Well Reader here I am in the Vancouver International Airport, sitting alone, drinking my grande Passion Tea Lemonade (thank God for Starbucks) and writing this blog. It's been a long day so far and it's only half over. These six weeks have gone by way too fast. I can't believe it's actually over.
As I mentioned at the start of this journey, it's quite the hassle getting in and out of Bamfield and this morning was no exception. At 8:00am sharp (after a night of partying and rocking out to the local band) ten of us met up at the Bamfield Shuttle to get a ride into Port Alberni. There was only room for ten people on the shuttle, the others were either getting rides or were taking a different shuttle later on in the day. We said our goodbyes (holding back tears) and headed off. That gravel road is so winding and bumpy, it's a surprise we weren't all vomiting! But luckily none of us got car sick and we made it into Port just fine. The bus from Port Alberni to Nanaimo came at 10:30 and we all hopped on. Once in Nanaimo the ten of us went our separate ways with some people going to Vancouver on the ferry, some headed to Victoria on the bus or to the Nanaimo airport to catch flights off the island. It was so sad saying goodbye to everyone, I was nearly in tears. After living with people for six weeks straight, you become attached. My roommate Holly, who is actually from the same university as me, and I ended up at the Nanaimo Airport waiting for our respective flights. She had gotten on the 2:00pm flight and mine was the 4:00pm flight. Which basically meant I would have to sit in the Nanaimo airport (smaller than the Regina airport by the way) and do nothing for four hours. But for some reason the Air Canada guy decided to let me get on the earlier flight. So hooray! Now I'm in Vancouver waiting for my 6:45 flight.
This was such an incredible experience. Who would've thought that a city girl like me could accomplish all that I've done over the past six weeks. I've camped, snorkelled, gone without showering, gotten my nails dirty AND even eaten pork (I know Reader, I'm scared too). I feel like I've grown (if even just a little bit) and I think I've learned somethings about myself that I didn't know before. I can say without a doubt that I will miss all the friends I've made at Bamfield and to those of them who've graduated, congrats. For me it's back to school on Wednesday but before that it's Orientation time! I'm really pumped!
Alright Reader! We did it! Six weeks worth of blogging and this is where it ends. I'm so grateful to all of you who've read this and followed my adventures out on the coast. It means the world to me! Thank you guys and I hope you'll keep up with me on my normal blog which I will be starting up again soon. Peace out my dear Reader! I love you all!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Day 39: Sit Right Here and Have Another Beer in Bamfield . . .
As I sit here and listen to 'Beer in Mexico' by Kenny Chesney (definitely one of my summer soundtrack songs this year) I can't help but thinking about how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I was crying in my bed thinking about how I'd made the biggest mistake of my life coming out here. Now here I sit in the beautiful Rix Building (one of the buildings out here, it's shaped like a scallop shell) listening to my music and just relaxing, final project all done. Yes that's right Reader, I just finished typing up my final project. It sits pretty at twelve pages (no Karina, nothing compared to an arts paper but still long for science) and I'm super proud of it. It's kind of like that feeling right after final exams where you think you've still got things to study but really you're all done. That's what I'm feeling right now. The only thing left to do now is give a presentation tomorrow morning. After that we're free. It's really scary to think about to be honest.
Now Reader you're probably wondering why my title implies me drinking beer (considering how much I hate beer). No I haven't been drinking beer (especially not right now considering it's 9:30am)! 'Beer in Mexico' is not only about drinking beer in Mexico (believe it or not). It's also about life in general and how time flies. It's about enjoying the little moments and not stressing out about the future. That's why today I'm taking a cue from my dear friend Kenny Chesney (I wish he was my dear friend) and sitting right here 'having another beer in Bamfield'. No more worries about school, just me and an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean and the quaint little town which I've become very fond of.
I'd also like to mention my lab notebook! You remember, the notebook I'd worked on for five weeks, pouring hours of tedious drawing and diagrams into? Well it was worth 40% of our final grade and I got 90%! Yup, I'm pretty pumped! I'm actually going to have it bound once I get back home. This is my first real scientific lab notebook and I want to keep it so when I'm a famous scientist I can look back and smile. Amber may keep her anatomy book on her coffee table but for me it's going to be sketches of invertebrates! ;)
Well Reader, as far as entries go, there will probably be one more on Saturday just to recap my whole experience out here and to give my final thoughts on Bamfield in general. As far as I'm concerned, school's out and I'm gonna party like it's 1999... Tomorrow night will most likely be a beach party and I'm stoked! Thanks as usual for reading guys! I'll be seeing you soon!
Now Reader you're probably wondering why my title implies me drinking beer (considering how much I hate beer). No I haven't been drinking beer (especially not right now considering it's 9:30am)! 'Beer in Mexico' is not only about drinking beer in Mexico (believe it or not). It's also about life in general and how time flies. It's about enjoying the little moments and not stressing out about the future. That's why today I'm taking a cue from my dear friend Kenny Chesney (I wish he was my dear friend) and sitting right here 'having another beer in Bamfield'. No more worries about school, just me and an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean and the quaint little town which I've become very fond of.
I'd also like to mention my lab notebook! You remember, the notebook I'd worked on for five weeks, pouring hours of tedious drawing and diagrams into? Well it was worth 40% of our final grade and I got 90%! Yup, I'm pretty pumped! I'm actually going to have it bound once I get back home. This is my first real scientific lab notebook and I want to keep it so when I'm a famous scientist I can look back and smile. Amber may keep her anatomy book on her coffee table but for me it's going to be sketches of invertebrates! ;)
Well Reader, as far as entries go, there will probably be one more on Saturday just to recap my whole experience out here and to give my final thoughts on Bamfield in general. As far as I'm concerned, school's out and I'm gonna party like it's 1999... Tomorrow night will most likely be a beach party and I'm stoked! Thanks as usual for reading guys! I'll be seeing you soon!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Day 37: Wrong. Black Bear.
Wow I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! I would apologize Reader but seriously, you wouldn't want to read a daily update this week. There is not enough going on for that. I will however give you an update on the last couple of days since they were our data collection days and some pretty wild stuff happened out there! By the way, I'm coming home in t-minus four days. No big deal.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early at 5:00am to go and beat the low tide up Grappler Inlet. We made it just as the low tide was going slack and began our survey. As I mentioned in a prior post, we are doing a survey of mollusc diversity in mudflats. Exciting right? (Haha, I can picture Amber's face at that remark.) Anyways we went about our business counting and identifying the molluscan species we found and we did this for about three hours without being disturbed. All of a sudden we hear a loud noise coming from the forest behind us and out comes this black bear! I couldn't believe how close it was to us! Needless to say I was scared out of my mind. So I picked up my shovel and bucket and started making as much noise as I possibly could've. We started backing away slowly from the bear and luckily the sound I was making seemed to disturb it because it left our study site. We were pretty on edge that morning since we were worried the bear would come back but it never did (thank goodness). It was at that moment that I thought of one of my favorite moments from the Office where Jim asks Dwight which is the best bear and before Dwight can even answer Jim says, "Wrong. Black bear.". Priceless! So I of course needed to spout the classic line.
Yesterday was the same routine. We went out at about 5:30am to Bamfield Inlet and counted/identified molluscs all morning. I will say that I'm now pretty much amazing at identifying bivalves. Show me a clam and I'll know what it is. Again, no big deal. (My favorite bivalve? Probably Mya arenaria since when I found it in the field I named it 'Squished McGoo'. The scientific name is definitely not as cool as the name I gave it.)
So that's about it for me Reader! The next two days will be spent finishing up my report for this project as well as working on the presentation which we'll be giving on Friday. Saturday morning I'll be waking up bright and early and catching the shuttle out of here. Can you believe it? How has it been six weeks already?! It's craziness. That's all I can say. I miss and love you all!
PS: A special shout out to my amazing Sib Syb who not only made me cry with her amazing package that she mailed to me out here but who is starting her last year of highschool today. It's SO hard to believe! I love you so much G! You're the best sister in the whole world and I'm not braggin'. (Did you like that reference? XD)
Sunday morning we were up bright and early at 5:00am to go and beat the low tide up Grappler Inlet. We made it just as the low tide was going slack and began our survey. As I mentioned in a prior post, we are doing a survey of mollusc diversity in mudflats. Exciting right? (Haha, I can picture Amber's face at that remark.) Anyways we went about our business counting and identifying the molluscan species we found and we did this for about three hours without being disturbed. All of a sudden we hear a loud noise coming from the forest behind us and out comes this black bear! I couldn't believe how close it was to us! Needless to say I was scared out of my mind. So I picked up my shovel and bucket and started making as much noise as I possibly could've. We started backing away slowly from the bear and luckily the sound I was making seemed to disturb it because it left our study site. We were pretty on edge that morning since we were worried the bear would come back but it never did (thank goodness). It was at that moment that I thought of one of my favorite moments from the Office where Jim asks Dwight which is the best bear and before Dwight can even answer Jim says, "Wrong. Black bear.". Priceless! So I of course needed to spout the classic line.
Yesterday was the same routine. We went out at about 5:30am to Bamfield Inlet and counted/identified molluscs all morning. I will say that I'm now pretty much amazing at identifying bivalves. Show me a clam and I'll know what it is. Again, no big deal. (My favorite bivalve? Probably Mya arenaria since when I found it in the field I named it 'Squished McGoo'. The scientific name is definitely not as cool as the name I gave it.)
So that's about it for me Reader! The next two days will be spent finishing up my report for this project as well as working on the presentation which we'll be giving on Friday. Saturday morning I'll be waking up bright and early and catching the shuttle out of here. Can you believe it? How has it been six weeks already?! It's craziness. That's all I can say. I miss and love you all!
PS: A special shout out to my amazing Sib Syb who not only made me cry with her amazing package that she mailed to me out here but who is starting her last year of highschool today. It's SO hard to believe! I love you so much G! You're the best sister in the whole world and I'm not braggin'. (Did you like that reference? XD)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Day 34: Why Fogust?! Why?!
I know! I didn't post yesterday! Forgive me dear Reader but believe me there was nothing worth posting on Day 33! The only thing of note was the fact that I handed in my completed lab notebook! Boy did that feel good! It was 5 weeks worth of hard work and extremely tedious note taking but I think it turned out to be pretty darn good! Anyways I figured since I didn't post yesterday I would give you all a quick update on life here at Bamfield because I know you're all dying to hear about my life... That's why you're reading this right? Not because I'm forcing you? Haha, yeah I know that's the real reason.
So I slept in this morning and it felt wonderful! I actually managed to sleep in until 10:00am for once which out here is the equivalent of sleeping until 3:00pm. I watched some River Monsters and generally chilled out until lunch time. It was pizza lunch today and needless to say I was ecstatic. As I mentioned in my last post, we had a beach day planned for this afternoon and that's exactly what we did. We gathered our beach gear and headed back over to Brady's Beach (probably my favorite beach out here). We had a good three hours of beautiful sunshine until out of no where these clouds came in. It immediately got cold and our beach day was pretty much over. So, defeated, we headed back to the station. When we reached our boat it was SO foggy that we couldn't even see across the inlet. I was amazed! How could it have gotten so foggy in so little time? Oh well, at least we had some sun. Either way that's why they call it 'Fogust' instead of August. Fair enough.
Aside from once again trying to rid myself of my boot tan, there was nothing exciting to report. Tomorrow morning H and I head out at 5:00am for our first day of field work. Yup, should be interesting! I'm pumped to get it started but then again, it's the first 5:00am we've had in a long time... But it's cool at the same time since it's just H and I going out on our own. No profs, just us doing our own project with our own experimental procedure all planned out. It should prove to be interesting. I'll definitely let you know how it goes Reader! As always, thanks for reading and thanks for thinking of me. I love and miss you all.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Day 32: C-R-U-N-C-H Time!
Hello Reader! I'm so sorry I didn't post yesterday (I think that's the first day since I've been out here that I haven't posted)! I figured the two sentences that summed up my day weren't worth an entire entry. So here I am with roughly the same amount of news as yesterday. Unfortunately all we've been doing lately is final project prep, studying and finishing up our lab books. I can proudly say that my lab book is now COMPLETE and boys does it feel good! At 50 pages long, it's a summary of the amount of lab work we've done in these past five weeks! Also it's great to note that today was our last of five quizzes and I think I aced it! Always a great feeling!
As far as the whole final project thing goes, I guess it's time for me to explain. You see every Bamfield course ends with a final research project (either individual or group depending on the course). Thank goodness ours is a group project because we only get one week to not only collect our data but to also compile a formal report and do a class presentation. I can't imagine doing all that on my own! So my friend H and I will be starting our project bright and early Sunday morning. Curse the low tide for being at 5:30am! We're going to be studying mollusc diversity in the mudflat in Grappler Inlet (yes the same mudflat we went to for a class field trip on Day 23). It should turn out to be a pretty interesting project but since we only get one week to do it we're going to be under quite a bit of stress. Luckily that's what Saturday beach days are for! We're hoping to head back to Brady's Beach if the weather's nice again! We need to relax a smidge after all this hard work!
I'd like to give a small shout out to Karina. I know things seem tough but believe me chica, you're going to have such a BLAST over there! You're in an amazing part of the world and you have amazing people thinking of you constantly (myself included *wink*). We all miss you and I hope I speak for everyone in saying that we want you to enjoy it while you can! Your adventure has only just begun girl, it'll be worth it, you'll see! Jeg savner deg K-Dawg! Vi må snakke snart!
