Day 1 from Bamfield
Our trip to Bamfield today went very smoothly, in fact slightly ahead of schedule all day. The plane landed 10 minutes early, the kids returned to the bus early after having lunch in Port Alberti and the bus ride down the gravel road to Bamfield was faster than in previous years. We arrived to sunshine and many things in bloom from daffodils and rhododendrons to skunk cabbage.
After a tour off the Bamfield Marine Science Centre and settling in to the dorms, we headed to dinner. After dinner we headed off to a presentation on marine mammals and impressed the Bamfield staff with our knowledge of marine life. We are all crossing your fingers that as we head out onto the water of Barkley Sound tomorrow that we might see some seals, sea lions and whales.
We spent a few minutes as a large group this evening, sharing either something new that we learned, something that surprised us or something that brought us joy. Answers varied from sharing this time with friends, the amazing view from the Rix Centre, to the green and lushness of this amazing environment.
We are all looking forward to the day tomorrow that will be jam packed with boating, lab work, a rain forest walk, and a trip to the local community school for an evening in the gym.
Day 2 from Bamfield
It was a beautiful day in Bamfield today. Each group had a chance to get out on the Alta. This boat took us out into Trevor Channel and over to the Wizard Islets to do a dredge. It was amazing to see all of the organisms that came up in the shovel including many varieties of sea stars, huge sea cucumbers, worm casings, crabs, nudibranchs. We also had the opportunity to see large groups of seals lounging out on the rocks while the oystercatchers flew by.
All groups also had the chance to learn about many phyla of invertebrates in the area. The touch tank in the whale lab was a huge hit. We finished the evening with a trip to the Bamfield Community School. This tiny school has about 20 students from kindergarten to Grade 7. It was such a beautiful evening that we borrowed some equipment from the school and played games outside. This is probably the first time our students have been able to play outdoor games since last November! We returned to the dorm as it got dark, exhausted.
Day 3 from Bamfield
As a large group, we started the day today with a skiff trip over to West Bamfield and then a short walk to Aguilar Point. This was an amazing opportunity to see the intertidal life present in this area. From shore crabs to bull kelp, students were able to practice their identification skills while exploring. Upon returning, one group headed on another boat to go up Grappler Inlet. This group saw two black bears foraging along the foreshore and several mink running across the rocks before doing some water testing and gathering some plankton for an upcoming lab.
After lunch we gathered as a group to focus on marine conservation case studies and then we were off in our groups to either do a rainforest walk or design experiments based on questions we had about intertidal organisms.
The evening finished with a trip down to the docks to look for biolumenesence. We were successful and also had the chance to do some stargazing and listening to the night sounds in Bamfield Inlet. We are expecting rain tomorrow as we spend out last day in Bamfield before the trek home.
Day 4 from Bamfield
After a breakfast of bacon and omelettes, we all headed down to the dock to take the skiff to West Bamfield. After a walk up and down the steep roads, we arrived at Brady's beach. Our two hour exploration of this beach included time to explore, time to choose a tide pool and observe the organisms and their interactions, and time to create a sand castle for the sand creation competition.
The afternoon had some groups in the plankton lab, some in the whale lab, some learning about birds and some students headed out into Barkley Sound on the Barkley Star for a two hour boat trip. Just as the first group left, the rain started and it poured all afternoon. On the trip, students learned about in First Nations life in this area dating back 5500 years as we passed a culturally significant area where the remnants of longhouses were evident and the stories of the battles at Execution Rock were recounted. We also travelled through the Deer Group of islands and the Broken Group of islands. We stopped to view Male Stellar and California sea lions, eagles, and a variety of waterfowl.
After drying off and warming up and then dinner, students spent some circle time sharing thoughts about what surprised them or gave them joy on this trip and some advice for students who are interested in this trip for next year. A few off these thoughts included:
I came for the food and the friends- I left loving Marine Biology
You learn so much more than you think, it opened up so many areas of Marine Biology
It was so cool to touch the animals
It's really good for hands on learning
If you haven't been to the Island to see the nature... come and even if you have you will learn so much more
Then we all headed back to the dorms to pack. We need to be out of the dorms before breakfast tomorrow and there is lots of sorting and tidying to do. It is hard to believe how quickly the last four days have gone!
Day 5 from Bamfield
Our day started early today as we had to be moved out of our dorms before our 730am breakfast. The advance cleanup that we did last night certainly made the tidy-up of the rooms quicker and easier this morning. As usual we were ahead of schedule!
After breakfast, one group headed out to the rainforest for a walk, one group headed on the Barkley Star for a boat trip and the third group stayed in Ross Hall for a session on the impact of plastics on seabirds. As the groups returned to the Rix to gather their bags after their morning adventures, the rainforest group took off their muddy clothing and wiped the muddy streaks off their faces, the boat trip group got their land legs back and the seabird group considered personal commitments to reducing the amount of plastics that they used.
We boarded the bus as a rain squall came and headed down the road towards lunch in Port Alberni. After the rain yesterday, there were even more potholes on the 80 km road! Many students, and even Mrs Cooke and Mr. Everaert took this opportunity for a little shuteye.
After a stop at the familiar lunch corner in Port Alberni, we continued on the pavement to Comox, and through security with time to spare.
Although it was a bumpy ride back to Calgary, the tailwind had us back into my Calgary 10 minutes early. There were many excited faces to greet the students as they grabbed their bags and headed home for some much needed R&R.