Midterm Meeting and Boat Exploration

Date: 10/22/2021

Hours: 1

Event: Midterm meeting

This week we had the midterm meeting with Olga. Overall, I think it went really well. Olga didn't have anything negative to say: she said that we were doing a great job. We also went over the map and Debbie suggested making a photocopy of it so Olga can start to use it to. We also talked about the Google Drive data and how some species are not labeled. For example, there is a section for baleen whales, and most are humpback whales, but occasionally there are minke whales, so we don't want to label the unlabeled ones unless we are sure it is a humpback. The same was true for killer whales, but there was folder solely for killer whales. Other than that, Olga said we would go out on the boat on Sunday and possibly take a walk around her property and meet her neighbor Otto, who is on the show Alaska: The Last Frontier.

Some species names are blank for baleen whales.

Me on Olga's raft.

Date: 10/24/2021

Hours: 5

Event: Boating with Olga

This week we were able to go out on the boat. The bay was quieter than usually meaning we didn't see as many organisms as I am used to. We saw a harbor seal and some sea otters, but there were no reports of whales. In fact, Olga said that the last sighting of a whale was Thursday. I asked her if that meant the whales were migrating, but she said they should still be around. That being said, we drove around the bay near Yukon Island, and we saw Grass and Elephant Island. Olga was telling us about the houses on the islands and explaining how one of them used to be a homestead. We also saw a dog on the beach and Teddy was excited. We saw a radiolarian chert which was really cool to see the differences in rock coloration.

Radiolarian chert.

After a while of not seeing any whales, we went to Sunset beach and stopped to look around. We kept running into rocks when trying to dock, but eventually we got there. The beach was really cool, and we found cool things. Diondre found a really long kelp, Olga found some rocks, Julia found a buoy, and I found a shell. It was interesting because all the trees had died, and Olga said it was due to an earthquake. When we got back on the boat, the wind had picked up, so we started to drive back. There was one huge wave that almost knocked me over. Back at the dock, we had to help Olga put her boat onto her truck because she was taking it out for the season. She is leaving on November 2nd to visit her mom so she will be gone. We helped her hook her boat up to her truck and take down the mast. We also helped her hook up her brake lights to the boat. It was really fun taking down the mast because I have never had prior experience.

Later that day, she said she would talk to Otto to see if he would be okay with us coming to meet him on Tuesday. She also said that she is watching his horses. I am super excited to meet him because my dad and I watch his show. I am also excited to see Olga's property because I'm sure it's beautiful. I'm sad that we are done going out on the boat, but I'm excited to start working on the catalog and focusing all my time there.