Well Reader, aside from me starting a new TV series on Netflix (River Monsters, check it out!) there's nothing really new an/or exciting to report. Thank you all for reading this entire time! It really means a lot to me! I miss and love you all and I can't wait to see you guys! (Also here's the title page to my lab book! My art skills have definitely gotten good out here! Look at that calligraphy!)
As far as the whole final project thing goes, I guess it's time for me to explain. You see every Bamfield course ends with a final research project (either individual or group depending on the course). Thank goodness ours is a group project because we only get one week to not only collect our data but to also compile a formal report and do a class presentation. I can't imagine doing all that on my own! So my friend H and I will be starting our project bright and early Sunday morning. Curse the low tide for being at 5:30am! We're going to be studying mollusc diversity in the mudflat in Grappler Inlet (yes the same mudflat we went to for a class field trip on Day 23). It should turn out to be a pretty interesting project but since we only get one week to do it we're going to be under quite a bit of stress. Luckily that's what Saturday beach days are for! We're hoping to head back to Brady's Beach if the weather's nice again! We need to relax a smidge after all this hard work!
I'd like to give a small shout out to Karina. I know things seem tough but believe me chica, you're going to have such a BLAST over there! You're in an amazing part of the world and you have amazing people thinking of you constantly (myself included *wink*). We all miss you and I hope I speak for everyone in saying that we want you to enjoy it while you can! Your adventure has only just begun girl, it'll be worth it, you'll see! Jeg savner deg K-Dawg! Vi må snakke snart!
Well Reader, aside from me starting a new TV series on Netflix (River Monsters, check it out!) there's nothing really new an/or exciting to report. Thank you all for reading this entire time! It really means a lot to me! I miss and love you all and I can't wait to see you guys! (Also here's the title page to my lab book! My art skills have definitely gotten good out here! Look at that calligraphy!)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Day 30: More Lab & More Lies
Well Reader I feel like today's entry is going to be very short and to the point. I'm so sorry that I don't have more to tell you but to be honest this week is going to be very straight forward. It is crunch time and I'm busy finishing up my lab book as well as planning for our final project which begins this weekend! Thank goodness there is no final exam in this course! I will say I've gotten 100% on the last two quizzes though! Inverts, you got nothing on me!
Today was spent in lecture and in lab. Nothing too exciting, just finishing up sea urchins and sea cucumbers. We did a sea cucumber dissection today which was pretty cool (but then again I've already done a cucumber dissection in my intro to inverts course). It was nice to know what I was doing because I got the dissection over with and was able to work on other things! Something cool did happen in lab today though! The divers finally found us an octopus (only a couple phyla too late but hey). It's only about the size of my hand and it's so cute! I've named it Bumpy since it's skin is SO bumpy! I'm definitely happy we got to see an octopus since they're one of my favorite types of molluscs. On a sad note, I can't seem to find 'Crazy Eyes'. I put him back in the tank yesterday but he seems to have disappeared. I have informed my lab mates to be on the look out but chances are he fell down the drain. I am truly sad... As for the 'lies' that I mention in the title, I speak again of the 'cheesecake' which was served tonight with dinner. I was not as disappointed this time but again, I just wanted cheesecake and this was DEFINITELY not cheesecake.
So Reader? How's your end of summer going? It's crazy how fast this has gone by, I mean it's already Day 30! Can you believe it? I can't wait to see you all so hold in there! I'm coming home soon! As per usual, I miss and love you guys!
Today was spent in lecture and in lab. Nothing too exciting, just finishing up sea urchins and sea cucumbers. We did a sea cucumber dissection today which was pretty cool (but then again I've already done a cucumber dissection in my intro to inverts course). It was nice to know what I was doing because I got the dissection over with and was able to work on other things! Something cool did happen in lab today though! The divers finally found us an octopus (only a couple phyla too late but hey). It's only about the size of my hand and it's so cute! I've named it Bumpy since it's skin is SO bumpy! I'm definitely happy we got to see an octopus since they're one of my favorite types of molluscs. On a sad note, I can't seem to find 'Crazy Eyes'. I put him back in the tank yesterday but he seems to have disappeared. I have informed my lab mates to be on the look out but chances are he fell down the drain. I am truly sad... As for the 'lies' that I mention in the title, I speak again of the 'cheesecake' which was served tonight with dinner. I was not as disappointed this time but again, I just wanted cheesecake and this was DEFINITELY not cheesecake.
So Reader? How's your end of summer going? It's crazy how fast this has gone by, I mean it's already Day 30! Can you believe it? I can't wait to see you all so hold in there! I'm coming home soon! As per usual, I miss and love you guys!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Day 29: A Whale of a Tale (yahon?)
Happy Monday Reader! I know, I know, there's no such thing as a happy Monday and that hit me hard today. Today was the first time since I've been out here that it has literally poured all day long. Rain and me don't get along so well and so far I've enjoyed the nice weather but today put me in a semi-bad mood. Only to be brightened by the fact that we started Echinoderms today (sea stars, cucumbers, urchins, etc.). But since I had such an AMAZING weekend, I'll be doing a small recap of Saturday and Sunday then talking about today (which is zero in comparison on the excitement scale).
Saturday was probably the nicest day we've had here. I think it was around 25 degrees and clear blue sunny skies! What a perfect beach day! So that's what we did! We gathered our gear, rowed across the inlet, bought some Coke (because there's nothing like a cold Coke on a hot beach, am I right) and hiked over to Brady's Beach. It was seriously one of my favorite days out here so far. We laid in the sun, shuffled on the beach and swam in the ocean (I stayed in for like two hours). The water was so clear and cold! Perfect for a Norsk gal like me! This was also the perfect time to try and correct my hideous boot tan. Unfortunately it was to no avail since the boot tan obviously can not be defeated. Oh well, it's still my claim to fame around Bamfield. We left the beach around 5:00pm (only because we wanted to eat supper). If it weren't for supper I would've stayed there all day and night.
Sunday morning I woke up bright and early and was on the docks for 7:00am. Why you might ask? WHALE WATCHING THAT'S WHY! Yes I was very excited since I'd never gone on an actual whale watching trip. Unfortunately it was one of the foggiest days on record. Our tour guy Skipper John (No not the one who quoted South Park, ANOTHER Skipper John. I think having the name John just might be a criteria for being a skipper. There seem to be a lot of them out there.) took us out into the foggy channel and we looked for whales for about an hour with no luck. Finally we got some visibility and right by the rocks of an island we saw a whale blow. We went over to the island and sure enough a grey whale was rolling around in the shallows, it's tail and body out of the water almost constantly! It was so incredible! We stayed and watched for a good forty minutes before we had to go. On the way home we stopped by a sea lion colony and oh my goodness, I almost had a fit! It was like Desmund city out there! They were SO cute! They were all barking and trying to stay on the rocks and growling at each other and all I could do was think of my little Desmund! Either way it was an incredible trip and for the foggiest day on record we sure got to see some incredible things! (By the way, does my entry title get me a yahon? At least a wow! Come on guys, be fair!)
Now for today. As I've mentioned several times now, we're done with class field trips and Dr. M is gone. Today was just lecture/lab/lecture/lab. Nothing too exciting. Then again we did start Echinoderms and they're always a party! For example, we got to see a Crinoid (sea lily) up close and personal! They are probably one of my favorite groups of inverts! They basically look like swimming plants! Take a peek at this YouTube link if you want to know what I'm talking about! Besides that we dissected a sea star (which I've done before) and got some more work done since our lab books are due at the end of this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlShDV4en_4
This is going to be one of those weeks where everything seems to be going by slowly but really time is just flying by. I have a feeling I'll be writing Friday's entry before I know it! Anyways thanks so much for hanging in there Reader! I really appreciate everyone who's continued to read my blog and who've had me in their thoughts! I love and miss you all as usual!
Saturday was probably the nicest day we've had here. I think it was around 25 degrees and clear blue sunny skies! What a perfect beach day! So that's what we did! We gathered our gear, rowed across the inlet, bought some Coke (because there's nothing like a cold Coke on a hot beach, am I right) and hiked over to Brady's Beach. It was seriously one of my favorite days out here so far. We laid in the sun, shuffled on the beach and swam in the ocean (I stayed in for like two hours). The water was so clear and cold! Perfect for a Norsk gal like me! This was also the perfect time to try and correct my hideous boot tan. Unfortunately it was to no avail since the boot tan obviously can not be defeated. Oh well, it's still my claim to fame around Bamfield. We left the beach around 5:00pm (only because we wanted to eat supper). If it weren't for supper I would've stayed there all day and night.
Sunday morning I woke up bright and early and was on the docks for 7:00am. Why you might ask? WHALE WATCHING THAT'S WHY! Yes I was very excited since I'd never gone on an actual whale watching trip. Unfortunately it was one of the foggiest days on record. Our tour guy Skipper John (No not the one who quoted South Park, ANOTHER Skipper John. I think having the name John just might be a criteria for being a skipper. There seem to be a lot of them out there.) took us out into the foggy channel and we looked for whales for about an hour with no luck. Finally we got some visibility and right by the rocks of an island we saw a whale blow. We went over to the island and sure enough a grey whale was rolling around in the shallows, it's tail and body out of the water almost constantly! It was so incredible! We stayed and watched for a good forty minutes before we had to go. On the way home we stopped by a sea lion colony and oh my goodness, I almost had a fit! It was like Desmund city out there! They were SO cute! They were all barking and trying to stay on the rocks and growling at each other and all I could do was think of my little Desmund! Either way it was an incredible trip and for the foggiest day on record we sure got to see some incredible things! (By the way, does my entry title get me a yahon? At least a wow! Come on guys, be fair!)
Now for today. As I've mentioned several times now, we're done with class field trips and Dr. M is gone. Today was just lecture/lab/lecture/lab. Nothing too exciting. Then again we did start Echinoderms and they're always a party! For example, we got to see a Crinoid (sea lily) up close and personal! They are probably one of my favorite groups of inverts! They basically look like swimming plants! Take a peek at this YouTube link if you want to know what I'm talking about! Besides that we dissected a sea star (which I've done before) and got some more work done since our lab books are due at the end of this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlShDV4en_4
This is going to be one of those weeks where everything seems to be going by slowly but really time is just flying by. I have a feeling I'll be writing Friday's entry before I know it! Anyways thanks so much for hanging in there Reader! I really appreciate everyone who's continued to read my blog and who've had me in their thoughts! I love and miss you all as usual!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Day 26: 'Dang You Nematodes!'
Today was one of the those general feel good days. I can't really put my finger on one particular reason (there were many little things) but it was just good. I'll start by saying that today was Dr. M's last day and for that I am quite sad. She was honestly one of the best profs I've ever had and I'm not sure if these last two weeks will be the same without her. But hey, onwards and upwards is the old saying right? It's still going to be a blast!
I slept in an extra twenty minutes today and you'd be surprised at how good that little extra sleep can feel. I still managed to make it to breakfast on time AND have time to study a bit before lecture. We had lecture this morning then lab. Today's topic was Phylum Nemata (formally Phylum Nematoda, I think nematoda sounds a lot better personally)! In other words, my favorite worm group! Nematodes are thought to be the most abundant animal on the Earth but since they're so small and they're transparent (for the most part), they're incredibly hard to find. They say there may be more species of nematode than there are insects (which would be an incredibly large number {upwards of one million species})! Anyways the whole learning about nematodes thing put me in a good mood as well as hunting for nematodes in lab today. I did not actually find one but many of my classmates did. It doesn't hurt that Phylum Nemata (nematodes) make me think of the SpongeBob episode where his house gets eaten by nematodes and that random guy goes, "Dang you nematodes"! Sibling, you know what I'm talking about!
In the afternoon we had our group presentations for those projects that we had to redo (due to the whole class failing). I think the presentation went awesome! Everyone seemed to be following along and there were many questions asked at the end showing people's interest in our project. The quiz was after the presentations and I was feeling a little bit anxious since I hadn't had much time to study. But luckily today was one of those 'I know every answer' quizzes because I looked at it and literally grinned with joy. I finished up the quiz and the weekend began! In honor of Dr. M's last day, we all went out to Pachena Beach for a camp fire, some drinks and just general chill time. It was such a blast! We would've stayed longer but we've all got projects to work on tomorrow (remember it's crunch time)! I will definitely miss Dr. M!
See what I mean Reader? It's been a pretty good day! Not to mention the fact that my Norsk citizenship finally went through today! Yes it's official! I am now a dual-citizen and I'm so happy about it (jeg er så glad)! It's always nice when things work out and today was just one of those days! I think this weekend will turn out good as well! Tomorrow will be spent preparing for 'crunch time' (this coming week) and Sunday we're going whale watching! I'm very excited for that! Have a great and safe weekend Reader! I'll be thinking about you guys! I love and miss you all!
