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The classroom was filled with self deprecating jokes and uncomfortable laughter as our inner critics came at us full force. Task one: Look at the animal in the picture and draw what you see without looking at what your pencil is doing. The exercise was intended to improve the way we look at detail, not hone our artistic talents. Nevertheless, it was the state of quality that made its way into side conversations. Task two: vectors. In order to draw scientifically, the measurements need to be correct enough in order to classify the organism. Artistic skill is unimportant as long as details and measurements are as exact as they can be. Our wonderful teacher Anna taught us about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our morning sketch sesh eventually deteriorated a half hour before lunch, giving us time to work on personal research. Many students used their time wisely; studying in the common room or in their dorms. Others used this opportunity for self care: a quick nap, taking time to read their favorite book, and catch up with friends and family back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After weeks of go go go, many students here at Salish Seas needed a day to themselves. Therefore, after much confusion over plans, we broke up into groups: students who wanted to stay in the dorms\/around town were permitted to, while others who wished to explore, experiment and\/or record data for personal projects went with Derek to Deadman’s bay. (look up the meaning of the name if you dare, I personally don’t recommend it)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The few people the ended up going to Deadman’s bay did all kinds of different things. Some of us ran our experiments for our projects and others explored the tidepools. For their projects, Jeremy looked for oyster catchers and Camden and Ayla attempted to begin taking water samples. Sadly, the birds were nowhere to be found and the batteries to a YSI (a machine used to find dissolved oxygen, pH, etc.) didn’t work. Though our group faced a few shortcomings, we were still able to find interesting organisms. Harris caught a small sculpin on his fishing rod and while hiking, Leighna and Jeremy found a seal (it was sadly dead, but still interesting). We also found a sea lemon, which is a yellow nudibranch with spots. The eight of us were glad we could get out of Spring Street and enjoy the nice weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone who stayed ‘home’ (in the dorms) got free range of the town if they chose to, and hours of time to relax however they needed to. I know of a few who took naps during this time (we’re all obviously very tired) and others who decided to go into town mostly gravitated to a coffee shop for a fresh studying environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone regrouped before dinner to welcome our guest, Morgan Eisenlord, and her research helpers Maya and Liv. Eisenlord is currently focusing on wasting disease in eelgrass, and gave us a fascinating lecture afterwords on it. She explained that the Wasting Disease pathogen had an average of 80% prevalence between all 16 sites sampled. This particular pathogen eats the chloroplasts in eelgrass, making it hard for the eelgrass to photosynthesize properly. We are all very excited for our upcoming work in the field with Eisenlord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It felt wonderful to crawl into our comfy beds after the first sunny day, all dreaming of our exciting research projects to come. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Olivia, Orly, Kalena, and Miles “What are we doing today?” “Is there a plan for after lunch?” The morning began in a blur of uncertainty as no one had yet put the schedule on the board. In fact, it wasn’t until after breakfast when wake up time was written out. No matter, most students went up to bed for a quick nap before our first activity: Scientific sketching. The classroom was filled with self deprecating jokes and uncomfortable laughter as our inner critics came at us full force. Task one: Look at the animal in the picture and draw what you see without looking at what your pencil is … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/salishseasciences.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/IMG_0840.jpg\")
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