It’s Jessica here keeping you in the HLC loop this week! Thanks to my colleagues Kaitlyn and Jamiel for taking care of the blog these past few weeks. First, I really must say what a privilege it is working with these two smart, hard-working and positive people. If you have had the opportunity to meet them at the HLC or an event this summer so far, then you would certainly know what I mean!
Moving on to some events that took place this week. On Tuesday, we co-hosted a first Harrison Lewis Lecture with our friends at White Point Beach Resort. This was a fantastic opportunity to connect the local community with a visiting scientist and give them the opportunity to discuss and share their research. Our speaker for the evening was Dr. Franziska Broell, a marine biologist and co-founder of Maritime bioLoggers. For a crowd of 35 people who came to the talk, she discussed her work using new technology or, more specifically, modular high-resolution bio-logging sensors, which are used to study marine wildlife that is typically difficult to access. Dr. Broell shared two examples of her work, involving grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) off Sable Island and narwhal (Monodon Monoceros) in the high Arctic.
It was amazing to hear about she and her team have learned about these animals using this technology. Much of what she shared is entirely new information to the world of science and has yet to be published, so it was truly a treat for the crowd who attended. Thank you to White Point for this opportunity. We hope to see more Harrison Lewis Lectures in the future!
We also saw our next installment of Wild Wednesday – a low tide scavenger hunt to learn about some different marine critters at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park! There was group of 16 who came to the event, including some campers at the park.
Using one of our handy brochures as a guide, the group scavenged the shoreline, finding an abundance of intertidal life, including moon snail, soft shell clam, dog whelk, common periwinkle, rock crab, Jonah crab, razor clam, blue mussel, and slipper snail. There were a few invasive species found as well such as the European green crab and violet tunicate from Asia. Everyone came together and shared their findings at the end and then there was a draw for prizes donated to us by our friends at A is for Adventure. It was a fantastic day. Thanks to all who came along.
Next week’s Wild Wednesday is at Carters Beach and involves a focus group for Kaitlyn’s research to help get youth voices in the conversation around coastal zone management. If you or you know someone between the ages of 14-19 who might be interested in this opportunity, then please get in touch! We will also be looking forward to what August brings, including our next Never-2-Old workshop in which we will be learning to weave with discarded fishing line. That is all for now, folks. Happy weekend!