Alexandra Kougentakis 9/4/07
Already into my third week at Beam Reach and I haven’t blogged yet once! But I will try to make this a good long one to make up for all the lost time, and I’m going to do a recap of everything that has happened so far. Getting to Friday Harbor was quite an ordeal for me to begin with, since my flight from New York went to Phoenix where I had to transfer to Seattle, and then from there the long shuttle ride and ferry that pretty much everyone else got to experience too, in total a 17 hour trip for me. It was after I got here though that the real challenges began.
I lived by myself off campus for most of college so getting back into the dorms was a bit of an adjustment, but one that I made pretty easily, the facilities here are pretty well-outfitted, and especially because of how nice everyone in the Beam Reach group turned out to be. That really makes a huge difference in one’s living experience. It wasn’t long before I felt pretty much right at home.
Another thing that helped me with the transition were the instructors. Jason picked me, Elise, Kenna and Heather (my first roommate) up from the ferry, so I got to meet him first, and I was immediately put at ease because of how friendly and helpful he was. Val I got to meet the very next day, the first day of class. Well, really the first day was a trip to the lighthouse at Lime Kiln, which was really beautiful and interesting to see, but just before that Jason and Val did brief bios of themselves. I was admittedly intimidated when Val introduced himself as a former physics professor from Colorado College. Oh boy…physics? Evoking bad memories from 6 years ago in AP Physics…uh oh. Val was clearly nice and had a sense of sense of humor though, which always helps, so I decided not to give up hope yet.
As I’ve come to realize since that initial warning, physics and math figure a lot more highly into the program curriculum than I had originally thought. The acoustics lessons a few days later made that quite evident, and just this past Sunday we had a light primer on statistics (bad memories of AP Statistics), but more on that later. I guess from the readings that we’ve had so far, especially the conservation plan, I was under the impressions that this was more biology-environmental science-policy than it actually is. My reflexive fears in physics and math sometimes make me really nervous that I might not be able to live up to the program demands. But Val has been really supportive to everyone on specific questions like that, so as I further develop my research proposal and figure out just what concepts I’ll need to be clear on, I know he’ll be able to help me with that (I’m lucky that he’s a very patient person). And my current roommate and boat bunkmate Sam, who’s really good in my areas of weakness, has promised to help me out too which is a huge source of relief for me. So hopefully things won’t be as distressing as they currently seem.
On that note, (having just mentioned the boat) I’ll switch gears to talk about that now, and I’m going to be 100% honest about it. The week on the boat (as part of the VaTo team, I got to be one of the first students) was terribly exciting. And by that I mean terrible in some ways and exciting in others. Well…terrible really only in one way, and that is a thing that is specific to me that didn’t really seem to bother anyone else. I’m really really REALLY sensisitive to the cold, and in spite of the many layers I’d usually pile on, I was often still uncomfortable, except during the periods when I’d be sitting right in a patch of blazing sunshine. We were SO lucky with weather, almost every single day was relatively warm and sunny. This week has been pretty cloudy and yucky-looking, so on the one hand I’m relieved to not be out on the water dealing with it, on the other I feel bad for the students in the JaMi team who have no choice. There was only one really bad day, the one windy one where we got a lot of good sailing done. While I can appreciate the “good things†that came of that (learning to sail, getting to see orcas, etc.), between the cold and the rockiness of the boat (and I was also a little sick at the start of the week), I was sort of a wreck. Todd was really great with advice about how to get over my sea sickness, he let me steer the boat for a while and that helped a lot. It’s kind of unfortunate that I’m not a fan of ginger but I managed to force down some ginger snaps and ginger ale and that helped a little bit. It was sort of a dilemma for me though, outside and cold and less sick, or inside and warmer and more sick?
What upset me the most about my problem with the cold was that it prevented me from being able to fully appreciate all of the really exciting things that happened that week. We actually got to see orcas REALLY close on just our second day out! And we saw them pretty much every day after that and got great recordings on the hydrophone. We also saw a lot of other sea life, and Todd was teaching everyone the ropes of how to sail, from handling the anchor to the pumping dock to raising and lowering the sails, etc. But a lot of the time I would get so distracted by the cold that all I could think about was when I’d get to run inside. I think that Todd was getting really annoyed with me at certain points. And during group discussions when we talked about what we observed with the whales and what we thought of the recordings, I usually didn’t have much to say, which was especially unsettling for me because I’m used to participating in class discussions a lot.
