Marine Field Trip Part 2: Das Boot
Well come on, hop on board. Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?
What? Yes, you have to pitch in during this expedition. Now grab that line and pass it along the starboard side all the way up to the bow. It's time to pull the net in.
It will be heavy with algae and critters, so heave ho and all that. Oh, and try not to get your fingers between the metal net frame and the gunnels.
Kinda' pinchy when you do that.
Wow! Talk about fresh eggs! These tulip snail eggs must have been laid very recently. Look how clean they are. We will take these back to the saltwater tanks at school and see if they will hatch. They have done so on previous trips.
What a cute Gulf Flounder pup. We'll let him go to grow up. They don't seem to do well in the aquaria at school and knowing that, I say we toss all baby flounders back.
(Plus ... they taste really, really good when they grow up)
Thank you (NOT) Coast Guard for requiring this boat for hire to REQUIRE us to wear life jackets made for pelagic voyages miles from shore. I 'm a huge fan of the Coasties, but dang, we are staying inshore in shallow water surrounded by islands. A smaller vest type jacket would be so nice AND REASONABLE in these inshore waters.
As you can see in the photo above, we spend a lot of time bending over to go through what the net brings up and the jackets were not very popular.
Luckilly, the dolphins showed up just as the megalifejackets were making us grouchy and we all forgot about the fact that we were all wearing foam versions of medieval stockades around our neck.
On the way back in to the boat harbor, this brown pelican gave us the once over, in case we were fishermen returning with some leftover bait.
We couldn't help him this time.
12 comments:
Ugh! I hate those orange life vests! Super uncomfortable. It's a good thing your students didn't mutiny. Although, that would have made for an interesting blog post.
I noticed the life jackets and wondered if you were trying to raise the Titanic instead of dragging it around the Gulf. I had them aboard when I fished off shore but not so much for the river.
Still, looks like a pretty fun day on the water.
I also hate the orange vests! I am also very disappointed that I missed out on the field trip!
That's a lot of adventurin' and a good day spent.
lucky kids--did we have field tripos like this???
Enjoyed your trip.
I did one field similar to this for Adv. Biology in HS. We were mapping a creek supposedly and I hauled a microscope for some reason the teacher didn't explain and it never came out of the pack. It did go swimming since the soap stone, or lime or whatever made teh stones in the creek very slippery and I sat on my arse more than I stood. It still beat any day sitting in a classroom. Can't even remember the name of the creek. tammy
Sounds like it was an excellent trip again this year. Love the tulip snail eggs.
As always a great adventure. Love those tulip snail eggs too. Looking forward to seeing how they fare back at school. You always make me miss the ocean, fc!
Y'all,
It was a great trip and a fitting end to a long tradition.
Hmmmmm ....
Say WHAT?
Changes are afoot, Miz S.
Duuuuuude. You can't leave us hanging like this. WHAT do you mean "a fitting end to a long tradition"?
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