Thursday 29 September 2011 – Sea Camp

Greetings from San Diego!

Today is the second boat day, so breakfast was at 7 PST. Students up and more awake then yesterday, not many sleepy heads on the table. Breakfast consisted of cereal, fresh fruit and melon, fried egg with ham and cheese on English muffin sandwich, fruit filled Danish, for breakfast.

Group A left for their boat trip. They had calm seas, clear waters and saw many of the same types of mammals as group B had seen the day before. Several students lined up after breakfast to see if their parents had authorized them to have medication for sea sickness, and as a result, no one got sea sick on the boat. At the Coronados, both Sea Camp staff Whitney and Mr. Framke wore weight belts and were able to dive deeper and both caught small horned sharks which they brought up to the surface to show the students before releasing them. Many other wonderful critters were also spied, followed by a game of king of the raft and the long boat trip home. One thing group A saw that group B did not see was the largest fish – a mola mola, which lies on the surface of the water.

After the boat people left, Group B free had some time while Sea Camp staff got kayaks ready. They then headed into the classroom for the Plankton lab, during which they learned about the two main types of plankton; that plankton make up 50 to 80% of the atmospheric oxygen; about the current conditions that are causing upwelling and the red tide; then they tried matching juvenile plankton pictures to pictures of the adult animals. There were 18 sets of pictures; most only got 3 or 4 of them correct. This illustrated the fact that juvenile forms usually look nothing like their adult counterparts.

After the lab, students got in groups of three, put on a life vest, got two paddles per group and carried their kayaks down to the water’s edge for the sea kayaking adventure. Unfortunately, they were more interested in dunking each other instead of learning about bay ecology, so the kayaking experience was cut short – the staff cut out the fun stuff of the kayak challenge because students were not listening.

After washing the life jackets and taking quick showers, students got ready for Sea World. They were given their lunch (sandwich, chips, cookie, and fruit) at base camp and were told to put it in their backpacks and eat it when they felt like it once we were at Sea World. Students worked in small groups of three to five to complete the scavenger hunt sheet that required them to actually look at the animal exhibits before they started riding the rides and eating massive quantities of junk food. The bat ray exhibit and a few others were closed this year because of construction on a new ride and exhibit called “the manta”. All in all, they were well behaved, returning promptly at the designated time and place.

Back at base c amp, Group B had free time. Group A returned from the boat trip, and after the wet suit washing party, joined with the others to share stories, adventures, take showers, call home, and work on their Sea Camp journals.

Dinner consisted of chicken tenders, salad, corn on the cob, French fries and yellow Jell-O for dessert. After dinner, there was some more free time – many of the girls and some of the boys were preening themselves for the campfire that was scheduled later for the evening.

Before the campfire, the entire camp went to Tourmaline shore to see bioluminescence of the red tide – but the red tide was dissipating and low clouds reflected too much city light so we could not see the bioluminescence in the waves. We could see it when we drug out feet across the wet sand (we were there at low tide).

Back at camp, a campfire was held along the water’s edge, followed by the last night of slumber at Sea Camp.

Wednesday 28 September 2011 – Sea Camp

Greetings from San Diego!

We woke up today to an overcast, foggy morning with an early breakfast (7:00 am PST) because today was the first boat trip day. The boys were up and at the gathering tables for a long time before any of the girls poked their sleepy heads out of their dorm room, even though the report was that the boys had a difficult time quieting down and going to sleep the night before. Everyone looked tired and most had on their Sea Camp hoodie and hat so with so many heads down on the tables while they caught a bit more sleep before breakfast it was difficult to see who was who..

Breakfast consisted of cereal, fresh strawberries, scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast. Volunteers from Group A did the clean up since Group B needed to get dressed and ready to head for the boat. The weather report had said that the maritime clouds would be burning off by this afternoon, but it looked to be a cold boat ride. Students thought it was raining because the humidity was so high with the light fog on the ground.