My group got back to land on Sunday, and I have to say I’ve never loved being back on non-moving earth quite so much. Yesterday we went to Lacrover farm, a super-land oriented experience that I totally fell in love with and I knew right away I’d love to do my service project there. But the best part for me was during class discussion right before the farm trip, when I was actually able to participate and speak like an intelligent, articulate human being again! And then reading the journal article for journal club and working on other assignments afterward…everything just feels so natural and right again, whereas during the week on the boat I felt like I didn’t really know who I was anymore. I really believe that next week, and for the other two weeks that we will be on the boat, it’ll be easier for me because I’ll be more used to it, I’ll definitely bring warmer clothing, and it will help a lot to have a firmer focus on my research. I’m hoping for sunny days like we had last week but realistically I know it will get cooler and the weather will not be great every day. I’ve never lived on a boat before, didn’t have a clue about sailing before last week, my physics and math skills are not all they could be, and the cold…well, I will just always be cold and that’s the way it is. So I feel like I’m a bit behind in the learning curve in a lot of ways, but after all, I didn’t come out here for an easy 10 weeks. I was looking for a challenge…I’ve definitely found it. Now I just hope I’ll be able to succeed in facing it. More updates on that in the weeks to come…
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So last night (or was it the night before) we were sent an e-mail asking (begging?) us to write some blogs. Well, I can’t claim to be super savvy when it comes to technology, but I can write a blog- especially when I have 30 minutes until class time, and I’m distracted enough to not be productive.
I’m currently sitting in the Friday Harbor Labs library. The window to my left overlooks Friday Harbor. Boats and ferries come and go in the flat, misty gray light of the morning. I have been searching for articles for my research project. I’m currently exploring fish, echolocation, killer whales, bathymetry, foraging… and the list continues. Most of my classmates are settled on a topic to investigate, though they may not have methods nailed down. I am struggling a bit to comfortably settle with a single topic. I have so many questions.
Team VaTo (for Val, our intstructor and Todd, our captain) finished our first week at sea, and we’re now back on land taking advantage of the library, fast intenet connection, and showers. I still have a slight case of “dock rock,” so now and again I find myself swaying and wondering why my world seems like it is rocking.
Yesterday, we went to Lacrover Farm to harvest strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, and carrots. Going to the farm and learning about local, organic farming is part of the sustainability component of the Beam Reach program. The berries were amazing, and playing in the dirt was fun. I have a picture of Ash and myself with some of the fruits of our labor which I will post in the BR gallery. Take note of the dirt on my forehead- I seem to have a hard time staying clean.
I will also try to get some photos of our first week at sea into the gallery. It was a truly amazing week. At this very moment (10:13am, PDT) you can go to the gallery and see two of my favorite photos- a breaching killer whale with Mt Baker in the background and a picture I took of two Harbor Seals in an intimate moment.
It’s now time to head to class. I hope that team JaMi (instructor Jason and captain Mike) is having a good time on the water. I wonder where the whales are right now…
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Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The first thing we had to do today was head to Roche Harbor to pump out our holding tank, or black water, which was at full. On our way out of Roche, Liz, Wessal, Heather, and Scott calibrated our holding tank and sewage system by pouring a 5 gallon bucket into the heads onboard and noting the centimeters on the holding tank. We did a lot of sailing today—deploying the screecher and jib, and tacking back and forth. In the afternoon, Jason and Kenna boarded the dinghy (Gatito) and motored a distance away for a localization experiment. After being certain no marine mammals were within sight, they played a recording of a hammer and then killer whale calls with an underwater speaker, while the rest of the group listened the sounds and collected data with the hydrophone array. After making 3 passes to test the accuracy of our localization algorithms, Mike headed the Gato Verde back to Snug harbor in the cold fog where Wessal and Liz prepared a delicious veggie curry.
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Monday, September 3, 2007
We woke up in Snug Harbor for the second group’s first full day on the Gato Verde. We motored through thick fog, heading south along the coast. Elise and Heather took up watch on the bow and pointed out logs and kelp.Off Kanaka Bay, we deployed a hydrophone to make this group’s first recording of killer whale calls. We tested out a possible gunkhole anchorage at Kanaka Bay, but mostly dredged up mud and kelp. Shannon spotted a mother harbor seal with a pup swimming in the bay and a number of seals were just outside the bay as we headed back up the coast of San Juan Island. On our way to Roche Harbor, we deployed a high frequency hydrophone to attempt to record vocalizations of harbor porpoises.
