By Denny Bromley, with Elspeth, William, and Jonathan

Today, on the first day of July, the students of Salish Sea Sciences practiced their inner poet and tested their endurance on two hikes.

After the usual breakfast (no more birthdays) students practiced writing poetry outside. The poems could be about anything and had no required structure. Many students wrote about nature, but many students also wrote deep reflections on power and the ease of abusing it. Ian’s poem, “Grassy”, was highly intellectual and incredibly sophisticated prose about “that stupid thing that won’t go away”. Later, some of these poems were shared in a circle.

After poetry, students embarked on a hike to climb Mt. Grant, a local biopreserve. As far as mountains go, this was a bit close to a steep hill, but it still had a lovely view at the summit. Many islands and the ocean were visible over a beautiful canopy of evergreens covering the mountain’s slopes. The hike up took a journey through gorgeous old-growth forests, and Shauna (our guide at the time) showed us how to read the landscape and to see how environmental sustainment had impacted the forests. Later, students went on another hike around Lake Zylstra, a manmade lake in the center of the island. We counted birds and enjoyed the scenic views as we did a full loop of the lake.

Our day started off with a leisurely sleep in and then breakfast before our taxonomy lesson with Alex McIntire, who is completing his major in marine biology with a minor in chemistry at Oregon State University, in the science room on campus. After learning a bit about taxonomy, we then set out to look at the eelgrass beds on Fourth of July Beach. There, we took measurements using transects and quadrants to determine both the number of plants in one square meter as well as the amount of epiphytes growing along the blades of the grasses. We found a number of Hooded Nudibranchs and some juvenile Dungeness crabs as we wandered. Alex provided us with a wealth of information about the importance of eelgrass in the ecosystem, acting as both a nursery for fishes and a filter for toxins that have been introduced to the ecosystem. They are a welcome home for epiphytes which grow on the blades, blocking out sunlight are a nuisance to the plants. Recently eelgrass has come under threat by diseases that blacken the leaves and kill the plants. After wandering the mud flats, we loaded back into our van and drove to the local fairgrounds where a small competition was being held. We each tried to build our best edible coral reef out of candy. Congratulations to Henry who got the prize for worst reef.

by Eliza and Henry and Samuel

Is this the krusty krab? No, this is Patrick! Today, Salish Sea students were guided today by Alex McIntire, a college senior working his marine biology major degree along with a minor in chemistry at Oregon State University, who also happens to be a San Juan local. We loaded up in the van after a delicious pancake breakfast made for Sarah’s birthday courtesy of Henry. made our way to the rocky tidepools at Reuben Tarte. There, we searched for a variety of different sea star species. Their stleather, purple ochre, and blood sea stars scattered around the multiple tidepools. We then proceeded to tally up the sea stars we found and take photos of them, cataloging the species for future ID. Once we had a good l on the number of sea stars in the area, we tested the pH of the ocean and tidepools. We learned from Alex that the open ocean has an average pH of around 8.1 but here in the Salish sea our waters are more acidic with a pH of 7.8 since the Salish sea is more enclosed and thus experinces less water exchange which leads to higher pH. However, our pH test showed the water as extremely acidic with a pH of around 6.4 in the ocean and 6.2 in the tide pools! Luckly it was our pH test strips that were damaged not our ocean which just goes to show the importance of having the right tools for the job when it comes to science. Monitoring the sea star population is an important task as many star populations have been dramatically reduced by Sea star wasting disease has managed to drastically decrease our sea star population over the years, causing their tissue to decay until they eventually die. Currently, we know little about how sea stars contract, carry, and spread this disease so students had to be very vigilant about not touching any of the stars as to not transfer the illness from sick stars to healthy ones.

After the tidepools we headed back to the dorms and pooled our data on water temperatures along with starfish populations. That evening Samuel and Elsbeth finished the Birthday cake and cupcakes which we had after our tostada diner.

By Jonathan with Elspeth 

Today began another exciting day at Salish Sea Sciences where students had to count snails. After eating a wonderful choose-your-own cold breakfast, we traveled to Jackson Beach to count any garden snails that could be found. This was a very exciting activity and no one got bored at all, in fact, many of us were quoted as having said the experience was quite amazing. After this incredibly engaging activity, we returned to prepare for the next activity, which was a visit to a place full of life: Dead Man’s Bay. 

