams were separated from native clams–such as butter clams–which were reburied.

We are excited to welcome our guest for dinner tonight: Joe Heras, a scientist currently doing work with genomics and environmental DNA, or eDNA for short, at the FHL labs. Dr. Heras and his team are able to analyze water samples to determine what fish have been in the water. His experience in the field, as well as the lab, makes him a valuable mentor going forward as students continue to develop their experiments and become immersed in the world of science.