Beam Reach

A little bit of everything

As Laura mentioned, it has been a busy week. However, I will try and mention a little bit of everything from each of our many events without ending up with a novel.

Last week we went to a oyster farm in westcott bay. It was really cool looking around in the intertidal mud for oysters and so much more. Once you start looking closer you find so many creatures who have carved themselves a niche in the intertidal realm. The boots I borrowed when I got there had a hole in them which was pretty much the only downfall of the day. We also did water quality to see how healthy it actually is to eat the oysters we collected. The temp was 12.1 degrees Celsius which was probably warmer then it actually was since the sample had been sitting in the sun for a short time. The salinity was 28.9 ppt. The phosphate levels and nitrate levels were 0.23 and 0.27 ppm respectivley, which is much cleaner then the minimum standards.

After leaving the oyster farm we went to the Center for Whale Research and met some of the researchers working there. I was really excited to do that since I’ve been wanting to go there since I arrived and learn about the research that they are doing. Also, the view from their office is amazing. I’ve pretty much decided that is my dream job.

We also got to go to Vancouver this weekend. We went for the NW student chapter of the society for Marine Mammalogists conference at UBC. The conference was a great way for us to see what other researchers in marine mammalogy were doing and network. The campus at UBC was really nice as well. Saturday night we got to explore downtown vancouver which I would recommend to anyone who gets the chance. It is a neat city to be in.

Sunday we got a backstage tour of the vancouver aquarium and saw the research they were doing with Stellar sea lions. Seeing those animals up close like that gives you a new appreciation of their size and strength. The aquarium was cool and seeing beluga whales was great although the issue of animals in captivity on display like that rather than being in their natural environment has always been a difficult one for me. My own personal debates about the issue aside, the aquarium was really well done. I seem to have a growing list of aquariums which I have visited recently and this one is certainly high up on that list. Now enough about Vancouver.

Today we had the day off which was a much needed way for me to catch up on sleep. I also got a chance to relax a little and play soccer with some of the other people here at the lab. I quickly realized just how long it has been since I stepped onto a soccer field. As if that wasn’t enough of an assault on my body I then decided to go for a six mile bike ride with some other students here at the lab. We went after dinner with the sun beginning to set which made for an amazingly picturesque ride through the hills. Tomorrow I’m pretty sure I’ll be extremely sore but it was certainly worth it. It was a good way to recharge after the exhausting days of last week. As for my project proposal which I seem to have forgotten to mention I decided to look at the correlation between vocalizations and socializing behavior in the southern residents. I’m really excited now that our time at sea is less than a week away. Now that I have finished rambling about all the exciting moments over the last week I think I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our last orca encounter.