I’ve now spent one month in Bamfield – and its been an absolute blast. I am writing this blog post from Vancouver as I am home for Thanksgiving, but will be travelling back to Bamfield on Monday morning! Take a look at the pictures:

(and in case you missed my week 2 update click here to read)

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Off on another field trip to Wizard Islet – departed right before sunrise so we got to see the view from the water, another day of algae collecting!

 

Saw a dead humpback whale on the way (pictured left), the smell was noticeable. The carcass was decaying on the beach, it had apparently been hit by a fishing boat. And a very blurry picture of seals on the rocks on the right

Measuring tide heights with long stadia poles, and collecting algae for future experiments

Cougar sightings on campus – this one was spotted by some students in the library. There appear to be 1 mom and 2 cougar cubs that frequent the campus, we were warned to travel in groups to avoid any encounters. The cubs are known to be more dangerous, since they can’t control their aggression/ differentiate humans as well. I’m hoping that I do not run into any of these guys!

Truth and Reconciliation Day – we volunteered at a pole raising ceremony hosted by the Huu-ay-aht community (pole pictured left). It was an amazing experience and an honour to attend. Lunch was also great – salmon and herring roe. Pictured right are the elders that were victims of the residential school system, the ceremony ended with song and dance.

A visit to Louis Druehl’s kelp shed – the home of Canadian Kelp Resources. Pictured left is the kelp shed where they dry out the kelp they collect from the waters around Bamfield. They dry bull kelp, giant kelp, and Kombu. Pictured on the right is the wooden contraption with nails that is used to hang the seaweed blades. They do all the drying and packaging by hand, and sell to health food stores nationally.

No visit to a kelp shed is complete without some tasters! Pictured on the left is dried bull kelp, it was crunchy and VERY salty. And then some kelp brownies! These were surprisingly delicious as the bull kelp adds a salty rich flavour and combined with the sweetness of the brownie, it was a treat. Had to go back for seconds.

Speaking of food, check out the steak we had for dinner one night. Pretty amazing

Experimenting with seaweeds using a $10 million flume, which is like a lazy river for seaweeds, and measures drag force. The flume was 2 stories up, and we could walk underneath and see the seaweed being pulled by waves (middle). Then we layed them out on the floor to measure area (pictured right), I won’t bore you with the details but seaweeds have some pretty cool adaptations for dealing with huge waves!

Top Chef – algae edition. Competition to make the best seaweed dish, we made Foccacia L’alga, which was focaccia with seaweed sprinkled on top. It was really delicious. Some people made grilled cheese and kelp sandwiches, bubble tea with seaweed straws, and dumplings.

Another day, another sunrise field trip. Can’t complain when you get to call this school!

Bear sighting from the water! Coming out at low tide to forage in the intertidal

Rainbow!

Finished off the week by investigating this orange snot-like substance which is an animal called Didemnum vexillum. This little guy is the focus of our directed studies project, which involves finding the best way to kill it, since its an invasive species and biofouls aquaculture gear. Pretty gnarly!

Thanks for reading, and see you in another month or so!