By Maddy, Joey, and Gray

Gray, Maddy, and Joey (left to right) riding a wild orca awesomely in the ocean. (Totally accurate graphic by Gray)

We planned on making pancakes last night, so we got right into making the batter as soon as we woke up. However, upon cataloging our ingredients, we found that we were missing eggs, which is pretty important for pancake batter. After Jacob and Miranda went on a super fast shopping run, Jacob and Joey began mixing up the batter, now with all of the necessary ingredients. Soon, the pancakes were coming off the griddle. Even though we didn’t have that much time to eat, they were delicious.

We rushed out the door (leaving Maddy behind on accident) in order to get to the Whale Museum, a place dedicated to educating and advocating for whales. Once Maddy caught up with us, we went inside and were transported into a world of whales. Our tour guide, Tracie, led us around the museum, showing us massive whale skeletons and preserved skulls of all types of marine mammals. A particularly interesting exhibit showed a conjoined seal pup, which unfortunately killed both the mother and pups during birth. After the tour was over, we spent some time walking around on our own accord, exploring the various games and exhibits.

The gang investigates a marine murder (photo by Miranda)

After the whale museum, we walked two blocks down to the Whale Conservancy, where we watched an informational video about orca conservation. We decided to have a quick stop at the market to get food before going back to the dorm. On the way to King’s Market, some people did parkour on a stairwell and might have looked really stupid (it was fun though). After a bit of decision making, we collected some non-gluten-free bread and fruit, and then checked out. Once we got back, we made lunch with the new food we bought.

We took a little break, and then Derek gave us an important task. He wanted us to go into town and collect information about the various whale watching agencies. By doing this, we were able to get a better understanding to what degree the industry is harming the whales, and get to know what happens on the tours themselves. After visiting all the whale watching agencies and having conversations with various staff members, we headed to the ice cream shop on the dock. We returned to the dorms to explain the information we found to Derek.

Then, we worked on our website and had a small break time to relax. We were able to upload employee biographies and also plan other aspects of pisaster.org ! Kika decided to make bombay potatoes for dinner. With some minor assistance from Joey and Maddy, dinner was ready by 6:30 with no delay. The potatoes and rice were especially delicious and went well with the assorted fruit. 

After cleanup, we headed outside to do some tie-dye. Equipped with many colors, we made some beautiful t-shirts and set them out to dry. We came back inside to watch a movie, this time choosing without any deliberation, as we had chosen a movie earlier in the day. Everyone was tired from a long day of fun, and we were all excited to get to bed.

By Gray, Kika, Madelyn, Maddy, Jacob, and Joey

A lazy morning start was enjoyed by most on Sunday. Jacob, Joey, & Gray woke up early to make french toast for everyone, it was spectacular and loved by all. Promptly after breakfast we sat down with Derek and saw photos of his scuba diving adventures, and encounters on the Albanian coastline. Then we ate lunch together, and placed our sandwich order for dinner, before splitting up to enjoy our Sunday plans.

Gray: For my Sunday I walked into town to visit shops, try fresh pastries, and explore Friday Harbor. Upon my return, Joey and I did a chocolate tasting (Chocolate truffle with cream was the best) and then went on a bike ride to the top of the Missing mountain.

Joey: In the afternoon I spent some time relaxing and then headed into town. I was going to get a souvenir, but all of the stores close at 4 on Sunday. When I came back, Gray and I went on a bike ride past Jackson Beach. We did some exploring: we biked up on a ridge, sat in a tree and ate an apple.

Maddy: I spent the morning with everyone at the dorms, and then I headed to Friday Harbor Labs to work on my eelgrass experiment. I transferred the eelgrass wasting disease cultures into new petri dishes so that they wouldn’t run out of food to eat. Then, I sorted and cleaned a bunch of eelgrass shoots that we all collected the other day at Padilla Bay, prepping them for the next step of my experiment.

Jacob: I thought about ideas for the website. Then, I read a bit about the Salish Sea and its original discovery. The “Salish Sea” book by Dr. Joe Gaydos explained why places were named what they are and who they’re named after. Mostly I just rested. I also went for a short walk to the skate park and back.

Madelyn: After breakfast, I didn’t do much before deciding to go on a jog. It was really nice to just zone out and take in the steel blue sky and warm sun, brightening all the towering trees overhead as I ran by. Later in the day, I found myself under a tree outside reading a book, feeling the crisp air on my skin and creating fantasies in my head. So I really just relaxed today.

Kika: I went for an invigorating jog down to Jackson’s Beach before lunch, taking numerous detours to collect ebony blackberries and getting shredded by bramble thorns on the way. I ate a quick meal and then lounged in the liquid sunshine to read the news and drink a cup of mint tea. After my relaxing afternoon, I spent the evening. browsing local shops on Spring Street before settling on a lovely leafy mug as a souvenir.

We ended the day by attending the Island Stage Left adaptation of Much ado about Nothing, starring Paulina’s riveting performance as Hero. We picnicked in the garden before bundling up to protect ourselves against the swarms of mosquitos. The play was amazing, and our critics are giving it a rare 10/10. We would recommend seeing an Island Stage Left performance or donating if you saw a show and really liked it.

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).