“Thar She Blows!” Wind and Whales on Spring Programs
Teaching about plankton on S/V Carlyn
One of our students shared that he couldn’t wait to “teach this lesson to my Dad!” and another group chose to extend their marine science lessons after dinner ashore rather than take a break with some field games.
Our season began in mid-March out of Elliott Bay Marina with a day program for Seattle MESA students. Windy, rainy weather marked the first several weeks of programs, but spirits remained high.
Our Sound for Individuals program out of Seattle in early April engaged in some creative dockside sampling when windy conditions kept the Carlyn at the dock. After an exciting staff transit to Anacortes, yet another Salish trip was impacted by high winds. Hooray for our creative educators and their adaptive, enthusiastic teaching skills!
FINALLY, in mid-April, sunshine graced our second Sound for Individuals program, and the group received an extra special visit from some transient orcas (photo below). It’s an exciting treat, and leads to lots of fun discussions about how the microscopic plankton we see in water samples are related to orca population health. It’s all connected!
Stay tuned for more updates from our Spring season by following our “Ship’s Log” reports here.
We’re now booking programs for Fall 2017! Contact our education director for more details. Email educationdirector [at] salish.org or call 206-780-7848 ext. 2.
