Whale Hunting 101 - The GloBELL ROAR

6:30 AM. The bus pulls up to a red brick house, Anderson House, our residence for the next four days. Mr. Ruttan and Mrs. Green announce our arrival, and people begin to wake up, completely drained, having spent the past fourteen hours in a cramped seat travelling from Ottawa to the small seaside town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Belongings are gathered, rooms are chosen, and beds are collapsed into for any semblance of sleep before starting the day at the entirely reasonable hour of... 8:00 AM.

And so began the Huntsman 2009 Biology trip, consisting of 40 students from both Bell and South Carleton. After signing up last May, months of eager anticipation amounted to this single moment. Any exhaustion was quickly replaced by a feeling of sheer excitement. People were anxious to begin, and we were certainly not disappointed. Every day seemed like a blur, with activities packed into each minute to make the most of our relatively short time there. From the very first day, we spent our time in a variety of locations, such as the Huntsman Marine Science Centre labs and the beach.

However, the majority of our focus was to the sea, where we focused on the marine life that exists within the Bay of Fundy. In our very first task, we were promptly boarded onto a fishing boat and sailed out to collect our own specimens using a scallop drag. It was an arresting moment seeing our catch of brightly-coloured sea stars, abundant barnacles, and watersquirting scallops, among other things, being lifted out of the water and dumped onto the deck for us to sort. The raw scallop tasting that followed was another particularly unique experience.

Of course, the major attraction of the trip was the promise of whale watching. Our third day was spent almost exclusively on boats, from an expansive ferry that took us to Grand Manan Island to the small boat that took us far into the Bay of Fundy. Two hours, several false sightings, and numerous swells later, and there was no mistaking the sight we were seeing. North Atlantic Right Whales, with a total population estimated at around 400, and suddenly they were everywhere, visible from the boat at all sides, their tails fluking out of the water and seemingly eager to be snapped by dozens of

Beachcombing lead to a frenzied hunt in search of crabs, all of which hid cunningly under the heaviest of rocks, as well as finding unbelievably tiny sea stars, and one group’s discovery of an eel. Hiking around the vast cliffs of Grand Manan Island eventually guided us to a shipwreck (or an apt description of the event). There was very little room to breathe on this trip, and it was certainly a good thing. So many events assured us of having the most enriching trip possible, and also provided a much needed escape from the pressing issue of having to return to school the Monday after.

Quite honestly, however, it was absolutely worth missing a week of school to partake in firsthand. With little to no chance of going on a trip of this calibre in anyone’s high school career, the pile of homework that I’m still working to catch up on seems like a fair exchange. Grade 12 is all about preparing us for our futures in the real world and the wealth of different experiences it will bring. And what better way is there to prepare than to have one of the most memorable experiences for sometime to come?