Day 2

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Tasks for the day were allocated by Will. There was sound mapping with Jen- this involved kayaking to various parts of the bay and using a recorder under the water, mapping the sounds made in this rocky environment. One volunteer would mark the waypoint using GPS. Another pair would test the water salinity to see if this made any difference to the sound. Jen had also spent time in a sandy bay, where whales had been spotted doing the same thing. The idea was to try to discover if whales used echo location to find food, as no one knows how grey whales find food at present.
Another group went frogging with Megan. They would go to the area inhabited by the rare red legged frogs, catch them and measure them, recording the numbers found in a particular site.
Will and Rob went diving looking for mysid populations, and two volunteers would help with the equipment.
Conny and I were allocated photo identification of whales spotted on the mexican expedition. On such a glorious day I can't deny I was disappointed.Being stuck in the tiny laboratory shed did not sound attractive. I was right. Not only was it tiny, it took about an hour and a half to get the computers up and running the programmes correctly, and when we did go in it was freezing. I managed to identify one whale, eat lots and lots of sweets with the help of Conny, and then retreated to the kitchen for a warming brew. I couldn't make myself go back in, even though Conny persevered for about another hour. I sat on the rocks birdwatching and trying to take some decent photos- but it wasnt to be.

After dinner Dave said he would take some of us out in the kayaks to go and find a waterfall where we could 'shower' Obviously the scientists who had not come to meet us on the Sunday had not had the luxury of a shower for quite some time, and had no idea when their next one would be. Eventually a few of us set out, bikinis at the ready. I was with Kristi again, so we took a good little detour to take pictures of kingfisher, and enjoyed views of a harbour porpoise. We took some time to find the waterfall. Dave had never been there before, and had jut been told what to expect. Of course it hadn't really rained since Megan had been there two weeks earlier, and someone who hasn't had a shower in a while might be inclined to exaggerate about how wonderful the waterfall was. When we did find it we weren't even sure if it was THE waterfall. There was just room to sit in the water, and if you leaned back, and rested your head in the moss and mud, you could wash your hair. Dave and Blaise were desperate so they both went in. Me being me also went in, even though I knew I would be getting a shower at River's Inlet the next day. Kristi has some very good pictures of this, that she says my 'beau' would like, but she hasn't posted them yet, so you'll have to wait.


For tea we had radiator pasta- really they make past in the shape of radiators. John had brought a bottle of Jamieson, and very kindly offered it round. It tastes wonderful when you've been out on th water, and then when you are nice and warm round the campfire, drying out your wellies.
Then we were treated to smores, an american/canadian speciality; toasted marshmallows topped with chocolate, sandwiched between Graham Crackers. Krist went a bit over the top, insisting on showing Miki how to do it at least twenty tmes, and then stuffing them all in her gob!

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Photos

The underwater robot which Dave and Blaise were working on
The aim was to make a machine which could be operated from the boat, and which could take photos of mysids in the kelp beds.