I slept in an extra twenty minutes today and you'd be surprised at how good that little extra sleep can feel. I still managed to make it to breakfast on time AND have time to study a bit before lecture. We had lecture this morning then lab. Today's topic was Phylum Nemata (formally Phylum Nematoda, I think nematoda sounds a lot better personally)! In other words, my favorite worm group! Nematodes are thought to be the most abundant animal on the Earth but since they're so small and they're transparent (for the most part), they're incredibly hard to find. They say there may be more species of nematode than there are insects (which would be an incredibly large number {upwards of one million species})! Anyways the whole learning about nematodes thing put me in a good mood as well as hunting for nematodes in lab today. I did not actually find one but many of my classmates did. It doesn't hurt that Phylum Nemata (nematodes) make me think of the SpongeBob episode where his house gets eaten by nematodes and that random guy goes, "Dang you nematodes"! Sibling, you know what I'm talking about!
In the afternoon we had our group presentations for those projects that we had to redo (due to the whole class failing). I think the presentation went awesome! Everyone seemed to be following along and there were many questions asked at the end showing people's interest in our project. The quiz was after the presentations and I was feeling a little bit anxious since I hadn't had much time to study. But luckily today was one of those 'I know every answer' quizzes because I looked at it and literally grinned with joy. I finished up the quiz and the weekend began! In honor of Dr. M's last day, we all went out to Pachena Beach for a camp fire, some drinks and just general chill time. It was such a blast! We would've stayed longer but we've all got projects to work on tomorrow (remember it's crunch time)! I will definitely miss Dr. M!
See what I mean Reader? It's been a pretty good day! Not to mention the fact that my Norsk citizenship finally went through today! Yes it's official! I am now a dual-citizen and I'm so happy about it (jeg er så glad)! It's always nice when things work out and today was just one of those days! I think this weekend will turn out good as well! Tomorrow will be spent preparing for 'crunch time' (this coming week) and Sunday we're going whale watching! I'm very excited for that! Have a great and safe weekend Reader! I'll be thinking about you guys! I love and miss you all!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Day 25: Crazy Eyes Returns
Good evening Reader! I know I'm posting this entry a bit later than I normally would but we just finished working on our group project which we are presenting tomorrow. Not to mention there's a quiz tomorrow but that's besides the point. You see this group project was actually due on Tuesday and that's when we originally handed it in. But supposedly this assignment was SO hard that the entire class failed so the profs are letting us re-write it and are letting us present tomorrow instead of yesterday. Anyways it was actually kind of nice to re-write the project since we got to spend half an hour with Dr. M talking about ways to improve our write up. She admitted that when the entire class fails, something definitely went wrong.
So about today! Well let's put it this way, there are no more class field trips (as I mentioned yesterday) so that means lecture, lab and more lab. Today we had two hours of lecture and roughly 6 hours of lab time. Bare in mind half an hour of that lab time was spent talking with Dr. M about our group projects that we have to re-write and half an hour talking with Dr. T about our end of term projects (which, again, I will explain in a later post). I managed to get a lot done in lab today which surprised me since we were there for six hours! Usually I would get bored and not accomplish anything but today I was on the ball!
There's not much else to say about lecture/lab so I'll just dive right into my little tid bit of a story for the day. If you guys will think back to a couple entries ago (I believe it was 'Curse You Gag Reflex'), I spoke of a hermit crab whom I named 'Crazy Eyes'. Well Crazy Eyes and I had a reunion today when I decided to do some more experiments with him. I swear this crab remembers me (which I'm told is impossible). He isn't scared of me one bit but when I hand him over to another person he goes right into his shell! What a guy! I think he and I have become friends. I fed him a snail today but he shoved it away, geez (what a buzz kill)! I think he might be watching his weight but still it's rude to turn away food! Oh well! Anyways I've made it my mission to make sure Crazy Eyes makes it until the end of the course because he is my new favorite! Enjoy the picture of him that I'll be uploading at the end of this entry (look close and you can see his 'crazy' eyes)!
That's about it for today Reader! I have a sad feeling my blog is going to be a little boring for the next couple days until projects get underway. As a side note, Dr. M has her last day teaching us tomorrow and I'm quite sad. I've really enjoyed her teaching methods and not to mention her general attitude towards life! I think I've already mentioned this but she's exactly how I want to be when I 'grow up'. She's just an amazing woman who has accomplished so much! Well have a good night Reader! I'll be talking to you again tomorrow! Love and miss you all!
So about today! Well let's put it this way, there are no more class field trips (as I mentioned yesterday) so that means lecture, lab and more lab. Today we had two hours of lecture and roughly 6 hours of lab time. Bare in mind half an hour of that lab time was spent talking with Dr. M about our group projects that we have to re-write and half an hour talking with Dr. T about our end of term projects (which, again, I will explain in a later post). I managed to get a lot done in lab today which surprised me since we were there for six hours! Usually I would get bored and not accomplish anything but today I was on the ball!
There's not much else to say about lecture/lab so I'll just dive right into my little tid bit of a story for the day. If you guys will think back to a couple entries ago (I believe it was 'Curse You Gag Reflex'), I spoke of a hermit crab whom I named 'Crazy Eyes'. Well Crazy Eyes and I had a reunion today when I decided to do some more experiments with him. I swear this crab remembers me (which I'm told is impossible). He isn't scared of me one bit but when I hand him over to another person he goes right into his shell! What a guy! I think he and I have become friends. I fed him a snail today but he shoved it away, geez (what a buzz kill)! I think he might be watching his weight but still it's rude to turn away food! Oh well! Anyways I've made it my mission to make sure Crazy Eyes makes it until the end of the course because he is my new favorite! Enjoy the picture of him that I'll be uploading at the end of this entry (look close and you can see his 'crazy' eyes)!
That's about it for today Reader! I have a sad feeling my blog is going to be a little boring for the next couple days until projects get underway. As a side note, Dr. M has her last day teaching us tomorrow and I'm quite sad. I've really enjoyed her teaching methods and not to mention her general attitude towards life! I think I've already mentioned this but she's exactly how I want to be when I 'grow up'. She's just an amazing woman who has accomplished so much! Well have a good night Reader! I'll be talking to you again tomorrow! Love and miss you all!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Day 24: 'Official' Initiation
Ah Reader! What a day that was! Our last field trip for the course (that won't be related to our end of term projects) was today and boy was it a good one! It's sad to say that we won't be having any more class trips but at the same time it's getting to be crunch time and we really need to power through the next week and a half if we want to finish everything on time. We've still got three phyla to cover before our end of term projects start (I'll be explaining the whole end of term project thing in a later entry)! It's time to get busy!
Anyways, we spent the entire morning (got there around 8:00am) and a little bit of the afternoon at 'The Great Tide Pool' which is basically a closed off little bay on an island. It was, for lack of a better word, great! We snorkelled the tide pool and saw some pretty incredible things! Several huge sea cucumbers, a white sponge I'd never seen before, bat stars, little fish and numerous types of crabs. The snorkel was great because the water was cold and clear (WAY better than the silty inlet that we snorkelled last time). By the time I got out of the water it was nearly lunch time. We all had our bagged lunches just sitting on the rocks and enjoying the sunshine (luckily it was one of the nicest days yet)! After eating lunch I went off exploring some of the rocky areas around the tide pool in the hopes of finding a sea lion but no luck on that front.
We headed out from the tide pool around 2:00pm and got back to Bamfield at about 2:40pm after an awesome boat ride. You see The Great Tide Pool is on an island in the Broken Group which is quite far from Bamfield. We got to ride the big boat with Skipper John at the wheel! We went SO fast and the waves were pretty big today so it made the ride a lot more entertaining. Not to mention the fact that Skipper John quoted South Park which in itself made the trip (note that Skipper John is like 65 years old and yet he quoted South Park, incredible). It was an amazing trip back with the sunshine and the sea breeze! You know those moments that seem to require a soundtrack? That was one of them.
Alright well by now you guys know that the title of my entry is normally explained in the second last paragraph and that is indeed the case for this entry. Today I was finally initiated 'officially' as a true Bamfield gal! You see we have a certain fashion trend around here that we call 'Bamfield Chique' which is basically shorts with rubber boots. If you wear this fashion statement enough you get a rubber boots tan where your shins are white and the rest of your leg is tanned. Well Reader, today it happened! I have the rubber boots tan! It's pretty bad actually... I think it's worse than a farmer's tan (which I also kind of have). Either way, I'm a true member of the Bamfield community! Hooray for me!
That's about it for today Reader! I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen you guys but then again it'll be no time before I get to see you again! I hope you enjoy this picture of my 'Bamfield Chique' tan! I know that I do! I miss and love you all so much! Keep on reading and keep on thinking of me because you know I'll be thinking of you!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Day 23: Curse You Gag Reflex!
Yo Reader how's it going today? I hope it's going well! Today was one of those typical Bamfield days. It flew by way too quickly but SO much was accomplished! I feel like it's a paradox living out here. The time flies but at the same time it goes by so slowly! It's hard to explain... I guess you have to experience Bamfield to understand. I got a little homesick today at lunch but I felt better just knowing that you guys are reading this blog and thinking of me. Thank you for that! :)
We went out to Grappler Inlet (the same place that we went nightlighting) this morning to see a mud flat at 7:00am (yes today was a sleep in day). It was SO muddy! My boots got stuck several times! There were lots of clams and worms but aside from that nothing too exciting. We didn't really stay very long because we're a bit behind in our lecture material so we headed out to be back for lunch. The rest of the day was spent in the typical lecture/lab format. But it's getting to be crunch time around here! Our lab books are due in about 8 days so we're all scrounging to finish our lab pages on time. Not to mention I have a presentation on Thursday! We also have our final term projects starting up next week so we've got that on the mind. I did get a lot accomplished in lab today though! I spent roughly an hour sitting and poking a hermit crab and watching what he did. It was actually pretty fun. I named him 'Crazy Eyes' because his eyes literally looked crazy. They were black with yellow spirals! Crazy!
Now Reader, I'm a seasoned dissectioner (that's definitely not a word). I have done too many dissections in my post secondary (and secondary) to even count. I can normally tolerate the smell of formaldehyde or rotting flesh but today we dissected a crab (that was freshly prepared for dissecting). It was the grossest smell I've ever encountered while dissecting! I took one smell and gagged instantly. I actually had to pull my t-shirt up over my face so I could breathe! I was a little embarassed though because no one seemed to mind the smell that much! I think my reputation as one of the best dissectionists (still not a word...) in the class has been tarnished! Oh well, I got it over with and put that crab away as soon as I could! Unfortunately the entire lab smelled like that for the whole afternoon.
Well that about wraps it up for me today! I'm sorry there isn't more to report! I feel like I haven't been sharing very much lately! It's not that I don't want to! I just can't for the life of me think of anything else to say! But tomorrow is our final snorkelling excursion of the term so hopefully there'll be more to share in tomorrow's entry! Thanks again for reading everyone! Have a great rest of your Tuesday!
We went out to Grappler Inlet (the same place that we went nightlighting) this morning to see a mud flat at 7:00am (yes today was a sleep in day). It was SO muddy! My boots got stuck several times! There were lots of clams and worms but aside from that nothing too exciting. We didn't really stay very long because we're a bit behind in our lecture material so we headed out to be back for lunch. The rest of the day was spent in the typical lecture/lab format. But it's getting to be crunch time around here! Our lab books are due in about 8 days so we're all scrounging to finish our lab pages on time. Not to mention I have a presentation on Thursday! We also have our final term projects starting up next week so we've got that on the mind. I did get a lot accomplished in lab today though! I spent roughly an hour sitting and poking a hermit crab and watching what he did. It was actually pretty fun. I named him 'Crazy Eyes' because his eyes literally looked crazy. They were black with yellow spirals! Crazy!
Now Reader, I'm a seasoned dissectioner (that's definitely not a word). I have done too many dissections in my post secondary (and secondary) to even count. I can normally tolerate the smell of formaldehyde or rotting flesh but today we dissected a crab (that was freshly prepared for dissecting). It was the grossest smell I've ever encountered while dissecting! I took one smell and gagged instantly. I actually had to pull my t-shirt up over my face so I could breathe! I was a little embarassed though because no one seemed to mind the smell that much! I think my reputation as one of the best dissectionists (still not a word...) in the class has been tarnished! Oh well, I got it over with and put that crab away as soon as I could! Unfortunately the entire lab smelled like that for the whole afternoon.
Well that about wraps it up for me today! I'm sorry there isn't more to report! I feel like I haven't been sharing very much lately! It's not that I don't want to! I just can't for the life of me think of anything else to say! But tomorrow is our final snorkelling excursion of the term so hopefully there'll be more to share in tomorrow's entry! Thanks again for reading everyone! Have a great rest of your Tuesday!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Day 22: 'Do You Speak Romanian?!'
Hey Reader! I wish I had more to tell you today but unfortunately not much went on. Today was one of those days where so much happened and yet nothing happened at the same time. The highlight of the day was that we got a 'catch up' period in lab. That was such a relief since even I was behind on my work (and when it comes to inverts, I am rarely behind). In a nutshell, today was spent in the lab and in lecture. We started Arthropods today (insects, crustaceans, arachnids, etc.) and thankfully since this is a marine invert course we will only be focussing on crustaceans! But besides that there is honestly not much to tell. I do however have one funny story which I will of course share with you!