Group B lined up, were reminded of what they should have with them, were given a chance to grab any missing items and then loaded up in the vans. The gear van took off with the wet suites, coolers, etc a few minutes ahead of the passenger vans and we all headed for Mission Bay. Once at the harbor, students lined up to pack equipment to the Sea Watch, the boat which would be our home for the next seven or so hours. Once on board, students were given an orientation to the boat, including how to put on a life vest, which we luckily did not need to wear on this trip. We started out of the harbor – watching the many pelicans, cormorants, egrets, herrings and sea lions in the harbor area.

Once out on the open ocean, the sea was fairly calm, with slight swells but smooth sailing. After we were underway for awhile, the boat stopped because the crew wanted to fish for squid in the red tide – apparently a good place to find them. The first mate dropped a special line for catching squid, when he pulled the line in, he had two squid, but one got a way while he was bringing it up on board. The other one was landed, and showed off its camouflage ability, first changing colors to match the deck, then turning orange to match the orange bucket that it was put it. It was then placed in a cooler, but it had been injured while they hooked it to bring it on board, so after it settled down and everyone had a chance to observe it, Sea Camp staff member Jeremy dissected it, just like the students had done to the small market squid in the lab. The difference was this one would be eaten by humans instead of the animals in the Sea Camp aquariums.

After the squid catching, students settled in, many resting in the back of the boat. A few girls were in the front, Sarah Holle was at the front of the bow, watching the water go by when she (and others) got to see a minke whale swim in front of our bow and then surface a few times on the port side. Most students were able to catch a glimpse of this first whale of the day.

Things settled back down, then a large pod (30 – 40) of common dolphins was in the area. The captain slowed down our boat and many of the dolphins swam in the wake of the boat at the bow. All the students were up to watch this exciting activity!

After awhile, the dolphins got bored and went their own way. Students settled in, this time a large pile of them found the raft sitting on the deck at the back of the boat made a great bed, others worked on their Sea Camp journal or took naps in other places, a few others felt sea sick and were hanging over board feeding the fish.

As we sailed south, we got out of the red tide area and the water was blue and clear. We could see the Coronado Islands off in the distance – we were getting closer. We could also see many birds landing on the surface of the water – a sign that there are fish in the area – and possibly whales. Many of us were in the front of the boat watching for whale – and we saw them. First we saw some larger whales feeding on the krill off to the port side; these were either fin whales or blue whales. Then we saw more toward the bow and starboard – mostly minke, some of whom were lunge feeding – we could see the white markings by their mouth. The there were more of the larger whales which the Sea Camp staff said were clearly blue whales. At one time we could see whales in almost every direction we looked. After watching them for some time, the captain turned the SeaWatch and we headed back toward the Coronado Islands.

We had out lunch at this time – the usual sandwiches, chips, cookie, and fruit (today we had bananas). A few of the girls were eating their lunch in the bow, when they noticed many sea lions and dolphins in the area. Some of the dolphins again rode the wake at the bow; these four girls had their own private showing since everyone else was in the back of the boat eating. The dolphins stayed with the boat for a long while, then went their own way.

We got to the islands, setting anchor at Three Finger Cove. The water was clear and warmer than it had been of late; the clouds burned off so the sun was shining brightly, and the sea lions and harbor seals were very curious about what all these animals in black wet suits were doing in the water. All but one student got in the water for the snorkeling – going in small groups, each with a Sea Camp staff. A few of the sea sick students came back early, but most stayed in the water for a good while. When students did get out, they were offered some hot chicken noodle soup and were told to stow their fins, mask and hood away. Students could then jump back in the water (under Sea Camp staff guidance) to play on the raft if they wanted. There was a good game of king of the raft going for awhile. At first, Elliot, John, Drew, and Eli were the raft masters, but the girls wanted on board too. After awhile Abby and Rose where the ones on the raft, having displaced the boys. Then the boys took it back with the help of Sam and many others. Noah did a great job of pulling people off the raft as he fell off – one time he took three with him. The captain told the staff that we needed to bring everyone on board so that we could set sail for home. Caden was the last to abandon the raft before it was brought on board.

