Today’s Blog by: Kira, Abby, and Andrea

Having spent an amazing time at Salish Sea Sciences this summer, we all woke up excited to spend our last Saturday all together. We made our way to the farmers market and walked around looking at all the local artists and farmers. We would eventually go to different places and collect more data for our projects, some of us went on a ferry ride, others to Cattle Point, and others stayed back at the dorm analyzing the data they had already gathered. At the end of the day we went to watch Island Stage Left‘s performance of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” under the stars that featured the artist resident Paulina, and we all loved the play!

And now, for the exciting content: student interviews!! Today, the Blog Team interviewed Andrea, Estevan, and Naomi. Let’s start with some thoughts on this morning’s Farmer’s Market trip.

— Andrea, what was your favorite part about the Farmer’s Market?

“I loved the gluten free brownie that I bought. It was a little bit crumbly, but the flavor was there. The market in general was full of life, and the energy there was infectious.”

— Andrea, do you have any other comments regarding your experience at the Farmer’s Market?

“I apologize to the man whose video recording I walked in front of while the band was playing. I honestly did not see the camera.”

— Estevan, what was your favorite stand at the Farmer’s Market?

“I liked the high quality H2O. It was very empowering, it made me feel very open and alive. The natural spring water left a slight tingle on the tongue.”

Naomi, what did you do today during project time and can you tell me a little bit about your project? 

During project development time Naomi headed to Friday Harbor Labs to watch the feeding of the lab’s Pycnopodias. The feeding went well and Naomi says she got a lot of information about the sea star’s feeding behaviors. Naomi is studying and recording these feeding behaviors in individual stars using underwater cameras. The Pycnopodia populations were some of the most impacted by sea star wasting disease so the chance to work with them is really incredible! “I am so happy and grateful to Dr. Jason Hodin and his fellow researchers for letting me work with their sea stars.”

And for our next act, we’ll find out just how much we enjoyed tonight’s play!

— Estevan, what were your thoughts throughout the play?

“Honestly, the quality of the play was fantastic. They really brought life to the stage, and despite pandemic setbacks, it was overall a fantastic performance.”

Essentially, our day was fantastic — just ask Naomi!

— Naomi, what was your favorite part of the day? 

“My favorite part of the day was helping my fellow researchers conduct their experiences with chitons and barnacles. The access we have to the intertidal zone and the variety of organisms that reside in the Salish Sea through the labs is incredible. Thank you Friday Harbor Labs and the University of Washington!” 

Today was filled with productivity and fun! It was an amazing week. From working on our projects as individuals to watching a fantastic performance as a group the week could not have been better. Finally, a special thanks to Naomi, Andrea, and Estevan for their wonderful interview responses!!

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!!