A Picturesque Camping Trip

Once again we tripped off to Vancouver, B.C. with a group of students from UW’s Friday Harbor Labs.  This time it was the ZooBot class (a Zoological and Botanical survey of coastal sea life).

This is Megan.
Megan
Megan teaches the Zoo part of ZooBots.  I took this shot right after the class returned from the beach and caught Megan in the act of exchanging boots for shoes. Megan is just as fun and energetic as this photo implies.

This is the classroom.
Waves

This is the class.
class

Somethings to study.
sealife 2

Some more things to study.
sea life

Of course it wasn’t all work.
Kamp Kool Kids

When in camp we roasted hats.
roasted hats

Roasted socks.
roasted socks
Played games.
cards

Celebrated a birthday …
party
… with cake …
cupcakes

… and music …
music

… and dancing.
dancing

We also ate.
ate
Megan’s friend brought us a bucket full of fresh crab.  I am sure that somewhere in all the crunching and slurping we remembered to say thank you.

And of course I found time to take a few pics:

wildflower

Wildflower

dancing grass

Dancing Grass (growing from a rock)

more scenery

River Tree

seedy

Seed Head

fiddle fern

Fiddlehead Ferns

crab

crab

anemone

Sea Anemone

gull

Gull

berry soon

Berry Soon

grass

Grass

Botany Bay path

Botany Bay Path

Botany Bay steps

Botany Bay Steps

Botany Bay lower trail

Botany Bay Boardwalk

furry trees

Furry Trees

greens

New Growth

stellar jay

Stellar Jay

Friday Harbor Labs, UW

Come see where Amoeba works.  Dave Hays, a UW film making class student, interviewed Hillary, one of the TAs who works with Charley (Amoeba) and Megan in their “ZooBot” class which is an entire quarter (16 credits: Marine Zoology 5 credits; Marine Botany 5 credits; and a Research Apprenticeship in Intertidal Ecology and Physiology for 6 credits).   Hillary is currently working on her PhD focusing on the study of the interactions of marine organisms with their environment.

That might all sound intimidating, but the video below makes it easy to understand and gives you a glimpse of Amoeba’s working environment.

Why I Haven’t Been Blogging

Since I knew any nice weather was a reprieve to be appreciated, I went out to do just that. Here’s what I came home with:

Mt. Baker & Cantilever Point

I went out to the Labs in the late afternoon to pick Amoeba up. He wasn’t quite ready to wrap up his experiment and asked me to return in an hour.  Instead I went to my car and got my camera.   The mountain was basking in the sun and since I knew she would soon shroud herself in clouds for the winter, I took advantage of the time and captured her portrait.   I absolutely love the way the sun rays slanted across Cantilever point at an almost 95° angle.  It’s pretty flattering on the mountain, too!   (Most of the equipment you see on Cantilever Point is weather measurement paraphernalia.)

Just before Sunset

Just a half an hour later I captured the evening ferry entering the harbor.  It is still bright enough that her interior lights aren’t blazing yet.

FH last raysHere the ferry, almost completely across the harbor, approaches the dock.  I was facing east when I took the photograph up above.  Here I am facing southeast and you can see the suns rays still reach the town of Friday Harbor even though the Lab grounds are in shadow.

Last Light

Here I am still facing southeast, but I have pulled my focus back to include the shadowy foreground.  I thought this tree deserved a portrait.  I took over 50 pics in the hour. These are the best of the bunch.  Don’t forget to double click & biggie them!