Slippery Fish

I apologize for taking so long to post these. The last couple weeks at Nerka were internet free, which was nice in a way. They were also warm and relatively sunny and were so splendid - it was very hard to leave. But I am home now and getting my classroom ready for students again. I am excited for school to start on Tuesday and looking forward to the new school year. But I wanted to be sure to post some of the pictures from the great adventures of the last few weeks.

• The above video clip is from Pick Creek. Everyone is working together in the wind and rain to put the nets out and gather in fish so they can be measured and all that good stuff (like was done before (just more of them and on video). This was while Grant Sonnex was here so you'll see him with his recording equipment. Just thought you'd enjoy a little of the "experience".
• Daniel collected core samples from the bottom of the lake - the one in the picture represents about 1,000 years of lake (and salmon) history. It was very interesting to observe a little of how they process it!
• Also at Pick Creek, I got to help catch fish for a project Matt Baker was working on. At first we tried chasing the fish up into the big nets, but found it was much easier for one person to chase the fish into one hand-held net. I have become a pro at fish chasing and wrangling! (Note the bear spray I'm wearing on my belt. If you ask me, I'll tell you a funny bear spray story.) (Sorry Tom. It must be told.)
• The other two pictures are the a couple of views while climbing Church Mountain. One is a view of the Hawaiian Mountains. The other is a view of Clover Meadow (which is really all muskeg) (and which I think we should rename Moose Meadow - since it was full of moose all summer).
• It was so wonderful the last week or so to have new faces in camp - including Sam (a vacationer who had worked here the last couple summers - brought a fiddle and banjo w/ him), Anna Coogan (she's a singer! Google her!), Matt Baker (great bass voice - I'll bet he starts singing w/ Anna soon), Tom (from Ireland and an incredible guitarist) and Anne, with her beautiful singing voice, came back up from Aleknagik. Her mom and dad came also. What a joy to sit on the beach or the path outside the bunkhouse and allow oneself to be completely immersed in beautiful music! I think every non-working moment there was at least one person strumming, fiddling, singing. . . . . . . oh heaven! Laura, Daniel and Casey were no musical slouches either! The first time I heard the violin singing through camp I almost cried. I don't know why. It was so beautiful! Music and the mountains and water just belong together. They compliment each other so well.
• Thank you to everyone who made this possible for me! Thank you for your encouragement and advice and the little (and big) things in the background. I'm so very, very grateful. It has been an incredible and unforgettable summer and I have learned so much. I hope I am able to give as much back. Take care and I look forward to seeing you all (if I haven't seen you yet since arriving home.)

BBC

Nerka Station had the honor of hosting a radio show producer/announcer (forgive me Grant and all my cousins in the radio business - I don't know the right titles :p) by the name of Grant Sonnex. Grant is from England and hosts a show for BBC radio about migratory animals. He did a three segment piece following the Sockeye Salmon migration from Bristol Bay to the end (where we are). He was such a pleasure to have in camp and it was awesome to get to see a little of what goes into shows like his. Anyway - I'm posting a link to it for anyone that is interested. The third segment is the one about Nerka. Enjoy! (Listen for the loons! They are so beautiful!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/reports/salmon-spawning-in-alaska/

Ursa Major?

So today we saw a bear walking along the shore. We followed her along in the boat and were able to watch her go for a swim ,catch a fish and chase the gulls around. It was quite incredible. The other picture is from the afore mentioned fish measuring field trip. (Daniel and Casey waiting for some fish to get sleepy). More later as I have dishes waiting to get washed.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Well, despite the sunshine in these pictures, it has been pouring down rain for about two solid weeks, with the exception of Sunday which was blessedly warm. There have been about five, maybe six, sunny days since I arrived here and I feel like I've been blessed with a second winter this year. So, on the weather side of things, I will be happy to get back to California, dry out and warm up a bit. It really is still quite beautiful, though. There is nothing wrong with watching rain drip off the ferns and spruce. The loons call out all day and all night and the wind is ferocious and wild. The waves beat so strong on the shore that they whip up a thick foam - which is fun to paint on the sides of the boats and make beards with. I really do love it. And Luna and I have fun all the same. Sometimes we go out, but it really is quite chilly so mostly we stay in and play and tell stories and sing and dance and bake. I got to go out in the field a couple of days ago. It was quite an adventure. I helped Daniel and Casey put nets out and pull in about 200 fish. They needed to measure them and record how much scarring they had from gill nets. The first group of salmon we didn't quite get enough so we had to put the nets out again. After pulling them into the nets, they have to be untangled from the nets and thrown into a little cage thing (I'll post the pictures soon). This was fun! I got bit a few times. Salmon have sharp teeth. I also fell in the water a few times (tripped on the net) - making the waders somewhat ineffectual. (Keep in mind - this is in the pouring down rain, standing in water that is about 7 degrees celcius) I was the data recorder. It took several hours to get all the fish done. By the time we were finished I was so cold my hands wouldn't even grip the pencil and I couldn't zip up my life vest for the boat ride back. Thank goodness for that special science paper that you can write in in the rain. It stood up well when I dropped it in the lake twice. Oh well. A bowl of chili and a cup of hot tang (back at camp) and I was good as new again. Despite the cold, I really had a great time wrangling fish. I'm not sure Daniel and Casey were too thrilled to have a hypothermic newbie in the field with them. But I had fun. And they were really nice about it all.

