Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup 2013

Nine hearty Pearson College students joined Andy Mackinnon (site coordinator in centre of photo above with olive rain jacket & hat) and several local Metchosinites at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park Beach to participate in the 20th annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

Andy and Colleen Long (CRD) gave us instructions…

Then we all braved the rain to collect several buckets of garbage…

All in all a great success, despite the rain!  Thanks to the stalwart students: Alice, Chloe, Hanne, Julia, Killaq, Rebecca, Riikka, Sophia and especially to Dakota for organizing the Pearson College group.

 Sophia proudly displays the best garbage item she found.

Where are they now? – Nicholas Macfarlane

Again, this is cheating a little bit since Nicholas Macfarlane (PC 28) was not in Marine Science. He was in the Diving activity at Pearson College though and he is now studying marine mammals.  In the photo above (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Image of the Day http://www.whoi.edu/image-of-day/all-ears), Nicholas is listening for pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Below Nicholas is using a 3D stereo camera system to determine distances between pilot whales when at the surface as a means of studying their behaviour.

Credit for both photos: Frants Jensen.

For more information on the work that Nicholas and his colleagues did this summer, see Pilot Whales in a Strait at: http://pilotwhales.blogspot.ca/

Mud, marvelous mud

Second year Marine Science students made the annual trek to the mudflats located just across from the College in Pedder Bay this morning and yesterday morning at 6:45 am.  I am somewhat disappointed to report that not a single student got stuck this year.

Taran was almost stuck, but managed to free herself too easily – no need for rescuing!

Sophia got a little bit of mud on her special suit…

…but it rinsed off easily.

Group photos of each class are below – see how happy everyone is?!