The Calvin Project

What We've Been Up To.

3/17/2010

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It's been a while, hasn't it? Wow. Well, let me elaborate. What we've been doing lately:
-Went and Presented to the 18th Biennial Marine Mammalogy Conference in Quebec
- Went and Presented to the Right Whale Conference in New Bedford Massachusetts
- Presented to the MERI Team in Blue Hill, Maine
- And presented to the Woman's Club in Castine, Maine, where we live. 

Wow! We've been really busy. Presenting to all these people has been great. They were all great listeners and made us feel good about talking. When we finished our speech in Quebec, we got a standing ovation from 1,000+ people! Then we sang the Calvin Song. 


But we still have a whole bunch more! In May, we'll be presenting to Jane Goodall in Rhode Island. Soon afterwards, we'll be doing a necropsy at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. 


That's all we have lined up for now, but there's sure to be more! 
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First Post!

10/5/2009

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From September 14th, to September 16th, our group took three cars and drove a six hour drive to a ferry landing, and then took the ferry for an hour and a half ride to Grand Mannan, an island in the middle of the Bay of Fundy. On the way over, we saw a humpback breach, which is when they fling themselves into the air and most often spin, looking somewhat like crazed ballerinas.  There were also a whole bunch of harbor porpoise. It was fun watching  our classmates run from side to side, with various cries of  "Look!" or "I saw one! I saw one!" After awhile, though, we started to get cold, because the ferry was moving fast and the wind was freezing. There was a galley down below, and most of us went down and got something to eat. Afterward, we started goofing around, simultaneously looking for whales while having discovered a spot where the wind was very strong, strong enough for us to lean back without falling over.  Soon, we came up on Grand Mannan. I was surprised with the size of it, I was expecting something much smaller. It was around five o' clock when we came into the ferry landing on the island. Once all three cars were off, we went down the road, looking for the Boy's and Girl's club, where we were to spend the night. We passed it unknowingly, and our teacher/ leader, Mr. McWeeny, had to stop and ask for directions. When we got there, we sat in the car and waited while Mr. McWeeny and our principal, Mr. Nelson, scoped out the area and got information. Then we got to haul our bags in, and set up in the preschool rooms. The boys got the one with the sink, so we ate dinner and breakfast in there. While Mr. McWeeny cooked his famous veggie chili, our class played basketball and dodgeball in the gym, which echoed loudly. Seeing as this was a preschool room, the chairs were about a foot off the ground, making us cramped, but still enjoying dinner. When we finally settled down enough to brush our teeth and set up our sleeping bags, the floor was cold.  So, most of us spent the night tossing and turning, trying to get warm. The next morning, we woke up, (it was hard too) ate a hurried breakfast, and then packed our things into the cars and drove to a pier, where we waited impatiently for theElise Menota, a 52 foot steel ketch. About a mile out, it started to rain. Hard. So we were given bright yellow raincoats that were hard to walk in, and came down to some people's knees. We all looked very funny. After a while, the rain let up, and then we caught on a stray buoy, which we pulled up to discover several small lumpfish. Our guide, Lori, held them out and showed them to us, while explaining that some could grow up to a foot long. These were only about half an inch, one was about a quarter. She threw them back, and we moved on. It was hard to see the first whale. It was on the horizon, and we saw the spray. Then we got excited.  The spray was in a definant 'v', the indication that a right whale was nearby. After a few more spouts, a whale came up about fifty feet from the boat, scaring a few people. This whale was 'logging' which is when they float on the surface, gathering energy, or just relaxing. We sailed on. 
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