As far as the pics go: one is of a leisurely evening in camp (pete w/ a butterfly net, daniel peeling potatoes w/ luna playing nearby, andrew sitting); my bed in the bunkhouse (somebody asked where I sleep); and Luna making fairy soup.

I've got to turn the generator off, so that's all for now. I hope you're all doing well. See you in a couple weeks!

Random Stuff

So here are a couple of pics I've been meaning to get up: Luna and I canoeing and a picture of a Lund (boat). We have several Lunds in camp and it is the main boat we use to go "out in the field" to the different sites. I'm learning to drive it. *evil grin* You may notice this particular lund does not have a motor on it yet and is backward in the water. I took a picture of it my first day in Alaska. Camp wasn't quite running yet and they were still getting motors on boats after having them stored in the shed all winter. Details. You asked about the boats we use - there you go.

The last couple of days have been blessedly warm and sunny! We swapped out a few people with Aleknagik a couple of days ago: lost Juliette and Gordon but gained back Pete and his friend, Andrew, and also the camp cook, Marlene, who is here for a few days of vacation. We had a nice 4th of July - grilled Salmon on the beach and got rained on a bit, but is was pleasant. Today I had the pleasure of trying a kayak for the first time. I still think I prefer a canoe, but it was fun. Pete and Andrew are watching a mama moose and her two babies graze across the bay right now. Amazing wildlife here. I've been collecting porcupine quills to bring back with me and am hoping to get a good picture of a porcupine. I also have some excellent moose fur, salmon jaws, and a wide assortment of flowers, plants and eagle feathers. I mean seagull feathers! And excellent rocks! Oh the rocks! Science teachers - put your orders in now! I have to say - there is a severe lack of bugs, though. At least the neat kind. There are PLENTY of the biting kind. No reptiles either. Sad. Only one species of frog. (And I found one!) Today Luna and I made fairy bracelets (backwards packing tape with flowers on it - very beautiful!) and I think I like them better than the flower press. The colors are nice and you can see both sides of the leaves and flowers. Hmmmm. . . . I'm just babbling now. I'll post the pics and go to bed. I hope you're all doing well! Luvs yas!

Something You Don't See Everyday - Even Here!

Luna and I saw this as we walked out the door after lunch today. We thought we'd share. Enjoy!

New adventures every day!

I'm o.k.

So is everybody else
Even the moose
Both of them

If you want the short story – skip to the end.
Long version starts here:

So today we went up to Clover Meadow (the muskeg swampy place behind camp). Laura, Juliette, Luna and I had gone to check bird nests (with new chicks) because Luna really wanted to go out in the field with her mom – which is excellent for me! As we were coming into the meadow we saw a moose munching on grass. We tried calling to it to scare it off but it was not interested in moving. But it also did not seem interested in us at all - it was just munching on grass (I did take a picture with my cell phone, but it's not great – the fuzzy smudge in the middle is the moose). So we decided to proceed with checking boxes and to just be careful. We went to the first box and found six chickies. Luna sat down and got set up with a snack (she set a brutal pace on the trail and was pretty hungry once we got there). Laura and Juliette were weighing and measuring the chickies. My job was to watch the moose. (It was across the meadow from where we were - about 150 ft., away.) Well, suddenly the moose headed into the trees (away from us) and a lot of birds started crying alarm (I've a much keener awareness of birds calls since being here). So I let Laura know the moose had moved and started scanning the area with binoculars to see what was wrong. After scanning the whole meadow and seeing nothing, I turn and look over my left shoulder and. . . .

There was a big bull moose about 90 ft from us.

And I'm seeing this through the binoculars!

I believe my exact words were, "Holy CRAP!"

Well, to make a long story a little longer, we slowly dropped everything (kept the baby chickies with us), and moved as a tight group into a thick stand of big trees.
Laura was carrying Luna and Juliette was carrying the chickies and I was carrying. . . .
the seal bombs! These are handy little buggers we carry everywhere (along with a huge can of bear spray) – they are about the size of a large tube of mascara with a long green fuse and they make a loud bang with theoretically scares the moose silly and make them run wildly in the opposite direction from where your standing. Theoretically.

I lit one and stepped out a way and threw it

Bullwinkle winked at us and smiled.

We waited a few minutes and called a few "Hey Moose!" but he wasn't very scared

So I lit another seal bomb and threw that. The moose responded by eating grass. He was obviously terrified.

So we decided to leave.

Juliette and I went back to our stuff and threw everything into the packs as fast as we could, while keeping one eye on the moose and one foot ready to jump back into the trees if it decided to charge us.

Luna did great through all this. She said a couple times, "I'm kind of scared" but other than that just watched and listened with huge eyes. I told her we were having a great adventure.

We high tailed it out of there

Not taking the trail so we could stay in the trees
I slipped and slid down a muddy slope (yes, I was wearing my brace - but not my waders)
So my freshly clean clothes are now COVERED in black muck
But we are all safe and laughing at the adventure and excitement of it all.

Short version of the story - we saw two moose, threw bombs at them and ran away
The end