Bamfield 10 - Nautical Adventures
The first rays of sunlight were just starting to warm the sky as we made our weary way to breakfast. Not yet fully aware of the extraordinary adventure we were about to embark on, we loaded our rain-resistant luggage onto the back of an awaiting truck and climbed into the cold, yellow school buses. The engines roared to life and we set off into the great unknown. Time passed slowly as we bumpily rounded corner after corner on the gravel logging roads, going ever west through forests of pine and hemlock.
During our time at Bamfield, we got to know one another better through the various educational activities that had been set up for us by the marine station staff. We learned about the vast complexity of sea life which resides in the waters off Bamfield, not the least being the delightful, squishy sea cucumbers whose soft mucus-covered skin did not appeal to all the students. By far the most memorable activity, however, was the boat ride out to the sea lion colonies.
Our expedition began in the Alta, a small motor boat built especially to withstand the two meter swells we were soon caught in. This predicament brought wild smiles, fuelled by adrenaline, to the faces of some, and a pale purplish-green hue to those who weren’t as resistant to the gigantic waves’ turmoil. Sea-sickness is a state that could not be cured by the vast expanses of blue sky and fresh salty air, yet there was not one face that failed to light up as the boat reached its destination.
There were hundreds of them! They lay, one after another in row upon row, basking in the morning sun. On one rocky outcrop, separate from the rest, there were two young bulls fighting. Swaying their necks in large circular motions, they picked up speed with each rotation in order to gain enough velocity to smash into each other with unmistakable strength. Soon we had to leave the battle behind and forge again into the open sea passing seagulls and herons fishing in the grey-green waves.
The crew of the boat then dropped a dredge (a metal net) to the bottom of the ocean floor. They pulled it up after only a few minutes to reveal a bounty of sea stars, crabs, sea cucumbers, kelp and barnacles. The contents of the dredge were emptied into a metal pan to allow us to examine our treasures more closely. We then returned to the dock and exchanged our sea legs for the more sturdy land variety.
On Thursday morning our adventure ended almost as abruptly as it had begun. We boarded the Frances Barkley and stowed away our belongings. The three hours aboard passed by swiftly and before we knew it the boat was nearing the large industrial dock of Port Alberni. That was the moment when we all slowly began to realize that the magical time we had spent at the Bamfield Marine Science Center was coming to a close.
Pascale B and Mack S