At Dead Man’s Bay, we built upon the previous activity of counting snails by counting more snails. We learned more effective ways of counting, such as through the use of quadrats. A quadrat was a frame we placed along specific areas, where we then counted the number of a specific species within the frame. This number can then be used as a sample to estimate the distribution of a species in the area. We also used transacts and counted along them. After having a tasty lunch of sandwiches (why is lunch always sandwiches?), we counted echinoderms, limpets, barnacles, mollusks, and you guessed it: snails. This was an incredibly tedious task as there were often hundreds of these little critters every foot. Still, we prevailed in the end and finished counting before the tide could get to us. After that, we returned to prepare for our next activities and to relax, something much needed after counting thousands of snails.

The day started off nice and easy to help recover from a long kayaking trip. As everyone got up slowly and ate breakfast, the group worked together to catch up on blog posts from our kayaking hiatus. The slow morning was much appreciated as we counted bug bites, marveled at new tan lines, and nursed sunburns. Unfortunately Shauna Barrows, Field Assistant, from the San Juan County Land Bank had a late change of plans and was unable to take us up  Mt. Grant where we would have started to learn about watersheds; thankfully she was able to reschedule for Friday. Instead, we decided to start at False Bay, which would have originally been our final destination for the lesson on watersheds. At around 11:00 we started with an introduction video to life in False Bay produced by San Juan Conservation and featuring Dr. Drew Harvell of Cornell University, a famous marine biologist and author of the new book Ocean Outbreak. After the video ended we prepared our lunches, and picked out our boots. We then loaded ourselves inside of the van and made our way off to False Bay. When we arrived, the tide had already started to rise again so we had to be fast to observe the life living within the bay. Throughout the next few hours, we saw a lot of crabs, sculpins, mounds of seaweed, and various types of algae. Our handy identification sheets allowed us to notice small differences between various species. After returning from False Bay, we cleaned off our boots and were allotted some more time for free time, which we spent exploring Friday Harbor, napping, and hanging out in the common space to continue the recovery process. Dinner, which was various types of burgers as requested by us on the return day of the kayak trip, was quite enjoyable for all of us.

On the final day of our trip, we woke up bright and early at 7 am to start packing and getting ready to leave. We ran into a few obstacles along the way, like the incredible amount of caterpillars that had managed to climb all over our tents, but once we got rid of them we were able to pack up very quickly. Breakfast that day was eggs and toast, and everyone agreed that it was very good for a camping breakfast although many were disappointed by the lack of seconds on eggs. We didn’t have time to waste, so we finished breakfast as fast as possible to begin loading up the kayaks. We worked together to fit all of the food, tents, and personal gear into the kayaks, and astonishingly, the raccoons didn’t come and help us eat all of the food. We launched soon after that. The currents were not in our favor, but from what we had learned about currents and eddy hopping we were able to paddle back to our starting point relatively easily, riding the countercurrent most of the way. On our way back to the very first launching point, we noticed some seals on a rock nearby. We watched them for a while, but when one went into the water we figured it was time to go. Pretty soon after that we reached Jackson’s Beach. All of us were very excited to be back on San Juan Island and to eat lunch. We had mango lemonade and sandwiches and sat on the beach until we were picked up and returned to the dorms. Derek was also back when we returned, and we spent some time discussing our plans and ideas for our projects. Dinner that night was lasagna with garlic bread and a salad, and once again, everyone thought it was delicious. We wrapped up our day with ice cream and free time, and started planning for the next day’s activities.

On day four, we awoke within our tents, the glare from the sun shining through the orange rain flys. As we got out, we saw our guides Sam, and Luke preparing French toast on the camping stove that we had brought. It was a delicious breakfast. After some time of waiting for everyone to get ready, we pulled the kayaks into the water, we were able to put on the spray skirts with some level of difficulty, pushed ourselves into the waves, and headed up to a beach just north of Friday Harbor. As we crossed the harbor openings, we followed each kayak in a single file line like a group of ducklings following a mother duck. Upon arriving at the beach, we tied up the boats and waited for the tides to change before heading back to Turn Island. During the layover, we ate ham and cheese sandwiches with apples, chips and salsa, before waiting for the tide to change. We tide pooled, napped in the sun, and watched the curious harbor seals wander by. The boat and float plane traffic was also fascinating, and the wakes were fun to play in as we meandered through the surf. There was also a small collection of rocks that were nearby which some of us were able to climb and watch the waves. The sea dropped off pretty suddenly which was a very pretty sight. Once the tides changed, we started our return trip to Turn Island. We used how the tides change in reaction to land masses which we learned about in day three to cross easier. We missed J-Pod by about ten minutes, yet only learned about this once we had gotten back to camp. From this point onward, we relaxed on the island, enjoyed group conversations, and several of us went swimming. The tide was high and the water was cool on a hot day which made for a nice combination. Once we had dried off, we enjoyed some artichoke spaghetti and s’mores with a beautiful sunset. Once the sun had completely set, we were treated to a beautiful night sky full of constellations and stars and bioluminescence in the water— phytoplankton that glows in the dark when an object such as small pebbles or a piece of driftwood is thrown into it. We enjoyed playing with the bioluminescence with the company of the raccoons digging for clams slightly down the beach before heading to bed on our last night on this kayaking trip.

