Salish Sea Sciences

Its been almost a week since I arrived on San Juan. My father, mother, sister, and I took the ferry here to drop me off at the small dorms where I will be spending 26 days. For the first time in my life, I will be living far from my family. The camp where they dropped me off is called: Salish Sea Sciences. As the name suggests, the camp is about the marine science in the Salish Seas (coastal waterways that run from Washington to British Columbia).

I entered the dorms and I was immediately greeted with smiles and greetings from the staff. Other students stood awkwardly with their families at first and then joined in with the greetings. We were all ready to make long-lasting friendships.

One that first day, we spent time getting to know each other and becoming comfortable. That night, we laughed and laughed until the staff kindly told us to go to bed.

The next morning, I woke up energized and ready to start a day full of learning. After breakfast and some briefing we went to a boat called the Centennial. We learned about different data collection techniques including: Niskin bottles, plankton tow, and bow dredge. We poked many types of deep sea animals and searched for marine birds and mammals. Later that evening, the recently appointed director of Friday Harbor Laboratories Dr. Megan Dethier taught our group about the harmful effects of beach armoring.

On the third day of our wonderful course, I learned about underwater acoustics. My peers and I helped scientists Jessie Wood and Jason Turner measure the amount of noise that the ferry makes underwater. We learned about the importance of bioacoustics and the damage that loud noises inflict to wildlife.

That night, we prepared ourselves for the exciting longboat trip. We got our bags ready and went to bed excited.

- Devika Dwivedi

sea stars in hand

analysing the data