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Saturday 9/1/07
Snug Harbor to Snug Harbor
Got a call from Giles saying KW were between False Bay and Lime Kiln. Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research volunteered that they might be heading north, but not definitely. We needed to pump out and pick up Captain Mike, so we headed for Roche Harbor. Mike and Jason arrived just as we finished pumping out and Mike took the helm as we steamed through Mosquito Pass. By that time the J pod had headed south and diverged from the southern end of San Juan Island (Marla was with them by then). We took the hypotenuse and encountered the pod just N of Hein Bank. Straitwatch approached to see who we were and we met Hillary and Sally. Tim talked Hillary into doing a few drive bys and we recorded her at high and low speeds at ~400m range. Then we followed the fleet back towards False Bay and caught up to the pod leaders around 5 pm. Just as we deployed the array and heard a few calls while heading north, Ruffles and Granny made a sharp left turn and headed SW. We waited a bit, then made a similar turn. Slowly the off- and on-shore whales headed back south. We paralleled and intermittently heard great calls. The final half hour or so was the best with a lone juvenile approaching the boat, making some powerful calls, and then rejoining two adults (females). Some 20 minutes later, we heard a group of (3?) whales foraging and then tracked them (including magnetic bearings from Todd’s hand-bearing compass) as the passed us. Both encounters led to successful localizations!
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Friday 8/31/07
Fish Creek to Snug Harbor
Winds SW 5-15 knots, light rain in morning
Spent morning measuring source level of Gato Verde main generator. Around noon, started transit to Snug Harbor, looking for KW en route. Sighted some harbor porpoises in Haro Strait on run downwind under screecher.
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Thursday 8/30/07
Garrison Bay to Fish Creek
Winds S 5-20 kts, sunny
Pump out at Roche Harbor. Travel south into Haro Strait winds, practicing tacks and going with the ebb. Search for killer whales on E/W beam reaches just N of Middle Bank. In late afternoon, ride flood through Cattle Pass (at 12 knots over the ground) and anchor in Griffin Bay, just N of Fish Creek. Spend evening processing spreading experiment data from dock experiment, learning how to measure Vrms and compute calibrated receive level of both test signals and background noise.
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I got out of the office last week (yeah!) and got to meet the Fall 2007 students. It was fantastic.
I spend the majority of my working time telling students about this program and helping them through the application process. So I “get to know” most of our students before they arrive. Mostly via email and phone conversations. It was really great to meet everyone at the beginning of the program and put faces and names together. (Yes, I’m a bit of a mother hen, so it did me good to see that they’d all arrived safely with my own two eyes. And it took some restraint not to slip into full mother hen mode!)
San Juan Island is an amazing place. Even though it’s the busy time in the islands right now, it was so peaceful and quite. While I was checking in with my family via cell phone in the morning I watched three sea otters rolling and playing in the water at my feet. You just don’t see that often in Seattle.
Instructor Jason Wood and his family fed me a great meal with all locally grown food. We talked a lot about sustainability and eating and what role it plays in our lives. They’ve made a real commitment to eating healthy and locally. They inspired me to join a local CSA (community supported agriculture). Jubilee Farm is just outside Seattle and they have a local drop right in my Ballard neighborhood. I’ve thought about doing it for a while and I’m really excited to give it a try. Thanks Wendy, Jason, Tristan, and Echo for the inspiration.
The students jump right in (literally) see the photos: https://beamreach.org/gallery/v/071/
I think it will be really exciting to see how they pursue their research and the questions the program will force them to think about. (You get really intimate with your impact on the environment when you live on a boat- where does the sewage go anyway? You see what I mean.) I am looking forward to watching their progress (even though I’ll have to do most of my watching from afar).
I hope they’ll all join me in blogging so we can all see what they are up to and how they are doing.
Good luck everyone!
Tracy
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This morning, Jason and I showed a number of our research interests and interspersed these with various demonstrations and class activities. It was fun to watch you students sitting with your heads down on your desks and raising your hand when I dropped the audio frequency going into our speakers down below about 19 kHz and putting your hands back down when the frequency went up a bit. All this was far, far above anything I could hear. I know you all can hear very, very well. This bodes well for the course!
I hope that Dr. Stern (our expected evening speaker on Minke whales) got back safely from the sea after his vessels motor failed.
See you tomorrow — let’s cool off!
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Here’s a great group photo of the fall 2007 class (taken by Tracy Smith):
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You can see a *lot* more eye candy in the Beam Reach photo gallery.
Attention Beam Reach bloggers! This has been a test of the little G2 button that lives above the WordPress “write post” composition window. If you get the passwords and usernames set properly between WordPress and Gallery, you should be able to click on that G2 button with the tree and insert any image from the Beam Reach photo gallery.
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