The trip home was quiet. The clouds had moved back toward the end of the snorkel period. About 10 students had become sea sick at some time on this trip, so they took naps – as did most of the rest of their classmates. The return trip was about 2 ½ hours, so their afternoon nap helped revive them all.

Back at Sea Camp base camp, group B had to do the wet suit washing party before they could shower and share experiences with Group A who were already back – and full of sugar.

Group A had spent the morning doing a plankton lab and learning to sea kayak. After students learned to master their kayaks, there was much falling over board in the shallow bay next to base camp. All were wet and had a great time. The wet experience continued at Sea World with many students riding the Atlantis roller coaster that ends with a big slosh of water at the bottom, or being soaked by Shamu, or the other water ride. They did look at the animal exhibits and finished their scavenger hunt, but two of their papers were very wet – one beyond use and had to be rewritten.

All students – from both groups – were extremely animated during free time and supper (which consisted of salad, cooked carrots, mash potatoes and gravy, roast beef, and strawberry shortcake for dessert). After dinner, group A had to back their snorkel bags for tomorrow’s boat trip then all students were to take part in the night adaptations lab (which usually includes a game of capture the flag).

Another long and wonderful day was had by all.

Tuesday 27 September 2011 – Sea Camp

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Our second day at Sea Camp started a little later than Monday, breakfast was served at 8 am PST, and consisted of fruit, scrambled eggs, sausage, muffins. All students were up and ready for the day by breakfast time, excited to see what the day held in store for them.

After breakfast, group B climbed into the vans and headed for Mission Point for their first lesson in how to snorkel. In addition to the wet suit that they had learned to wear on Monday, they would now be using a hood, fins and mask. Sea Camp staff instructed them on the use of this additional equipment, then broke them up into two subgroups, half of the students would snorkel first; the other half would learn to seine. The snorkel half was then subdivided even further so that only four or five students were with each Sea Camp instructor. Even though the red tide reduced the visibility, students were able to see many fish and invertebrates on their snorkel.

The tide was high for this morning group at Mission Point, so they did not find much with their seine net, they did find a variety of small fish, but not many invertebrates. They still had run with races and relays along the shore. After the first bunch of students finished snorkeling, they took off their hoods, fins and masks and learned to seine, while the seiners put on this additional equipment for their snorkel.

While Group B was at Mission Point, Group A was back at base camp completing a Fish lab which included the dissection of a mackerel fish at the end of the lab. They washed up, donned their swim suits and came to Mission Point in time to share lunch with Group B. Lunch consisted of the usual sandwich, chips, cookie and fruit. After lunch, the entire class played a few rounds of modified hide and seek, then Group A stayed for the snorkel and seining experience while Group B headed back to Sea Camp for the invertebrate lab.

Once back at base camp, Group B took quick showers to rid themselves of the itchy salt water and got dressed for the lab. Sea Camp has a shelter outside the touch tank, with several picnic style tables and a white board – this is where the lab was held – conveniently located to all the cool invertebrates in the touch tank. Students took notes on a variety of different invertebrates. When introducing each phylum, Sea Camp staff selected a student to wear a blind fold, and they were then handed a live example of the critter, which they were to describe, before they could take off their blind fold and see what they had in their hands. In addition to observing many different live examples of invertebrates, this lab ended with the dissection of a market squid, and the giving and receiving of squid ink tattoos and mustaches.

Shortly after the lab, Group A returned to base camp from Mission Point. All students helped with a wet suit washing party, followed by free time for showers, calling home, working on their Sea Camp journal, and buying Sea Camp shirts, hoodies, hats etc. at the Sea Camp store.