So today right before our 2:00pm lecture my mom called me (because I haven't talked to her in a very long time and I missed her). I answered and we started speaking in Norwegian like we always do. The thing was that I was in the classroom at the time and my two profs were setting up the computer for lecture. I guess they overheard me speaking Norwegian as I made my way out and when I got back into class they were giving me the strangest look. Dr. T just looked at me and asked, "Wow Victorialune! Do you speak Romanian?!" It was probably the funniest thing I've ever heard because for those of you who know your languages, Norwegian and Romanian sound NOTHING alike! Not that I blame her for not knowing what Norwegian sounds like, there aren't many Norsk-speaking people Canada (especially not around here). I replied politely that no I was in fact speaking Norwegian and she was quite surprised. Either way it was pretty funny, her facial expression was priceless.
Well Reader, I apologize for the short entry tonight but there is really nothing else to say. We're off on a field trip tomorrow morning and we're snorkelling on Wednesday but aside from that it's lectures and labs and a presentation on Thursday! I miss you all and I hope you're all enjoying the last few days of summer! I sure am! :)
(By the way I'm posting a lab drawing I did today of a decorator crab. I'm pretty proud of it! This is definitely one of my best drawings! Yes I know, I'm becoming an arts student, quit giving me a hard time!)
So today right before our 2:00pm lecture my mom called me (because I haven't talked to her in a very long time and I missed her). I answered and we started speaking in Norwegian like we always do. The thing was that I was in the classroom at the time and my two profs were setting up the computer for lecture. I guess they overheard me speaking Norwegian as I made my way out and when I got back into class they were giving me the strangest look. Dr. T just looked at me and asked, "Wow Victorialune! Do you speak Romanian?!" It was probably the funniest thing I've ever heard because for those of you who know your languages, Norwegian and Romanian sound NOTHING alike! Not that I blame her for not knowing what Norwegian sounds like, there aren't many Norsk-speaking people Canada (especially not around here). I replied politely that no I was in fact speaking Norwegian and she was quite surprised. Either way it was pretty funny, her facial expression was priceless.
Well Reader, I apologize for the short entry tonight but there is really nothing else to say. We're off on a field trip tomorrow morning and we're snorkelling on Wednesday but aside from that it's lectures and labs and a presentation on Thursday! I miss you all and I hope you're all enjoying the last few days of summer! I sure am! :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Day 20 + 21: One Happy Camper!
Well Reader, I'm alive! I made it through the camping trip and as the title would suggest, I had an awesome time! I know what you guys are thinking right now, "What is wrong with you Victorialune?! You had FUN camping?!" Yes Reader, I thought the exact same thing today when we got back. I found myself looking back on the weekend and smiling. It was actually an incredible experience and I'm so glad I got to go!
Saturday at 1:30pm we all clambered into cars and headed off to the trail that lead to Keeha Beach. The trail was about 4km away from Bamfield so it made sense to drive to the trail then walk from there. The trail that leads to Keeha is winding, muddy, littered with fallen trees and absolutely beautiful. There was a boggy lake about half way through with an old boardwalk and when you got to the end of the path there are hundreds of buoys hanging in the trees! The hike is (for the average hiker) a two hour hike. Well I managed to do it in one and a half hours so take that average hikers! When I got to the very end of the trail, I got my first view of Keeha and it was incredible! What a beautiful beach! I didn't realize North Pacific beaches could be so amazing! White sand, huge rolling waves, tall pine trees and warm sunlight!
Once everyone arrived we put all our food in the bear box (because we're in bear country, and yes I've seen a bear out here) and went to set up camp a little bit farther down the beach. In total we had 5 tents, two lean-tos (for the guys) and a fire area. Everyone was assigned a task and I was put on the water team. We were told to go to the 'stream', fill the water containers and put water purifying tablets in them. So me and a couple classmates went down to the 'stream'. Reader I kid you not when I say that this was no stream. It was more like a huge puddle. We filled up the containers and I almost gagged. There were bugs floating around in there as well as sand, some plants and a rock (not sure how it got in the container since it was bigger than the opening of the container). We put the purifying tablets in but it really didn't make much of a difference. The water still looked like pee. Needless to say I was thankful I brought two litres of good water from Bamfield.
Aside from the pee water (which really was where I drew the line), everything was so fun! We had a big bonfire and cooked hotdogs and marshmallows and just hung out chatting and fooling around. The cool thing was that the profs and TA were chatting along with us and we got to see a different side of them. We all went down to the water before going to bed and just kind of stood there. It was actually one of the best parts of the trip, just watching the waves come and go. Since we had to wake up at 5:00am (again...) for the low tide, we all went to bed before 10:00pm. There were five people including myself in our tent and it was a tight fit. But laying on the sand was actually pretty comfortable!
This morning was spent looking for inverts in the intertidal zone from about 5:00am til around 10:00am. We then headed back to camp so we could cook lunch. It involved some improv since all we really had were bagels. My lunch including a fire toasted bagel with cheese and humus. It was pretty good though! A guy in my class made a peanut butter, jam and marshmallow bagel. Yuck! But he said it was good! We had the rest of the day free to do what we wanted. Unfortunately we all have projects due Tuesday so we basically had to head back after lunch. Before we left we saw a grey whale and a sea lion in the bay. It was so cool to see them that close! The sea lion was just swimming around, having a good time and catching fish. The whale didn't stay for very long but it was still awesome to see! We got back to Bamfield around 3:00pm and now we're all showering and napping. I'll say that the shower felt awesome! I feel pretty proud of myself right now! Not only did I manage to camp, I actually enjoyed myself! Heck yes!
Alrighty Reader! Have an awesome rest of your Sunday (or start of your Monday for a certain girl on the other side of the world...)! Relax, take it easy and maybe chow down on a peanut butter, jam and marshmallow bagel! I love and miss you all! Until tomorrow! :)
Saturday at 1:30pm we all clambered into cars and headed off to the trail that lead to Keeha Beach. The trail was about 4km away from Bamfield so it made sense to drive to the trail then walk from there. The trail that leads to Keeha is winding, muddy, littered with fallen trees and absolutely beautiful. There was a boggy lake about half way through with an old boardwalk and when you got to the end of the path there are hundreds of buoys hanging in the trees! The hike is (for the average hiker) a two hour hike. Well I managed to do it in one and a half hours so take that average hikers! When I got to the very end of the trail, I got my first view of Keeha and it was incredible! What a beautiful beach! I didn't realize North Pacific beaches could be so amazing! White sand, huge rolling waves, tall pine trees and warm sunlight!
Once everyone arrived we put all our food in the bear box (because we're in bear country, and yes I've seen a bear out here) and went to set up camp a little bit farther down the beach. In total we had 5 tents, two lean-tos (for the guys) and a fire area. Everyone was assigned a task and I was put on the water team. We were told to go to the 'stream', fill the water containers and put water purifying tablets in them. So me and a couple classmates went down to the 'stream'. Reader I kid you not when I say that this was no stream. It was more like a huge puddle. We filled up the containers and I almost gagged. There were bugs floating around in there as well as sand, some plants and a rock (not sure how it got in the container since it was bigger than the opening of the container). We put the purifying tablets in but it really didn't make much of a difference. The water still looked like pee. Needless to say I was thankful I brought two litres of good water from Bamfield.
Aside from the pee water (which really was where I drew the line), everything was so fun! We had a big bonfire and cooked hotdogs and marshmallows and just hung out chatting and fooling around. The cool thing was that the profs and TA were chatting along with us and we got to see a different side of them. We all went down to the water before going to bed and just kind of stood there. It was actually one of the best parts of the trip, just watching the waves come and go. Since we had to wake up at 5:00am (again...) for the low tide, we all went to bed before 10:00pm. There were five people including myself in our tent and it was a tight fit. But laying on the sand was actually pretty comfortable!
This morning was spent looking for inverts in the intertidal zone from about 5:00am til around 10:00am. We then headed back to camp so we could cook lunch. It involved some improv since all we really had were bagels. My lunch including a fire toasted bagel with cheese and humus. It was pretty good though! A guy in my class made a peanut butter, jam and marshmallow bagel. Yuck! But he said it was good! We had the rest of the day free to do what we wanted. Unfortunately we all have projects due Tuesday so we basically had to head back after lunch. Before we left we saw a grey whale and a sea lion in the bay. It was so cool to see them that close! The sea lion was just swimming around, having a good time and catching fish. The whale didn't stay for very long but it was still awesome to see! We got back to Bamfield around 3:00pm and now we're all showering and napping. I'll say that the shower felt awesome! I feel pretty proud of myself right now! Not only did I manage to camp, I actually enjoyed myself! Heck yes!
Alrighty Reader! Have an awesome rest of your Sunday (or start of your Monday for a certain girl on the other side of the world...)! Relax, take it easy and maybe chow down on a peanut butter, jam and marshmallow bagel! I love and miss you all! Until tomorrow! :)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Day 19: When Will the Lies End?! *Zim voice*
Hey Reader! Wow am I ever exhausted! I seem to be saying that a lot lately but really can you blame me?! I mean let's look at the big picture here. Long days (14 hours today), no sleep, hiking, shuffin' (which is more of a workout than it sounds), a tetanus shot, trying to be social and of course missing all of you, it adds up and what you get is physical exhaustion! This is definitely worth it though. Since today is the half way point I feel the need to say this; I am so glad I came out here and though I was skeptical at first I am definitely proud of myself for all that I've accomplished so far! Thanks for everyone's support thus far, it's so appreciated!
As for today, nothing too exciting happened. We went back (at 5:00am) to check on our pimped out snails and to see where they had gone. We only found 101 out of 300 but according to Dr. M that's way better than normal. These snails were elusive! Even though they were brightly colored and bedazzled in some cases, we still couldn't find them! I give the snails props! They did not want to be found and two thirds of them got away! The results of the experiment were as predicted; the snails moved away from the zone with the most predators. Needless to say we were not shocked by these results!
We had two lectures and roughly 5 hours of lab today and I'm still a bit behind in my work! We are swamped with homework at the moment! Not only with individual work but we have a group project (for which our group will be giving a presentation) due on Tuesday. Did I mention we're going camping tomorrow until Sunday? Yeah, not much time before that project is due! (Time is limited when you live at Bamfield, at least that's what I've learned!) I'm really not looking forward to going out to camp where there are no bathrooms but I'm trying to stay positive. The funniest thing was said to me today and for those who know me quite well, I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear this. Dr. M (whom I GREATLY respect and love as a teacher) pulled me aside today and she told me this, "Victorialune, your continuing optimism is the highlight of my day! Hold on to it, you'll need it throughout your life!" It melted my heart but at the same time made me laugh internally. I'm not normally what you'd call an optimist. In fact some have even called me a pessimist. It must mean I'm really adjusting out here! Thanks Dr. M, that made my day for sure!
Now Reader I'm sure you're wondering about the title of this entry as I have not mentioned it yet. I'm getting there! Every night at supper we have a different dessert and so far I haven't really been tempted to eat dessert. I'm not big into pie, cookies, tarts, pudding, that kind of stuff but Reader I ADORE cheesecake! I forgot to post this two nights ago but on Wednesday the menu said we were having cheesecake for dessert! I practically went ballistic! I was bouncing around and jumping with joy but was sorely disappointed to find out it was NOT cheesecake. To be honest I'm not sure what it was (some kind of gooey pudding that was supposed to taste like cheesecake?). But let me assure you that it was not cheesecake. In times like that the first thing I tend to do is quote the first thing that comes to mind. At that particular moment it was Invader Zim when he's being accused of being an alien on national TV and he looks at the camera and practically yells, "WHEN WILL THE LIES END?!" I felt the same way except I wasn't being accused of being an alien, I just wanted cheesecake.
Alright well that about sums up today! I would just like to point out that I normally don't post on weekends but you can expect a Sunday entry about the camping trip. I have a feeling there will be much to say! As always thanks for reading and thinking of me! I miss and love you all! (An aside: If you guys have Karina on FaceBook and feel like reading about her year long adventure, feel free to check out her LiveJournal blog which is in her information on FB!)
As for today, nothing too exciting happened. We went back (at 5:00am) to check on our pimped out snails and to see where they had gone. We only found 101 out of 300 but according to Dr. M that's way better than normal. These snails were elusive! Even though they were brightly colored and bedazzled in some cases, we still couldn't find them! I give the snails props! They did not want to be found and two thirds of them got away! The results of the experiment were as predicted; the snails moved away from the zone with the most predators. Needless to say we were not shocked by these results!
We had two lectures and roughly 5 hours of lab today and I'm still a bit behind in my work! We are swamped with homework at the moment! Not only with individual work but we have a group project (for which our group will be giving a presentation) due on Tuesday. Did I mention we're going camping tomorrow until Sunday? Yeah, not much time before that project is due! (Time is limited when you live at Bamfield, at least that's what I've learned!) I'm really not looking forward to going out to camp where there are no bathrooms but I'm trying to stay positive. The funniest thing was said to me today and for those who know me quite well, I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear this. Dr. M (whom I GREATLY respect and love as a teacher) pulled me aside today and she told me this, "Victorialune, your continuing optimism is the highlight of my day! Hold on to it, you'll need it throughout your life!" It melted my heart but at the same time made me laugh internally. I'm not normally what you'd call an optimist. In fact some have even called me a pessimist. It must mean I'm really adjusting out here! Thanks Dr. M, that made my day for sure!
