Our last day at Boat Camp. We did some Ichthy sampling(see below), and alkaloid tracking in the morning. After lunch, we discussed whales, including indigenous hunts and new dangers. Then a debriefing.
I have been on 8 whale watches in my life. The first 7 turned out to be nice, non-rainey days on lovely, uneventful boat rides. Last Memorial Day, I found myself riding around Gloucester looking for yard sales when I noticed the whale watch sign near the Rt128 rotary. "What a rook", I thought as I turned into the parking lot. "I'm not falling for that 'educational' junk again", I decided as I parked the car and headed for the pier. "But, what the heck, it's a nice day for a boat ride." Within an hour we were watching 6 to 7 humpbacks breaching, blowing bubbles and coooperatively feeding, while at least 2 Minkes were sleekly moving through the water at a much safer distance. We also saw a mother and calf. The guy with the microphone (who identified himself as a whale specialist) said he knew the mother humpback from her flippers. There were whales both on port and starboard - breaching, feeding, and (I swear) watching us. There was so much to see that we were all at a loss as to what side to be or stay on.
We went out at 1:30; sometime during the afternoon, they asked if anyone needed to be back on shore. We were scheduled to be back by 3:30 and I assumed that they wanted to stay out an extra half hour or so. Back at the dock, I realized that we had stayed out an extra 2 1/2 hours. I have no idea where the time went, but was I a very happy camper - and finally, I was also a Whale Watcher!
Thank you Rob, Scott, the twins and everyone who helped make this a memorable and fun week.
Movies:
Rob in the midst of Sampling
A fraction of a whale watching extravaganza.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Day 3 - Lobstering to trawling
Reflective Journal:
I think today was our most intensive learning day, and our most difficult from a weather point of view.
Last year I bought a children's book, Going Lobstering, by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster, when I realized that I had no concrete idea how a lobster trap actually worked. Should I have admitted that???? Today I got just a tad more info and hauled a trap. The gear was a mini Dangerous Catch version. Using the Otter trawler to dredge the bottom yielded a few sand dollars which I forgot to take home, some flounder in different stages of development, small lobsters and crabs, and a hermit crab. Hopefully, the sand dollars will still be there tomorrow.
The instrumnts were very interesting. from the Secchi disk, to the captains navigational gear. This afternoon, we got out of the weather and took a look at sand specimens from Smutynose and Plum Island, and talked more about seaweed. We didn't get a chance to press seaweed, though. Too much to do.
Daily Log: Things I've found most interesting:
Day 3
Day 3 Otter Trawling
I think today was our most intensive learning day, and our most difficult from a weather point of view.
Last year I bought a children's book, Going Lobstering, by Jerry Pallotta and Rob Bolster, when I realized that I had no concrete idea how a lobster trap actually worked. Should I have admitted that???? Today I got just a tad more info and hauled a trap. The gear was a mini Dangerous Catch version. Using the Otter trawler to dredge the bottom yielded a few sand dollars which I forgot to take home, some flounder in different stages of development, small lobsters and crabs, and a hermit crab. Hopefully, the sand dollars will still be there tomorrow.
The instrumnts were very interesting. from the Secchi disk, to the captains navigational gear. This afternoon, we got out of the weather and took a look at sand specimens from Smutynose and Plum Island, and talked more about seaweed. We didn't get a chance to press seaweed, though. Too much to do.
Daily Log: Things I've found most interesting:
- Lobster and crab sex ID.
- Lobsters can be either left or right crusher clawed.
- Lobsters regenerate.
- Lobster traps have kitchens and parlors - how civilized.
- The two different kinds of trawlers.
- A huge specimen lobster that sand fleas had completely cleaned out.
- Bivalve age is determined by counting the rings on their shells.
- Barnacles are arthropods, related to lobsters and crabs, and can be as large 4 to 5 inches.
- Lack of enzymes soften the shell
- They then split their shell down the middle and back out
- They fill themselves with mass quantities of water
- The shell grows back and hardens
- They expel the extra water which gives them room to grow.
- Plankton net - small funnel net with a plastic bottle at the end, and used to trawl on the bottom to trap plankton and other small marine species.
- Secchi disk - round black and white weighted disk which determines the depth of sight in a body of water. Concentrations of plankton determine depth of visibility.
- Chite - a protein which determines the color of a lobster and the red color they turn when cooked.
- Otter Trawler - trawler that is towed on the bottom of the ocean. It has 2 doors and weights and scoops up whatever is on the bottom. Ours was small compared to huge fishing boat trawlers.
Day 3
Day 3 Otter Trawling
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