Today we spent our time on the shores of Turn Island. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of french toast and granola followed by a nap in the sand. We spent time resting our muscles after a long paddle trip upward from the D&R camping site. Our guides took us on a hike around the island, explaining some local flora like the Madrona tree which is often referred to as the refrigerator tree due to its cool to the touch nature. We also got to experience some of the local fauna including a noble bald eagle perched only a few meters away from us. The pesky raccoons also decided to make a reappearance but until nightfall they left us alone. We had a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches along with some more salsa and chips which was followed by a lesson on currents and chart reading from Sam and Luke. As it warmed up, the gang decided to go swimming in the cold waters of the Salish Sea. Some members of the group decided to go as far as to dip themselves fully in the water head and all. Oscar swam out to the little island next to Turn as we cheered him on. We found some fascinating creatures in the water including a spectacular little comb jelly and a brown fish that swam up to Samuel and Ian’s legs. Sam and Luke then made us a delicious dinner of Thai curry and salad followed by some cookies for dessert before folks geared up to battle the raccoons once again.

On Day Two of our Salish Seas Kayak trip, we began with a nice morning on the Griffin Bay campsite, on San Juan Island. Later, we saw some local wildlife on both terrestrial land and aquatic seas. Finally, we arrived at our permanent campsite.

The morning began with a nice granola and toast breakfast at the scenic Griffin Bay campsite. The tides were down and a few people walked along the stony shore, looking at crabs, kelp, and anemones. Just before we left, we saw a gray fox, who was surprisingly at ease with us. Eventually it left and we packed up and began paddling to Turn Island, off the eastern coast of San Juan Island. On the way, we paused to admire some harbor porpoises who surfaced just a few yards ahead of us, as well as harbor seals and a California Sea Lion, which we saw swimming through the water. The water also gave excellent views of Mount Baker. 

When we finally arrived on Turn Island, we almost immediately began being pestered by the local raccoon population. After unpacking and setting up tents, we ate a delicious meal of chili. However, as dinner cooked, the raccoons continued their growing assault on our food stores.

As the sun went down, the cozy kayak camp literally turned into an armed camp. Everyone was armed with heavy sticks, and patrols swept the beach. Their glowing eyes could be seen prowling through the tall grass, and at one point a large one attacked one of our guides. They were intent on getting into our food and our tents, and it was a hard fought battle to keep them out. Eventually, the kitchen area was taken and we were forced to concede for the night. As we retreated, the raccoons swarmed over our kitchen, but the battle would be won at dawn.

Like every good trip we started with a not so early wake up. Most of our group had packed the previous night and as such all that had to be done was get up, eat breakfast, and get out. We walked down to Friday Harbor where we packed all of our belongings into dry bags. Jackson Beach, the place where we would be launching, was only about a 10 minute car ride away. After arriving at Jackson Beach, we offloaded the kayaks for the truck and carried them to the surf where we packed them full of as much gear, food and water as we could manage. The final step was to launch. We pushed off from the beach and the water supported us, the water was cool. A slight breeze tickled the back of our necks and the soft gentle rolling of the waves rocked the boats. As we paddled further down the coast we came across a small grouping of harbor seals, some sitting high and dry sunbathing on the rocks while others bobbed up and down within the cold waves perhaps just cooling down or maybe searching for the fish that hid beneath the waves. We watched them for as long as we could before continuing on our way to the campsite. Our next stop, lunch at Fourth of July Beach where we were treated to peanut butter and jelly  with bananas, chips, and salsa. We had some time to examine the effects of invasive caterpillar species on the local ecosystem before putting our boats in the water again and kayaking north to our final stop for the night. We unloaded our boats and pulled them up to avoid the pull of high tide and the possibility of needing to swim after a boat. After setting up our tents, we helped cook, played frisbee, and watched the foxes run past our camp. We watched the sunset together and helped clean up from dinner before heading to bed, listening to the sound of the San Juan waves.