Now Reader I'm sure you're wondering about the title of this entry as I have not mentioned it yet. I'm getting there! Every night at supper we have a different dessert and so far I haven't really been tempted to eat dessert. I'm not big into pie, cookies, tarts, pudding, that kind of stuff but Reader I ADORE cheesecake! I forgot to post this two nights ago but on Wednesday the menu said we were having cheesecake for dessert! I practically went ballistic! I was bouncing around and jumping with joy but was sorely disappointed to find out it was NOT cheesecake. To be honest I'm not sure what it was (some kind of gooey pudding that was supposed to taste like cheesecake?). But let me assure you that it was not cheesecake. In times like that the first thing I tend to do is quote the first thing that comes to mind. At that particular moment it was Invader Zim when he's being accused of being an alien on national TV and he looks at the camera and practically yells, "WHEN WILL THE LIES END?!" I felt the same way except I wasn't being accused of being an alien, I just wanted cheesecake.
Alright well that about sums up today! I would just like to point out that I normally don't post on weekends but you can expect a Sunday entry about the camping trip. I have a feeling there will be much to say! As always thanks for reading and thinking of me! I miss and love you all! (An aside: If you guys have Karina on FaceBook and feel like reading about her year long adventure, feel free to check out her LiveJournal blog which is in her information on FB!)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Day 18: Where's Waldo?
I made it Reader! I made it through the day of hades! Yes that's right even after a 4:45am start time, a field trip, two lectures, two labs, a seminar and studying for the quiz tomorrow, I'm still alive and I'm posting this entry to prove it! (I'd also like to add that I'm tetanus free and it feels so nice, except for the painfully sore left arm I now have!) Today was one of those days where it seemed like nothing was real. Looking back on this morning, it doesn't seem possible that we fit so much into a single day. But then again we are running on Bamfield time and it is pretty magical out here.
So this morning (yes at 4:45am) I woke up and hauled myself out of bed to make it to the docks. We headed out to Scott's Bay, with much dismay from the class, since it is a bit of a hike. Once we got there we were instructed to go out and collect 60 snails (black turban snails to be precise). We gathered our snails and we then had to spray paint 30 of them green and 30 of them red. We were doing a catch and transplant experiment where we mark snails, put them back in their habitats and watch where they go. Tomorrow morning (yes at 5:00am again) we'll be heading out to check where our snails have gone! It was fun painting the snails and don't worry Reader, the paint doesn't hurt the snails. We only painted their shells, they'll be fine. In fact my prof said that since these snails can live to be 25 years old, they've probably already been painted by other classes in the past. Who knew? Humans go to the hair salon to color their hair and snails go to Bamfield students to pimp their shells. Awesome.
We got back around 10:00am and it was time for lecture. Needless to say I fell asleep a couple times in class. I felt awful since I'm sure Dr. M saw me dozing off but I'm also pretty sure I wasn't the only one 'catching zs'. After an hour of lecture we headed down to the lab for what was definitely the best part of the day. Dr. M had received an email from a colleague of hers in the states. He asked her to keep an eye out for heart urchins (something we have in ridiculous abundance ever since the mud dredge, as mentioned in my entry on Day 15). You see these heart urchins carry a tiny bivalve symbiont (a little mini clam) and this colleague was interested in studying these little molluscs. We were given the challenge of finding as many of these minuscule clams as possible, there were even prizes up for grabs. The funniest part was that the clam's genus name is Waldo! Yes that's right we were literally told to go find 'Waldo'. With an hour until lunch, we all set out scouring our heart urchins under microscopes, looking for the clams, the image of Waldo in our heads (you know the creepy guy in glasses and the stripped shirt who always seems to be missing). I only found one Waldo but a classmate found 24! She won the prize for most Waldos found. I won the prize for least Waldos found after looking at the most heart urchins. The prize was a can of coke. Wow, could I have asked for a better prize?!
The rest of the afternoon was typical lecture/lab structure followed by a seminar on medicinal plants. Not my forte but interesting nontheless. All I can say is that it's time to get some sleep! Early (WAY TOO EARLY) morning again tomorrow and I'm starting to feel exhausted. Thanks for reading and keep thinking of me! You know I'll be thinking of you guys!
So this morning (yes at 4:45am) I woke up and hauled myself out of bed to make it to the docks. We headed out to Scott's Bay, with much dismay from the class, since it is a bit of a hike. Once we got there we were instructed to go out and collect 60 snails (black turban snails to be precise). We gathered our snails and we then had to spray paint 30 of them green and 30 of them red. We were doing a catch and transplant experiment where we mark snails, put them back in their habitats and watch where they go. Tomorrow morning (yes at 5:00am again) we'll be heading out to check where our snails have gone! It was fun painting the snails and don't worry Reader, the paint doesn't hurt the snails. We only painted their shells, they'll be fine. In fact my prof said that since these snails can live to be 25 years old, they've probably already been painted by other classes in the past. Who knew? Humans go to the hair salon to color their hair and snails go to Bamfield students to pimp their shells. Awesome.
We got back around 10:00am and it was time for lecture. Needless to say I fell asleep a couple times in class. I felt awful since I'm sure Dr. M saw me dozing off but I'm also pretty sure I wasn't the only one 'catching zs'. After an hour of lecture we headed down to the lab for what was definitely the best part of the day. Dr. M had received an email from a colleague of hers in the states. He asked her to keep an eye out for heart urchins (something we have in ridiculous abundance ever since the mud dredge, as mentioned in my entry on Day 15). You see these heart urchins carry a tiny bivalve symbiont (a little mini clam) and this colleague was interested in studying these little molluscs. We were given the challenge of finding as many of these minuscule clams as possible, there were even prizes up for grabs. The funniest part was that the clam's genus name is Waldo! Yes that's right we were literally told to go find 'Waldo'. With an hour until lunch, we all set out scouring our heart urchins under microscopes, looking for the clams, the image of Waldo in our heads (you know the creepy guy in glasses and the stripped shirt who always seems to be missing). I only found one Waldo but a classmate found 24! She won the prize for most Waldos found. I won the prize for least Waldos found after looking at the most heart urchins. The prize was a can of coke. Wow, could I have asked for a better prize?!
The rest of the afternoon was typical lecture/lab structure followed by a seminar on medicinal plants. Not my forte but interesting nontheless. All I can say is that it's time to get some sleep! Early (WAY TOO EARLY) morning again tomorrow and I'm starting to feel exhausted. Thanks for reading and keep thinking of me! You know I'll be thinking of you guys!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Day 17: Tetanus, We Meet Again.
Oh Reader, all I can say is that it's been a very long day. The worst part is that I don't really have that much to tell you about! Oh well it's for the best since I have to wake up at 4:45am tomorrow. Might as well get this entry out of the way and head straight to bead!
So this morning I woke up with a terrible headache and a feeling of complete exhaustion. This exhaustion was probably partly due to the fact that we woke up at 5:15am but I think it was also just everything catching up to me. Either way I wasn't feeling 100% and unfortunately this morning was our second planned snorkelling trip. I put my bathing suit on, got all ready to go and headed down to the docks but by the time I got there I was only feeling worse. I told my profs and they said it was no problem if I missed this snorkelling excursion and that I could be the official chiton hunter for the day. (Chitons are a type of mollusc by the way.) So while everyone snorkelled off Ross Island, I indeed hunted for chitons and managed to find quite a few. We also saw another humpback whale and another little seal! By the time we got back I was still feeling a bit sick but it was nothing a hot shower couldn't fix. It felt SO good after being out in the cold all morning.
The rest of the day was again spent in lecture/lab. I didn't mind though since we're now doing molluscs (one of my favorite phyla). By the time 5:00pm rolled around I had accomplished so many things but I still had a limpet dissection to get done. Since supper wasn't until 6:00pm I figured "hey why not get this over with so I won't have to come back to the lab tonight". Unfortunately for me my lab partner was sick yesterday and the day before so she has fallen quite behind. She wasn't able to help with the limpet dissection because she was still on the phylum before molluscs. I didn't mind but it meant more work for me which meant more time would need to be taken. I got to work dissecting the limpet and all was going well until around 5:45pm. The pins I was using to hold down the organism were not cooperating and they kept coming loose. I had finally had enough and removed them all so that I could readjust the limpet and re-pin it. Unfortunately one of the rusty old pins went right into my left index finger. I was not impressed.
Now Reader, for those of you who read my LiveJournal blog (aka the blog where I usually post my non-Bamfield related entries), you'll know that I stepped on a thumbtack in April and debated on whether or not I needed a tetanus shot. I did not end up getting one in that particular situation. Well the same thing happened today. I immediately told my TA what had happened and she said that she'd call the nurse for me to get her opinion on the matter of whether I needed a tetanus shot or not. About fifteen minutes after I ate supper (around 6:45pm), my TA told me that the nurse wanted to give me a shot just in case. The thing about Bamfield is that a minor injury is considered a major injury since there are no doctors and they'd rather be safe than sorry (by sorry they mean me getting lockjaw and needing to be airlifted to Port Alberni via helicopter). Again for those who read my LiveJournal blog you'll know that I HATE needles with a passion. Well I had to suck it up because me and my TA went to the nurse's station and she gave me a tetanus shot. Needless to say I was scared out of my mind (I didn't cry though) and my left arm hurts really badly.
Alright well it's time for this tetanus surviver to get some shut eye. Early (WAY TOO EARLY) morning tomorrow and it's going to be a very long day on top of that. Field trip, lectures, lab, a seminar and studying for the quiz on Friday equals one tired Victorialune. Thanks for reading! Love and miss you all!
So this morning I woke up with a terrible headache and a feeling of complete exhaustion. This exhaustion was probably partly due to the fact that we woke up at 5:15am but I think it was also just everything catching up to me. Either way I wasn't feeling 100% and unfortunately this morning was our second planned snorkelling trip. I put my bathing suit on, got all ready to go and headed down to the docks but by the time I got there I was only feeling worse. I told my profs and they said it was no problem if I missed this snorkelling excursion and that I could be the official chiton hunter for the day. (Chitons are a type of mollusc by the way.) So while everyone snorkelled off Ross Island, I indeed hunted for chitons and managed to find quite a few. We also saw another humpback whale and another little seal! By the time we got back I was still feeling a bit sick but it was nothing a hot shower couldn't fix. It felt SO good after being out in the cold all morning.
The rest of the day was again spent in lecture/lab. I didn't mind though since we're now doing molluscs (one of my favorite phyla). By the time 5:00pm rolled around I had accomplished so many things but I still had a limpet dissection to get done. Since supper wasn't until 6:00pm I figured "hey why not get this over with so I won't have to come back to the lab tonight". Unfortunately for me my lab partner was sick yesterday and the day before so she has fallen quite behind. She wasn't able to help with the limpet dissection because she was still on the phylum before molluscs. I didn't mind but it meant more work for me which meant more time would need to be taken. I got to work dissecting the limpet and all was going well until around 5:45pm. The pins I was using to hold down the organism were not cooperating and they kept coming loose. I had finally had enough and removed them all so that I could readjust the limpet and re-pin it. Unfortunately one of the rusty old pins went right into my left index finger. I was not impressed.
Now Reader, for those of you who read my LiveJournal blog (aka the blog where I usually post my non-Bamfield related entries), you'll know that I stepped on a thumbtack in April and debated on whether or not I needed a tetanus shot. I did not end up getting one in that particular situation. Well the same thing happened today. I immediately told my TA what had happened and she said that she'd call the nurse for me to get her opinion on the matter of whether I needed a tetanus shot or not. About fifteen minutes after I ate supper (around 6:45pm), my TA told me that the nurse wanted to give me a shot just in case. The thing about Bamfield is that a minor injury is considered a major injury since there are no doctors and they'd rather be safe than sorry (by sorry they mean me getting lockjaw and needing to be airlifted to Port Alberni via helicopter). Again for those who read my LiveJournal blog you'll know that I HATE needles with a passion. Well I had to suck it up because me and my TA went to the nurse's station and she gave me a tetanus shot. Needless to say I was scared out of my mind (I didn't cry though) and my left arm hurts really badly.
Alright well it's time for this tetanus surviver to get some shut eye. Early (WAY TOO EARLY) morning tomorrow and it's going to be a very long day on top of that. Field trip, lectures, lab, a seminar and studying for the quiz on Friday equals one tired Victorialune. Thanks for reading! Love and miss you all!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day 16: A Worm Light Show
Hey Reader! Sorry about posting so late but I've been procrastinating writing this entry. It's not that I didn't want to write it, I just got a bit sidetracked with a certain show about mermaids that I've recently been watching (curse you Netflix). Either way today's entry will be short and sweet so enjoy!
I've got to quickly mention something that actually happened yesterday night so I didn't get a chance to write about it in Day 15's entry. The whole class went out nightlighting last night at about 9:30pm until 11:00pm. Nightlighting is when we go out and put a diving lamp down into the water and see what animals come around. We set out in two boats down the inlet and let me just say that boating at night was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was just so peaceful and the water was so calm, it was almost eerie just how quite it was! Once we found a good spot, we anchored the boat and Dr. M told us to just sit and watch the water for a bit before we put the light down. So we sat in the pitch black on the water and we watched. What we saw took my breath away. Hundreds of little blue lights arose on the surface of the water and began swimming around. Bioluminescence (organisms with the ability to create their own light), something I never thought I'd get to see in person. We watched the lights for about twenty minutes while Dr. M explained about the worms that create the light and how they do it to attract mates in the darkness. A genuine light show put on by worms! It was amazing! After watching the worms we finally put our light down into the water. We were pretty disappointed when the only thing that came to our light was a little fish. Sorry fishy, it's an INvertebrates class. We waited for a good while before calling it a night and heading back.
