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JOURNAL ENTRY
Monday, August 23
(Posted Wednesday Aug 25th, 8:00 am ET)
Alexis
Well I have been a bit ill for the past few days and I thought I was going to die and I couldn't eat or drink anything at all, well except for a soda cracker and a ¼ glass of water. Today we stopped at Gaspe for a few hours enough time to get rid of my motion sickness, which I am very grateful for.
While in Gaspe we went to a museum, but I preferred the MIC's center. While at the Museum I was able to call home to my family, which I really enjoyed I missed them so much especially while I was feeling sick. It was 6am their time so I woke them up but I doubt they minded. I LOVE LAND!! I hope I get my sea legs soon, because I still feel slightly ill when the ship starts to hit waves and I am trying to type.
While walking around Gaspe for the first hour it felt as if the boardwalk and floor at the museum was moving, which did not cope well with my stomach. But the more I walked the more it went away. But as soon as I would stand still or sit it would feel like waves where underneath my feet.
We saw a humpback today and I saw it fluke twice. I also was able to watch a bunch of Harbour Porpoises swimming beside the Sedna. They where really fun to watch and they are amazingly small. I always thought of them as being larger but they are about the size of a medium to large dog. Oh it is getting pretty wavy again, I can feel it in my stomach but I have whale watch duties soon so I will be out on the deck getting fresh air. Fresh air is like an instant cure for seasickness if you catch it right away but it doesn't last long. I gorged on food today because I have eaten little in the past few days and kept even less down. I had French toast with Nutella for breakfast and while in town I stopped at Timmies and had a doughnut and egg salad sandwich, with an Icecap, and then lunch on the Sedna was soup.
That's about all for now. Miss you mom, dad and Stephen. Ooo I think it is Shepard's Pie for dinner tonight, I love Shepard's Pie about as much as I Love land, well I might love Land more.
JOURNAL ENTRY
Monday, August 23
(Posted Tuesday Aug 24th, 9:15 am ET)
Sarah
A lot has been happening on this trip in the last few days I hardly know where to begin. Our team is complete and we have been on whale watching duty for the last few days. All the students have been given leadership roles and mine is to organize the whale watching duties. There are 4 whale watch groups and they work for 2 hour shifts at a time. The first group starts at 6am and then the whale look out day ends at 8pm. We have so far been very lucky and have seen a number of whales. We saw Minke whales, Finback whales and Humpback whales. The whales are incredible to watch, you can't help but get excited when they appear. I feel like a 5-year whenever I'm around whales, we all squeal, bounce up and down and grin uncontrollably. I wonder if the whales realize how popular they are. We had a few humpbacks breach and fluke the other day really close to the ship! There are a lot of gaps however between periods of whale activity which Richard Sears our whale scientist pointed out shows how the abundance of food and resources is very sporadic and is not always continuous everywhere.
The past few days the ship has been bobbing up and down a lot like crazy. I never realized that the St. Laurence was so rough or so big. On the map it looks so small. I have a feeling that everyone at home will laugh if I tell them that I felt a little sea sick on the St. Lawrence. Some people on the trip have been seasick but I am luckily not one of those yet, (knock on wood). It feels like I am stuck on a perpetual merry go round. It is worse if I am in my room on board but I was okay outside which left me with a little bit of a predicament: do I stay downstairs where I will be nice and warm but not feel too well, or do I go and sit out on deck, freeze but feel better. I decided to freeze. The rougher water has also made spotting the whales harder for those of us with less experience. I have great respect for people like Richard who can not only spot these whales but also can tell just from their spout what kind they are. I have yet to master that, as I like to say, "they're all Minke to me".
Apart from the whales there has been a lot of other interesting things to do. Yesterday Michel our sails master let me put up one of the sails which to my surprise is basically done by pressing a combination of buttons and the ship does all the work for you. I was on night watch last night too. All the students take turns individually to stay up at night on shifts. Mine was last night from 10pm until 1 am. It is incredibly peaceful at night on the ship and I was able to learn a lot about how the ship is navigated and how the radar works from the captain who stays up also to make sure we don't crash.