After supper, students were all together for the marine mammal lab. They learned about many mammals that live in the San Diego area, watching a few videos and doing some other activities with the information. Even though this lab was in the evening after a long active day and did not have any animal dissections, Whitney, the Sea Camp instructor who taught this lab, reported that the Slavens 8th grade class had excellent behavior for this lab!.

 

Monday 26 September 2011 – Sea Camp

Greetings from San Diego!!!

We started the day with our fastest trip through security ever – which meant students had plenty of time to buy all the junk food and McDonalds that they wanted and mirrored sunglasses too! Mr. Framke passed out the Algebra sheet – front and back – 50 problems, and once on the plane most students worked on it. A few played cards – although Ian S learned that when you wear mirrored sunglasses while playing cards, your opponent can read your hand as well as you can. Other wise the flight was uneventful – but very noisy. We arrived in San Diego 20 minutes ahead of schedule and were greeted at the baggage area by Sea Camp staff. After everyone’s bag arrived, we made a long line of students and bags out of the terminal and down the sidewalk where we created a large mountain of bags and waited for the Sea Camp bags and staff to arrive.

In a few minutes the familiar white 14 passenger Sea Camp vans arrived, one pulling a trailer to help move the bags. Students were seated in the vans while the Sea Camp staff (and Mr. Framke) moved the mountain of bags into the trailer and one of the bags. We were off for Sea Camp. The weather was in the 60′s an overcast when we arrived, but while we ate our breakfast, the sun started to burn off the fog and we had a beautiful sunny day for the rest of the day.

Breakfast consisted of cereal, canned peaches, chocolate chip muffins, scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes with juice. Everyone ate something, and many of the boys ate a hearty breakfast – some of the same boys who had chowed down on food at DIA – I guess sitting on a plane and working on algebra builds up an appetite.

Once breakfast was over, students were given an orientation to the Sea Camp staff and facility and then moved into their dorm rooms. They got ready for the day including being sized for their wet suites and putting on their bathing suit and clothes over them, plus bringing dry clothes to change into and closed toed shoes for the afternoon. Once all were ready – including liberal applications of sunscreen and drinking of water, we loaded back up in the vans and headed for La Jolla Shores.

At La Jolla Shores, the groups were divided into A and B. Group A boogie boarded first while group B did a beach walk, and then they switched. Their is a red tide condition in this area, which means the water is filled with a plankton called dinoflagellates that make the water red. It was strange to see the waves crashing with this red coloration, but it did not stop the students from having fun in the water.

After everyone had changed to dry clothes, we ate lunch at the La Jolla Shores Park. Students could choose from a variety of sandwiches (tuna, egg salad, roast beef, turkey, BPJ) several types of chips, either an apple or orange and a large cookie. We cleaned up our trash and loaded back up in the vans to drive to the tide pools at Sea Ridge (also called Tourmaline Surfing area).

Since today was a New Moon, the tidal range is at it greatest, and this afternoon’s low tide allowed us to find all types of critters. Students worked in small groups – each group had a plastic collecting bucket. There was much screaming – from both males and females – as they found cool stuff. Students were told to only put one of each type of critter that they found in their buckets. Several groups had a variety of mollusks and crabs, and many groups found small octopi too. We looked at all the critters before releasing them back to the sea. Back in the vans and back to Sea Camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before a showers or calls home could be made, students had to clean the wet suits. After the wet suit cleaning party, some students played with the footballs of basketballs, others took showers, most called home, and many worked on their Sea Camp journals until it was time for supper. Tonight’s meal consisted of a wonderful tossed salad that contained a variety of peppers, baby corn, and black olives in addition to the lettuce; rolls; baked beans; BBQ chicken and ribs and brownies for dessert. Tonight one group will do the invertebrate lab, the other the fish lab.

A wonderful, but very long day was had by all.

Group List

Here are the group lists for this year’s trip (8th_SeaCamp_TwoGroups_14Sep2011FirstOnly).