Today was a lecture/lab day so not much to report. I did however do a tube worm dissection today (on my own since my lab partner was sick). I was pretty impressed with myself since I managed to keep all the organs intact and I didn't rupture any blood vessels! Yes, my dissecting skills are vastly improving! It's always amazing to see the insides of what we believe to be 'simple' animals when really they have such highly developed systems!
My last quick note goes out to Karina. She is embarking on a year long journey tomorrow and I'd like to wish her all the best! We're all going to miss her but I know she's going to have a blast and kick some serious butt! Be safe girly! Jeg skal savne deg Karina! Jeg elsker og tenker på deg! <3
Well Reader, I will definitely be posting at a better hour tomorrow evening! I miss and love you guys! Keep on reading and I'll keep on posting!
I've got to quickly mention something that actually happened yesterday night so I didn't get a chance to write about it in Day 15's entry. The whole class went out nightlighting last night at about 9:30pm until 11:00pm. Nightlighting is when we go out and put a diving lamp down into the water and see what animals come around. We set out in two boats down the inlet and let me just say that boating at night was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was just so peaceful and the water was so calm, it was almost eerie just how quite it was! Once we found a good spot, we anchored the boat and Dr. M told us to just sit and watch the water for a bit before we put the light down. So we sat in the pitch black on the water and we watched. What we saw took my breath away. Hundreds of little blue lights arose on the surface of the water and began swimming around. Bioluminescence (organisms with the ability to create their own light), something I never thought I'd get to see in person. We watched the lights for about twenty minutes while Dr. M explained about the worms that create the light and how they do it to attract mates in the darkness. A genuine light show put on by worms! It was amazing! After watching the worms we finally put our light down into the water. We were pretty disappointed when the only thing that came to our light was a little fish. Sorry fishy, it's an INvertebrates class. We waited for a good while before calling it a night and heading back.
Today was a lecture/lab day so not much to report. I did however do a tube worm dissection today (on my own since my lab partner was sick). I was pretty impressed with myself since I managed to keep all the organs intact and I didn't rupture any blood vessels! Yes, my dissecting skills are vastly improving! It's always amazing to see the insides of what we believe to be 'simple' animals when really they have such highly developed systems!
My last quick note goes out to Karina. She is embarking on a year long journey tomorrow and I'd like to wish her all the best! We're all going to miss her but I know she's going to have a blast and kick some serious butt! Be safe girly! Jeg skal savne deg Karina! Jeg elsker og tenker på deg! <3
Well Reader, I will definitely be posting at a better hour tomorrow evening! I miss and love you guys! Keep on reading and I'll keep on posting!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 15: Mud On the Tires
Hello Reader and welcome back to my musings (punctuation mark). I know you've all been in withdrawal without my blog for the weekend and who could blame you? It's quite amazing. But don't fret because I'm back for the week and it's been an eventful couple of days! (Yes that's right, I've got you addicted just like a drug or coffee or Dollar Drink Days...)
So this weekend was mostly just chillin and trying to catch up on much needed sleep! Friday night (as I mentioned) was karaoke at the local pub (yes THE local pub as there is only one pub). It was lots of fun and believe it or not the locals were actually pretty friendly! I know what you're thinking Reader. 'Victorialune, you said in one of your posts on LiveJournal that locals hate outsiders and that they're always glaring and what not.' Yes Reader I did indeed say that but these locals must be different. They are SO friendly! I think it's probably because the Bamfield students keep their businesses running throughout the summer! Either way I sang 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey (a classic karaoke song) and a group of us sang some Back Street Boys. Oh yeah, living the dream.
Saturday a couple of us headed over to Brady's Beach and spent the afternoon lazing about. I went swimming in the ocean but my friends were too chicken to join me. I guess it's my norsk blood but that water just isn't as cold as everyone makes it out to be. We then laid in the sun, ate snacks and of course 'shuffled' on the beach. I would just like to say that I'm officially a pro at that dance. After the beach we walked the board walk on the west side. Again, SUPER friendly locals and good ice cream! It was such a fun afternoon! The evening was actually pretty chill. We were going to have a bonfire at Pachena Beach but everyone decided a night in would be a better idea. No big deal, I was exhausted from being in the sun all day.
Sunday was my Skype day. I talked to Jess and Reggie and my sibling (via the phone because she was too busy for Skype, I guess I'm just not that important to her). It was SO nice to hear from everyone and to see my friends faces again. I was a little homesick Sunday night but besides that it was a nice easy day.
Alright so finally we get to today and man there's a lot to say. You're in for the long haul here Reader. This morning at 8:00am half our class met up at the docks and the other half went to the lab. Our half of the class was going mud dredging first and we were going to switch with the other half after a couple hours. For those who don't know, by mud dredging I simply mean going out on a boat, lowering a net to about 80 metres and scooping up some mud. So John the Skipper took us out on the big boat (the Alta) and we went to Imperial Eagle (Eeeaaaggllee) Channel. There we dropped the net and began to scoop mud. When we hauled the net up I just couldn't believe my eyes! We dumped the mud in a basin and started digging through the goop to find invertebrates! Worms (of all kinds), heart urchins, Scaphapods (AMAZING molluscs that are not very common and very delicate), clams, shrimp, brittle stars, you name it! What a cool way to find rare inverts!
Unfortunately for the invertebrates, the humpback whales decided to interrupt us and steal the spot light from our spineless friends. I couldn't help but not care about our muddy friends when a huge humpback appeared on the horizon and Skipper John took us over. We watched for a good half an hour! They were incredible! Diving up and down, blowing water, flicking their tails and not afraid of the boat one bit! I'd never seen a wild whale before so I was indeed impressed! I wish we could've stayed all morning watching the whales but the other half of the class needed to do a dredge.
The rest of the day was spent in lecture and lab with our second prof who arrived last night, Dr. T. She will be teaching alongside Dr. M for the remainder of this week then she's taking over and Dr. M's leaving. So far Dr. T seems cool but I just LOVE Dr. M, I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle her leaving. Oh well, it's still going to be an amazing four more weeks! As always I love and miss you all! Thanks for keeping up with my oceanic adventures! <3 (Ps: Madi, I was the turkey all along.)
So this weekend was mostly just chillin and trying to catch up on much needed sleep! Friday night (as I mentioned) was karaoke at the local pub (yes THE local pub as there is only one pub). It was lots of fun and believe it or not the locals were actually pretty friendly! I know what you're thinking Reader. 'Victorialune, you said in one of your posts on LiveJournal that locals hate outsiders and that they're always glaring and what not.' Yes Reader I did indeed say that but these locals must be different. They are SO friendly! I think it's probably because the Bamfield students keep their businesses running throughout the summer! Either way I sang 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey (a classic karaoke song) and a group of us sang some Back Street Boys. Oh yeah, living the dream.
Saturday a couple of us headed over to Brady's Beach and spent the afternoon lazing about. I went swimming in the ocean but my friends were too chicken to join me. I guess it's my norsk blood but that water just isn't as cold as everyone makes it out to be. We then laid in the sun, ate snacks and of course 'shuffled' on the beach. I would just like to say that I'm officially a pro at that dance. After the beach we walked the board walk on the west side. Again, SUPER friendly locals and good ice cream! It was such a fun afternoon! The evening was actually pretty chill. We were going to have a bonfire at Pachena Beach but everyone decided a night in would be a better idea. No big deal, I was exhausted from being in the sun all day.
Sunday was my Skype day. I talked to Jess and Reggie and my sibling (via the phone because she was too busy for Skype, I guess I'm just not that important to her). It was SO nice to hear from everyone and to see my friends faces again. I was a little homesick Sunday night but besides that it was a nice easy day.
Alright so finally we get to today and man there's a lot to say. You're in for the long haul here Reader. This morning at 8:00am half our class met up at the docks and the other half went to the lab. Our half of the class was going mud dredging first and we were going to switch with the other half after a couple hours. For those who don't know, by mud dredging I simply mean going out on a boat, lowering a net to about 80 metres and scooping up some mud. So John the Skipper took us out on the big boat (the Alta) and we went to Imperial Eagle (Eeeaaaggllee) Channel. There we dropped the net and began to scoop mud. When we hauled the net up I just couldn't believe my eyes! We dumped the mud in a basin and started digging through the goop to find invertebrates! Worms (of all kinds), heart urchins, Scaphapods (AMAZING molluscs that are not very common and very delicate), clams, shrimp, brittle stars, you name it! What a cool way to find rare inverts!
Unfortunately for the invertebrates, the humpback whales decided to interrupt us and steal the spot light from our spineless friends. I couldn't help but not care about our muddy friends when a huge humpback appeared on the horizon and Skipper John took us over. We watched for a good half an hour! They were incredible! Diving up and down, blowing water, flicking their tails and not afraid of the boat one bit! I'd never seen a wild whale before so I was indeed impressed! I wish we could've stayed all morning watching the whales but the other half of the class needed to do a dredge.
The rest of the day was spent in lecture and lab with our second prof who arrived last night, Dr. T. She will be teaching alongside Dr. M for the remainder of this week then she's taking over and Dr. M's leaving. So far Dr. T seems cool but I just LOVE Dr. M, I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle her leaving. Oh well, it's still going to be an amazing four more weeks! As always I love and miss you all! Thanks for keeping up with my oceanic adventures! <3 (Ps: Madi, I was the turkey all along.)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 12: Whipped Cream Wars (Everyday I'm Shufflin')
Hey Reader! Today was a semi uneventful Friday but there were two things that brought it together. The whole day was spent in lab and in lecture listening to presentations, doing quizzes and drawing organisms but luckily there was stuff to break up the boredom. We were learning about worm body forms so of course Dr. M had something up her sleeve to make us remember the key concepts. We spent an hour filling medical gloves, condoms and balloons with water and whipped cream. We had to try and fill balloons with whipped cream without getting air in them... It was easier said than done. Needless to say there was a lot of whipped cream flying around (and being eaten), water balloons breaking on people and at the end we got to pop our whipped cream worms. It really was quite entertaining and hey what do ya know? I remember all the key worm body plans! It's funny how deliciousness can work!
The rest of the day was pretty boring since we weren't out on field trips. Luckily after supper our class had some pretty awesome plans. Reader I'm sure that by now you've heard 'Party Rock Anthem' by LMFAO and if you haven't you'll have to YouTube it. Either way Marine Invertebrate Zoology 2011 has decided to learn the entire 'Everyday I'm Shufflin'' dance. I honestly did not want to when I first heard about the plans but am I ever glad I went to practice! Not only did I pick up on the dance, it was quite the workout! Plus it was really fun to 'shuffle'. I was actually pretty impressed by everyone's progress! We learned the whole dance in about an hour and a half and it is not an easy dance to learn! I will definitely be posting a video of the class doing the dance on FaceBook once we have it completely perfect. It's going to be off da hook (as Buster would say).
As for this weekend, we are planning on going to the beach tomorrow (as long as it doesn't rain, fingers crossed). I personally can't wait to catch up on sleep and just chill with friends. We have lots of early mornings next week and I feel like this weekend will be prime time for letting my body take it easy. Tonight is karaoke night at the local pub and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be there! Talk to you on Monday Reader! Have a safe and wonderful weekend and as always I love and miss you all.
The rest of the day was pretty boring since we weren't out on field trips. Luckily after supper our class had some pretty awesome plans. Reader I'm sure that by now you've heard 'Party Rock Anthem' by LMFAO and if you haven't you'll have to YouTube it. Either way Marine Invertebrate Zoology 2011 has decided to learn the entire 'Everyday I'm Shufflin'' dance. I honestly did not want to when I first heard about the plans but am I ever glad I went to practice! Not only did I pick up on the dance, it was quite the workout! Plus it was really fun to 'shuffle'. I was actually pretty impressed by everyone's progress! We learned the whole dance in about an hour and a half and it is not an easy dance to learn! I will definitely be posting a video of the class doing the dance on FaceBook once we have it completely perfect. It's going to be off da hook (as Buster would say).
As for this weekend, we are planning on going to the beach tomorrow (as long as it doesn't rain, fingers crossed). I personally can't wait to catch up on sleep and just chill with friends. We have lots of early mornings next week and I feel like this weekend will be prime time for letting my body take it easy. Tonight is karaoke night at the local pub and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be there! Talk to you on Monday Reader! Have a safe and wonderful weekend and as always I love and miss you all.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 11: Nemertea vs Annelida (the epic saga)
Hey Reader! So I know you're used to me posting quite long entries but unfortunately today was not the most exciting of days! I could only think of one thing that was worth posting (aka that you all would find at least semi interesting). The rest of the day was filled with lectures, guest lecturers and a seminar on color vision in fish (which was WAY over my head). So I will tell you about the coolest worm battle I've ever seen and besides that I think we'll call it a day.
