Tuesday, July 26, 2016

The Food Chain


Hey all, it's Emily B. once again! I've just returned home from a particularly interesting afternoon at Courageous Sailing. We worked with a whole new group of kids eager to cast lines, pull up crab and lobster traps, and chalk sea creatures (real and imagined) onto the pier. Even though we didn't have much luck with the fishing rods, the traps we set yielded a variety of sea creatures, from tunicates to spider crabs. The most exciting moment of the day was when a girl hauled up one of the lobster traps and found―you guessed it―a small lobster! The whole group gathered around to marvel at its coloring and the way it moved, and some of the young fisher-folk spent a while with Daynaja reading information about their catch from the guidebook.


Our next prize was a little flounder, which swam into the freshly baited crab trap that some kids and I had dropped into the depths just half an hour before. We separated it from ten or so ravenous green crabs, and brought our tank up into the shade of the pier so everyone―campers, staff, and other passerby―could take a look. A few minutes passed, then it was time to wrap up, so I took the little flounder down to the dock to release it. After dumping the tank, I looked down into the water, and saw the most amazing sight: A big striped bass swimming up to just below the surface to take a bite!

The harbor is truly coming alive, transforming from previous weeks, and all of the kids we work with are getting the opportunity to witness it! 

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