By the time we woke up this morning the ship was in Gaspe. We went ashore on the Zodiac and spent the morning looking around a museum about Jacques Cartier. We also had time to do some shopping, which for some of us was the real exciting part. I have never been here before, it is such a nice place and all the little shops were so cute. I must say that us girls on board the ship really do enjoy our shopping! Anyway we then returned by Zodiac to the waiting Sedna at about 11am. The really cool part is that Geoff let me drive the Zodiac all the way back to the ship!!!! It was the highlight of my morning and I must say I was a very good driver, I didn't crash into the ship which I was a bit scared I was going to do as we approached it at quite a fast speed. After lunch I was able to go out on the Zodiac again although this time Geoff drove. Me, 2 other students Lindsay and Philip accompanied Geoff and Richard on a long cruise to scour the area for whales. I dressed really warmly after my previous experience of freezing while whale watching and was wearing about 5 layers of clothing. It was a really fun ride although we unfortunately did not see any whales. The water was quite rough and we got a good roller coaster ride on the Zodiac. On the way back to the ship however we all got completely drenched by the water splashing up on us. By the time we arrived back on board Sedna we looked as if we had been swimming, all my 5 layers of clothing were wet. It was so much fun though, we were laughing the whole time.
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There is nothing like being out here away from everything especially with such a fun group of people. I have enjoyed every part of it so far. Such as today on our Zodiac ride, I felt pure happiness just to be out there. I think it is becoming increasingly more rare to have moments for people to feel pure happiness where you can get lost in a moment and not worry. This is especially true in the awe-inspiring presence of whales. The whole trip has been like that and I would recommend it to anyone. What can I say so far is that it has been SWEET but hopefully the best is yet to come, so stay tuned!
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JOURNAL ENTRY
Monday, August 23
(Posted Tuesday Aug 24th, 9:15 am ET)
Geoff
We've just dropped anchor under the cover of darkness at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula between the famous Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island after another very full and exciting day. I think I've also just found the way to make millions! I am going to write a book called "How to get 10 teenagers to go to sleep before 9:00pm!" Yes, it's true… The last few nights almost everyone as been in bed that early! I'm not going to give away the entire secret to all you parents out there, but suffice to say it involves lots of fresh air, whales and early wake-up calls…
Our day began with an early arrival to the town of Gaspe, a beautiful place set at the end of the Baie de Gaspe. We spent the morning in town stretching our legs and visiting the Museum. Some of the students were quite perplexed by some strange, long, white fiberglass things stacked on the dock were we were moored. As it turned out, they were giant blades for wind turbines that produce electricity. We discovered that they had been shipped over from Denmark and are part of a wind power project in the Gaspe. It was great for the students to see these turbines, which provoked the discussion about the important need our world has for more alternative energy sources. With our sailing vessel SEDNA docked beside these turbine blades, we had two excellent examples of wind power technology! Wind power is a great yet underdeveloped energy source here in Canada. It is a 'green' power source produced with few to no Greenhouse gases or harmful air pollutants. More demand and improved technology will hopefully make this an accessible, reliable and less expensive energy source in the near future. Plus, it makes sense. What a concept.
Today we sighted Fin whales, Humpbacks, White-sided dolphins, Harbour Porpoise and some Gannets doing their spectacular dive bombing to catch fish in the ocean. On Bonaventure Island, just next to us, there is a massive Gannet colony on the precipitous cliffs. We are also now in Blue whale territory, so we excited to find our first 'Blues' in the next few days! In the morning we'll be taking a close look at the weather forecast in order to determine our plan for the day. Strong winds may force us to stay at anchor. Flexibility is the key… We'll see where the winds blow us...
Geoff
Earlier Journal Entry Below
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Monday, August 23
(Posted 5:25 pm ET)
By phone, 4:30 pm: Geoff, Lauren and Lindsay
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Hello everyone! We’re just great - another full and adventurous day - some of it spent in Zodiacs, with a bit of mist in our faces :) [stories when we get home] and, some of it on land where we docked to shop and visit the Jacques Cartier Museum!
 We are calling from the Bay of Gaspe, right at the tip of the Gaspe Penninsula. We arrived in the area early this morning - and have spent the day exploring town and the wonderful Jacques Cartier Museum.
Note: all of our arm chair expeditioners can join us in that experience by visiting the museum website!
This is the place Cartier landed, July 24th, 1534! So we are are only 470 years later in his footsteps. We also went shopping and explored the town of Gaspe. Very, very different than Alberta!
We returned to Sedna after lunch and have now begun what is to be the focus of the next several days - the search for BLUE WHALES!
Please viist the blue whale photo gallery at Mingan Islands Cetacean Study Centre (MICS).
“I’m already having a wonderful time” says Lauren, “we’ve seen Humpback, Fin and Minke whales. I’m just LOVING it - what a fabulous classroom!”
And Lindsay, who is from Alberta, mentioned how well everyone is getting along, and how every day is so different and full and amazing ... (she also says hi to mom and dad).
So, everyone is happy, healthy and all is well - we’re hoping to post up some new journals and photos later this evening - so make sure to check back first thing in the am for more news from the Students On Ice Expedition in the St. Lawrence!
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