So yes today we began learning about the phylum Nemertea (as known in lamen's terms as 'ribbon worms'). Imagine an earth worm without ridges and imagine it way longer and way skinnier. There, you've got yourself a ribbon worm. Anyways these worms are amazingly talented predators (as we found out today in lab). They're so talented thanks to an eversible proboscis which they can basically launch at their prey. By the way for those non-zoo kids out there (Reggie I'm not counting you since you are the King of Bio), an eversible proboscis is kind of like a HUGE tongue tucked away inside the worm's body. They can flick it out to capture their prey and sometimes these 'tongues' have spikes or poison at the tips. They prey on just about anything that moves (and that is about their size) so Dr. M decided to show us how they feed. We took a nemertean worm and put it with an annelid worm (in lamen's terms a segmented worm not unlike an earth worm). Within seconds the nemertean had everted its proboscis and had attacked the segmented worm. It paralyzed the annelid and started consuming it on the spot! Who knew that worms could be so interesting! We were all stunned at how quick the creature reacted to the presence of its prey considering its eyes can only tell light from dark and it has no appendages to feel around with. (For a quick look at a nemertean and its proboscis check out the link below!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT2x9YuowqU
Sorry that there wasn't more to report Reader but today was just one of those uneventful days. We did however get to sleep in until 9:00am this morning! I couldn't believe it! My body was just ecstatic to get those extra couple of hours to relax. It's back to the normal routine tomorrow though! We aren't going out on a field trip but hopefully something interesting will happen! I mean it is Bamfield, how could something interesting not happen? By the way, we call August 'Fog-ust' out here because this is the time of year that the fog becomes intense. We couldn't see across the inlet today because it was so foggy! Hopefully this fog won't wreck any upcoming outings! Talk to you tomorrow Reader! As always, I love and miss you!
So yes today we began learning about the phylum Nemertea (as known in lamen's terms as 'ribbon worms'). Imagine an earth worm without ridges and imagine it way longer and way skinnier. There, you've got yourself a ribbon worm. Anyways these worms are amazingly talented predators (as we found out today in lab). They're so talented thanks to an eversible proboscis which they can basically launch at their prey. By the way for those non-zoo kids out there (Reggie I'm not counting you since you are the King of Bio), an eversible proboscis is kind of like a HUGE tongue tucked away inside the worm's body. They can flick it out to capture their prey and sometimes these 'tongues' have spikes or poison at the tips. They prey on just about anything that moves (and that is about their size) so Dr. M decided to show us how they feed. We took a nemertean worm and put it with an annelid worm (in lamen's terms a segmented worm not unlike an earth worm). Within seconds the nemertean had everted its proboscis and had attacked the segmented worm. It paralyzed the annelid and started consuming it on the spot! Who knew that worms could be so interesting! We were all stunned at how quick the creature reacted to the presence of its prey considering its eyes can only tell light from dark and it has no appendages to feel around with. (For a quick look at a nemertean and its proboscis check out the link below!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT2x9YuowqU
Sorry that there wasn't more to report Reader but today was just one of those uneventful days. We did however get to sleep in until 9:00am this morning! I couldn't believe it! My body was just ecstatic to get those extra couple of hours to relax. It's back to the normal routine tomorrow though! We aren't going out on a field trip but hopefully something interesting will happen! I mean it is Bamfield, how could something interesting not happen? By the way, we call August 'Fog-ust' out here because this is the time of year that the fog becomes intense. We couldn't see across the inlet today because it was so foggy! Hopefully this fog won't wreck any upcoming outings! Talk to you tomorrow Reader! As always, I love and miss you!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 10: Snorkelling & Snail Brains
It's Wednesday night and I haven't had a single chicken wing. What the heck is wrong with this picture?! I have to say that hearing about Karina and Reggie's night at wings has made me a smidge jealous so I will be trying my best to play up the day in an attempt to make them jealous in return. (As if anything could compare to an epic bug killing high five and cheap wings! Come on!) I will say that supper tonight was actually delicious (shrimp fettucini alfredo, YUM) so I wasn't too bummed about missing wings again.
Bright and early this fine foggy morning we gathered our ridiculous amounts of snorkelling equipment and headed down the Bamfield inlet to a small bay. We hopped out of the boats and spent the better part of half an hour donning our wetsuits. Once we were covered head to toe in 'penguin gear' as one of my classmates so rightly called it, we all got into the water and started exploring. It was such an amazing experience! I got to see so many things up close and personal! There were giant sea anemones, sponges, a sea cucumber that reminded me of Desmund (see my post from yesterday if you don't get that reference) and an angry crab defending his territory. The water was a little murky though and that kind of freaked me out. I didn't like not being able to tell what was going on around me. Also I will note that breathing only through your mouth while snorkelling takes some getting used to! I was freaking out at the start of the morning because I felt like I was hyperventilating. My body was basically freaking out because it thought I wasn't breathing normally. Either way I got used to it eventually and spent at least an hour and a half just swimming around (Reggie, that was for you).
We got out of the water and it took just as long (if not longer) to get the wetsuits off. It was indeed an effort but the wetsuits were removed and we made our way back to Bamfield. We had two hours off this morning (after the snorkelling excursion) which was so nice! I actually got to do my hair for the first time in about two weeks. Before I knew it though, we were back in lab. Today we had a guest professor come in to teach us about neurons in snails. It was a bit random (since we're no where close to molluscs yet) but it was SUPER interesting. We dissected a snail and found its 'brain' and removed said 'brain' from the animal. We then got to look at its actual neurons because they're so big that you can see them with the naked eye. It's so strange to think that organisms like snails can have such amazing structures! Who knew?!
Ah Reader, I can't begin to describe the way I'm feeling at the moment. We actually get to sleep in tomorrow until 8:00am! Can you believe it?! I'm so pumped to get some rest for a change! No field trips for tomorrow though which is sad but next week we're out and about again! I can't wait! As always, keep reading and keep thinking of me! I miss and love you all!
Bright and early this fine foggy morning we gathered our ridiculous amounts of snorkelling equipment and headed down the Bamfield inlet to a small bay. We hopped out of the boats and spent the better part of half an hour donning our wetsuits. Once we were covered head to toe in 'penguin gear' as one of my classmates so rightly called it, we all got into the water and started exploring. It was such an amazing experience! I got to see so many things up close and personal! There were giant sea anemones, sponges, a sea cucumber that reminded me of Desmund (see my post from yesterday if you don't get that reference) and an angry crab defending his territory. The water was a little murky though and that kind of freaked me out. I didn't like not being able to tell what was going on around me. Also I will note that breathing only through your mouth while snorkelling takes some getting used to! I was freaking out at the start of the morning because I felt like I was hyperventilating. My body was basically freaking out because it thought I wasn't breathing normally. Either way I got used to it eventually and spent at least an hour and a half just swimming around (Reggie, that was for you).
We got out of the water and it took just as long (if not longer) to get the wetsuits off. It was indeed an effort but the wetsuits were removed and we made our way back to Bamfield. We had two hours off this morning (after the snorkelling excursion) which was so nice! I actually got to do my hair for the first time in about two weeks. Before I knew it though, we were back in lab. Today we had a guest professor come in to teach us about neurons in snails. It was a bit random (since we're no where close to molluscs yet) but it was SUPER interesting. We dissected a snail and found its 'brain' and removed said 'brain' from the animal. We then got to look at its actual neurons because they're so big that you can see them with the naked eye. It's so strange to think that organisms like snails can have such amazing structures! Who knew?!
Ah Reader, I can't begin to describe the way I'm feeling at the moment. We actually get to sleep in tomorrow until 8:00am! Can you believe it?! I'm so pumped to get some rest for a change! No field trips for tomorrow though which is sad but next week we're out and about again! I can't wait! As always, keep reading and keep thinking of me! I miss and love you all!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 9: Oh! Seals! *Insert Desmund Voice Here*
Good evening Reader! I feel like I'm entering this post at a reasonable hour tonight (unlike yesterday). This is a good thing since I am EXHAUSTED! I mean after the rock climbing yesterday and the being outside basically all day I'm just super tired. We're up early again tomorrow morning so I'll be going to bed fairly shortly. But there was some pretty awesome stuff that happened today that I really need to post about and besides, if I didn't post an entry tonight I have a feeling I would receive several angry/disgruntled Facebook messages. (Jess, Karina, you know who you are.)
This morning we got up and left at 7:00am which was amazing because it was basically our version of sleeping in. We all got into the boat and headed out to Wizard Islet. Wizard is pretty much some rocks in the middle of the ocean but I guess that qualifies it as an islet. Either way as we were pulling up to beach the boat we noticed several amazingly adorable and oh so cuddly looking seals! I was so excited! One of my goals for this trip was to see some seals and there they were perched on the rocks. They were just way too cute for words! I immediately went into Desmund voice mode (which for those of you who know me is this odd kind of semi British semi baby talk type of voice). I obviously wanted to get as close as I could to the amazing creatures but there's a general rule around here that we can't go within 100 metres of marine mammals. I was a little disappointed by this but it turns out the seals hung around the rocks the whole time we were out at Wizard so I got to watch them all day! The cutest seal was the chubbiest one who couldn't seem to get back onto the rocks. It definitely reminded me of Desmund trying to get up onto the couch/bed and failing miserably. (For those who don't know, Desmund is one of my dogs back home.)
We hung out at Wizard until about noon. During this time we did more collections of inverts and we also learned how to measure the different intertidal zones. The beach at Wizard was just incredible! At high tide it basically looked like a beach you would find in Hawaii with white sand and clear beautiful waters! It rained for the first time today (I know right, it's only rained once since I've been out here) but it only lasted for about an hour. After that it was clear skies and warm warm sun!
Tomorrow is the first snorkelling excursion of the program and I'm getting pretty excited. To say that I'm not nervous would be lying but that doesn't mean I can't be pumped as well. We're going snorkelling inside the Bamfield inlet so I know there won't be anything crazy jumping out at me from the depths. Also my TA said that the water will be fairly shallow (so again nothing crazy will be jumping out at me from the depths). Cold water snorkelling is supposedly incredible so naturally I'm excited to go but I'm definitely not ready to deal with wet suits. Argh they are SUCH a pain.
As for my general well being, I feel good. I think I'm definitely getting back into shape (thank you rock climbing) and I'm making friends. More importantly I'm gaining such valuable experience that I could never gain back home! I'm seeing new animals and learning so many new things! I know I've already done this but I'd really like to give a shout out to my amazing prof and TA. They are incredibly knowledgeable and they obviously love what they do. This experience would not be the same without them. I would also like to thank my family who keep things in perspective for me whenever I feel the need to complain. Just having the chance to chat with my mom tonight på norsk was enough to lift my spirits! Thanks again everyone! I miss and love you all!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Day 8: Rock Climbing for Dummies
Hello Reader! Welcome back to my musings! Yes I know I've been away for a couple days and for that I apologize! You see I've decided that since we won't be in school on the weekends, I won't be blogging on the weekends. Although if something super cool should occur on said weekends (like it did this weekend) I will definitely bring it up in Monday's blog like I am about to do. So yes this Saturday was indeed the annual 'Salmon Derby Dance' at the local volunteer fire hall. Now to me a 'derby' sounds more like a race involving soap box cars and a steep hill but supposedly it's like the annual 'Fish Fry' in Estevan (a party like no other I might add). Basically who ever catches the biggest salmon wins the derby and the dance is like a celebration for the good catches. Who am I to complain? It was a chance to actually wear the dress I brought (I don't even know why I packed that thing)! We all went out to the dance and had a really fun time! There was about 70% Bamfield students, 10% volunteer fire people and 20% angry locals. But really Reader, what were you expecting? It's a small town, there's bound to be angry locals! Oh yes, the glaring was marvellous! I'm not trying to brag or anything but there was definitely a smoke machine and a light. Yes you read right, there was one light at this hall. Needless to say it was pretty much the best dance ever! No but seriously, it was super nice of the volunteer firehall to let us come to their party, despite the venue it actually was a real blast!
It's not all fun and games and Salmon Derbys out here Reader! Oh no! In fact today was one of the toughest (yet funnest) days I've had out here. We woke up for 6:00am (a real treat instead of the usual 5:00am) and we set out for Seppings Island which is about a twenty minute boat ride from Bamfield. We got to the isle and spent the better part of the next 6 hours climbing rocks. Now for those who don't know me that well, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'outdoorsy'. In fact some would call me 'indoorsy'. But today I think I proved everyone wrong! I climbed those sheer cliffs and rocky peaks and made it all the way around the island while only managing to fall once (and that was in a tide pool, not off the rocks). To make matters even crazier, we were rock climbing in rubber boots while wearing life jackets all the while carrying the amazing invertebrates we collected through out the day. I felt like a real mountain woman... Although these rocks were definitely not what one would call mountains. Either way, I felt pretty accomplished and let me just say that water had never tasted so good after a morning of intense climbing.
I would also like to quickly mention the cave we explored. It was incredible! It was very small but it cut across the island and at high tide it would've been completely filled with water. It was so beautiful inside the cave and the fact that I could always see the other side of the cave made the experience that much more enjoyable (I've seen too many scary cave movies, not to mention ManBearPig enjoys hiding in caves). We saw giant limpets and isopods as well as mountains of snails all piled together. There were little tide pools inside of the cave all swarming with invertebrate life!
