Getting our Feet Wet with Ecology

We've had an action-packed week of Marine Ecology, the first component of the three week course New Zealand Ecosystems. Complete with one early morning of Dolphin Encounter, four days of tide pooling, a dozen blue penguins, 13 pairs of gum boots, and one awesome Westmont professor, the week was the perfect recipe for learning about and experiencing some amazing marine creatures.

We were able to find some amazing nudibranchs and sea slugs, lots of beautiful sea anemones, colorful sea stars, and even got up close and personal with an octopus (all pictured in the collage below)! Swimming with the dusky dolphins was quite literally a "breathtaking" experience, as we plunged into the frigid water early one morning (the rough sea conditions also made it "breakfast-taking" for some). They were pretty impressive to see up close and personal. We also got to take a closer look at many kinds of algae in the tide pools. Algae may sound boring, but the variety of shapes, textures, and sizes they come in proves otherwise. Below you can see Jacob holding a large piece of bull kelp. We went tide pooling at a number of sites in all sorts of weather, and even got to learn about and see the little blue penguins nesting under the Coastguard building. All in all, a very busy, but amazing week!

Just a small look into our amazing week!

"Marine Ecology was a blast. It was so great to learn by escaping the classroom to enter the world of tide pools. Beth Horvath is the greatest professor you could ask for, being so passionate about what she's teaching. It was a crazy week with absolutely no free time, but it was well worth it! Swimming with wild dolphins was the icing on the cake to an already awesome week!"

-Toni Erickson, Westmont

For Homemaking this week, Kathy Chirnside tuaght us how to make ginger beer. She explained how to make and take care of the "bug" and gave us the recipe for the drink. We bottled it all up in used soda bottles we'd been saving for the occasion. Wait two weeks, and voila! Delicious drinks await!

Kathy Chirnside shows us how to make ginger beer. Important ingredients? The "bug", ginger, sugar, lemons, and water. Pretty simple!