After the six hours spent at Seppings, we made our way back to Bamfield for lunch and lecture. Nothing too exciting happened during the following few hours except I did an amazing diagram of a jellyfish. I don't know what's wrong with me Reader! First I'm becoming an 'outdoorsy' person and now I'm becoming an artist! Yikes! It must be something in the water! Well that's about it for me! It's off to bed because (as usual) it's up and at 'em bright and early tomorrow morning! As always I love and miss you all! Thanks again for reading! :)
It's not all fun and games and Salmon Derbys out here Reader! Oh no! In fact today was one of the toughest (yet funnest) days I've had out here. We woke up for 6:00am (a real treat instead of the usual 5:00am) and we set out for Seppings Island which is about a twenty minute boat ride from Bamfield. We got to the isle and spent the better part of the next 6 hours climbing rocks. Now for those who don't know me that well, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'outdoorsy'. In fact some would call me 'indoorsy'. But today I think I proved everyone wrong! I climbed those sheer cliffs and rocky peaks and made it all the way around the island while only managing to fall once (and that was in a tide pool, not off the rocks). To make matters even crazier, we were rock climbing in rubber boots while wearing life jackets all the while carrying the amazing invertebrates we collected through out the day. I felt like a real mountain woman... Although these rocks were definitely not what one would call mountains. Either way, I felt pretty accomplished and let me just say that water had never tasted so good after a morning of intense climbing.
I would also like to quickly mention the cave we explored. It was incredible! It was very small but it cut across the island and at high tide it would've been completely filled with water. It was so beautiful inside the cave and the fact that I could always see the other side of the cave made the experience that much more enjoyable (I've seen too many scary cave movies, not to mention ManBearPig enjoys hiding in caves). We saw giant limpets and isopods as well as mountains of snails all piled together. There were little tide pools inside of the cave all swarming with invertebrate life!
After the six hours spent at Seppings, we made our way back to Bamfield for lunch and lecture. Nothing too exciting happened during the following few hours except I did an amazing diagram of a jellyfish. I don't know what's wrong with me Reader! First I'm becoming an 'outdoorsy' person and now I'm becoming an artist! Yikes! It must be something in the water! Well that's about it for me! It's off to bed because (as usual) it's up and at 'em bright and early tomorrow morning! As always I love and miss you all! Thanks again for reading! :)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day 5: Salmon in the Sand
Hey Reader! Geez is all I can say! I just logged onto my Facebook and I had not one but two comments on my wall asking where my entry for today was. I'm getting to it people! I didn't realize my blog was so anticipated by everyone! It sure makes me feel good and it certainly makes me feel loved. Thank you guys, it really means a lot.
As for today, well we were up at 4:45am again. Yes, my eyes were bloodshot and no I did not shower. Screw Herbal Essences, the salt air is my shampoo! It's true Reader, I'm a full fledged adventurer/researcher as of today. We went out to Scott's Bay which is basically over in the general area of Brady's Beach and we finally got to do specimen collections. It was so fun! My group didn't actually find anything too exciting but there were some amazing finds by other people! Flatworms, peanut worms, burrowing anemones, sunstars, sea squirts and of course crabs. The low tide was SO amazing this morning. I couldn't believe how far out we could walk. Also it was super foggy this morning so even though we could see for miles, the islands were all hidden by the fog. I definitely had a great time walking around in my rubber boots, splashing around in the water. What a great morning!
This afternoon we had a quiz and I think it went well but who knows right? I mean there were a couple questions that I didn't know but the rest seemed pretty good. Either way it didn't matter because lab was over early and we got to go out to Pachena Beach for 'Happy Hour on Deck'. This is a weekly occurrence normally held at the director of Bamfield's house but since he was away this weekend, we had it at the beach. The other course that's going on right now (Ethnobotany) was having an old fashioned cook out. When we got to the beach the Ethnobotany students explained the process to this cook out. They had dug a pit and had made a huge fire at the bottom and thrown big rocks in the pit. The fire was put out and the rocks were still extremely hot. They then put food (wrapped in plants from the environment) in the pit and covered it with more plants and then sand. This cooked for about four hours today. Needless to say the food was INCREDIBLE! They cooked salmon, halibut, veggies and apples. The roasted apples were actually amazing! It really reminded me of Hawaii where they do the same thing but instead they burry a pig and let it roast all day under the sand. It was such a great experience.
After an amazing supper of 'sand salmon' as it was dubbed, we went walking on the beach and eventually made our way back to campus. A friend and I rowed over to the West side of Bamfield to go to the General Store. What a trek. Let's start by saying that I don't know how to row. I know Reader, you must be so disappointed. But luckily my friend knew how to row. Unfortunately she was a bit rusty at it. Long story short, we held up the boating traffic just a smidge while trying to make our way across the channel. It was totally worth it for the ice cream on the other side! :)
Reader, I'm so happy that the weekend is here! I NEED sleep! Seriously, this whole waking up at 4:45am thing has screwed up my biological clock. It's telling me that it's bed time at around 7:00pm. No biological clock, you're wrong! Bedtime should be no earlier than 10:00pm in my opinion! Especially on a Friday! Either way, we have lab tomorrow morning so I will in fact be going to bed at a reasonable hour but who knows when that'll be! As for this weekend, I hope it's a great one and I wish you all the best Reader! As always, I'm thinking of you all and missing you like crazy! You guys are everything to me!
As for today, well we were up at 4:45am again. Yes, my eyes were bloodshot and no I did not shower. Screw Herbal Essences, the salt air is my shampoo! It's true Reader, I'm a full fledged adventurer/researcher as of today. We went out to Scott's Bay which is basically over in the general area of Brady's Beach and we finally got to do specimen collections. It was so fun! My group didn't actually find anything too exciting but there were some amazing finds by other people! Flatworms, peanut worms, burrowing anemones, sunstars, sea squirts and of course crabs. The low tide was SO amazing this morning. I couldn't believe how far out we could walk. Also it was super foggy this morning so even though we could see for miles, the islands were all hidden by the fog. I definitely had a great time walking around in my rubber boots, splashing around in the water. What a great morning!
This afternoon we had a quiz and I think it went well but who knows right? I mean there were a couple questions that I didn't know but the rest seemed pretty good. Either way it didn't matter because lab was over early and we got to go out to Pachena Beach for 'Happy Hour on Deck'. This is a weekly occurrence normally held at the director of Bamfield's house but since he was away this weekend, we had it at the beach. The other course that's going on right now (Ethnobotany) was having an old fashioned cook out. When we got to the beach the Ethnobotany students explained the process to this cook out. They had dug a pit and had made a huge fire at the bottom and thrown big rocks in the pit. The fire was put out and the rocks were still extremely hot. They then put food (wrapped in plants from the environment) in the pit and covered it with more plants and then sand. This cooked for about four hours today. Needless to say the food was INCREDIBLE! They cooked salmon, halibut, veggies and apples. The roasted apples were actually amazing! It really reminded me of Hawaii where they do the same thing but instead they burry a pig and let it roast all day under the sand. It was such a great experience.
After an amazing supper of 'sand salmon' as it was dubbed, we went walking on the beach and eventually made our way back to campus. A friend and I rowed over to the West side of Bamfield to go to the General Store. What a trek. Let's start by saying that I don't know how to row. I know Reader, you must be so disappointed. But luckily my friend knew how to row. Unfortunately she was a bit rusty at it. Long story short, we held up the boating traffic just a smidge while trying to make our way across the channel. It was totally worth it for the ice cream on the other side! :)
Reader, I'm so happy that the weekend is here! I NEED sleep! Seriously, this whole waking up at 4:45am thing has screwed up my biological clock. It's telling me that it's bed time at around 7:00pm. No biological clock, you're wrong! Bedtime should be no earlier than 10:00pm in my opinion! Especially on a Friday! Either way, we have lab tomorrow morning so I will in fact be going to bed at a reasonable hour but who knows when that'll be! As for this weekend, I hope it's a great one and I wish you all the best Reader! As always, I'm thinking of you all and missing you like crazy! You guys are everything to me!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day 4: Have Ya Heard About My Limpet Friend?
Wow what a day! I feel the need to complain but I will restrain myself because although it was long, I still had a blast! Who knew that waking up at 4:45am could actually make you more energized for the day? I sure didn't because before today, I thought waking up at 7:30am was early! I take it back! Let me sleep in!
It was still dark this morning when we set out in the boat. Our destination was Brady's Beach which is on the west side of Bamfield and a little bit farther south. It took about 45 minutes to hike there. I normally don't mind hiking but hiking in rubber boots sure is tough! There are so many hills around here and it's so tricky maneuvering your way in big old galoshes. Either way we made it alive to the beach and just in time for the 'sunset' (it was overcast). Our prof gave us a brief safety talk then we were free to explore the beach. It was really fun walking around and investigating all the cool things the environment had to offer! Yes, it smelled like rotting fish but after awhile I didn't even notice! I was indeed 'one with the tide' as it ebbed and flowed around me. (Karina, are you proud?) There were so many starfish (Pisaster to be specific) and a whole bunch of barnacles! I have to say rubber boots are an excellent invention since my feet did not get wet once today and I was standing in several tide pools.
If you haven't noticed yet Reader, the titles of these Bamfield entries have all been the highlights of my days here. Today is no different. I am a sucker when it comes to molluscs, end of story. I love them, I love what they do and I love learning about them. This year in my invertebrates class (back at my home university) we learned about limpets. I'd never heard about limpets before! You can understand why I was extremely shocked to find numerous limpets scattering the rocky shores this morning. I managed to pry a limpet off the rocks and investigate him at a closer glance. Now this limpet was simply incredible! He was bold, brave and pretty cute at the same time. I named him Bob and for about half an hour Bob was suctioned onto the knuckle of my right ring finger. What a guy! I was very sad when I had to put him back (he was getting a little dry) but I think he knew how I felt! For those of you who have never seen a limpet before, check out this YouTube link! They're just so adorable! (They're basically snails hiding under a lamp shade...)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79RvGRUdnwE)
The rest of the day was filled with lectures and seminars and a random deer jumping out in front of me (okay that was kind of cool). We did start Cnidarians today (jellyfish, anemones, hydras, etc.) and the class was split into groups to perform skits portraying the different life stages of these creatures. Needless to say the skits were pretty much hilarious! Dancing jellyfish, asexual reproduction through song and who could forget the joke telling larva? It was definitely worthy of applause.
Unfortunately we will be up at the same time tomorrow morning, heading out to a different beach. We also have our first quiz tomorrow so I still have a bit of work to do tonight. But I probably won't be up much later. I need sleep like nobody's business! I am excited for the adventure tomorrow though! And besides tomorrow is Friday! Nothing wrong with that! Thanks again for reading and keeping up with me Reader! It really means a lot to know that I have people back home following my adventures/shenanigans! I miss and love you all!
It was still dark this morning when we set out in the boat. Our destination was Brady's Beach which is on the west side of Bamfield and a little bit farther south. It took about 45 minutes to hike there. I normally don't mind hiking but hiking in rubber boots sure is tough! There are so many hills around here and it's so tricky maneuvering your way in big old galoshes. Either way we made it alive to the beach and just in time for the 'sunset' (it was overcast). Our prof gave us a brief safety talk then we were free to explore the beach. It was really fun walking around and investigating all the cool things the environment had to offer! Yes, it smelled like rotting fish but after awhile I didn't even notice! I was indeed 'one with the tide' as it ebbed and flowed around me. (Karina, are you proud?) There were so many starfish (Pisaster to be specific) and a whole bunch of barnacles! I have to say rubber boots are an excellent invention since my feet did not get wet once today and I was standing in several tide pools.
If you haven't noticed yet Reader, the titles of these Bamfield entries have all been the highlights of my days here. Today is no different. I am a sucker when it comes to molluscs, end of story. I love them, I love what they do and I love learning about them. This year in my invertebrates class (back at my home university) we learned about limpets. I'd never heard about limpets before! You can understand why I was extremely shocked to find numerous limpets scattering the rocky shores this morning. I managed to pry a limpet off the rocks and investigate him at a closer glance. Now this limpet was simply incredible! He was bold, brave and pretty cute at the same time. I named him Bob and for about half an hour Bob was suctioned onto the knuckle of my right ring finger. What a guy! I was very sad when I had to put him back (he was getting a little dry) but I think he knew how I felt! For those of you who have never seen a limpet before, check out this YouTube link! They're just so adorable! (They're basically snails hiding under a lamp shade...)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79RvGRUdnwE)
The rest of the day was filled with lectures and seminars and a random deer jumping out in front of me (okay that was kind of cool). We did start Cnidarians today (jellyfish, anemones, hydras, etc.) and the class was split into groups to perform skits portraying the different life stages of these creatures. Needless to say the skits were pretty much hilarious! Dancing jellyfish, asexual reproduction through song and who could forget the joke telling larva? It was definitely worthy of applause.
Unfortunately we will be up at the same time tomorrow morning, heading out to a different beach. We also have our first quiz tomorrow so I still have a bit of work to do tonight. But I probably won't be up much later. I need sleep like nobody's business! I am excited for the adventure tomorrow though! And besides tomorrow is Friday! Nothing wrong with that! Thanks again for reading and keeping up with me Reader! It really means a lot to know that I have people back home following my adventures/shenanigans! I miss and love you all!
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