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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Wasn’t much help today :(

My assignment for this afternoon was to help with the Soundside children’s program on Pea Island NWR.  I was told to meet Cindy, a staff member, at the New Inlet pull out on the island.  The west side of the island borders the Pamlico Sound, and the east side greets the Atlantic Ocean. 

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Pea Island is along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  I guess it should now be called Pea Islands, as a result of the hurricane last August.  That red arrow and X that I drew in indicates where the surge from the sound broke through the island breaking it in two.  When I volunteered here five years ago, the RV pads were where that X is.  Now, it’s gone, and a bridge had to be built for traffic to get from one side to the other to proceed down to Rodanthe and the town of Cape Hatteras.  When I first saw it on Tuesday, I had a hard time taking that all in.

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Anyway, when I got to New Inlet, I found out that Cindy was not coming, but Cody, an intern, was there instead.  I let him know I was there to help.  He asked me if I was comfortable talking about sea creatures found along the sound and outer banks.  What?  I grew up in Chicago, haven’t been on this coast for five years, and was a math major in college, not biology.  Surprised smile  Being flexible is a prerequisite for volunteering on Nat’l Wildlife Refuges, but…really??  My answer to him was, “I’ll listen to your presentation today, and then be ready to go next time.”  Guess I’ll be boning up on the lifestyles of whelks, horseshoe crabs, clams, oysters, scallops, and skates, etc.  Cody knew a lot about these things, and I hope they are now part of my short term memory base.

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The next surprise came when he asked if I could help him with the skein net.  What? (again)  As far as I’d been told the kids would be using dip nets to gather creatures from the sea.  I was not prepared to go wading above my knees in the sound.  (I’m a skittish Midwest girl, and don’t do the barefoot thing)

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Cody was able to find a willing father with sandals on and some willing kids to help him do the net thing.  The kids on shore couldn’t wait to see what was in the net, and jumped in to pick through the seaweed immediately for treasures.

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That’s Cody on the right bending down to help a youngster identify what they found in the net.  I could identify the shrimp and crabs, but I learned about lizard fish, and didn’t quite find out what a tiny eel-like thing was.  I’ll have to ask someone before I ever run this program on my own.  I surely wasn’t much help today.

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The seine net was taken out several times, and each time both kids and parents swarmed in to see what the catch was.  There were also several young folks using the dip nets to search for wild treasures.  Now that I’ve been through this once, I think I could handle it on my own, but I’ll be sure to bring my water shoes with me!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

P.S.  I have to relearn something also.  Do you know what a starfish is?  Yah, well now it’s called a Sea Star.  I’m sure I’ll stumble over that one.  Old habits are hard to break!  Confused smile

22 comments:

  1. Don't you just love it when you think you're the "assistant" and then find out you're the main attraction? But it looks like you did a great job despite it all ;-) Sounds like another great adventure (another word for learning experience?) to me.

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  2. We were corrected when we called them starfish at Haystack Rock.
    We saw a Ranger and some kids doing the seine net in Oregon. Those kids loved it. They were all excited about what they found. Great teaching moment.

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  3. It is so much fun when you get to teach children something new and even more fun when they teach you.

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  4. Sounds like a fun day...right up my alley.

    It's a starfish to me....and a Jew Fish is NOT a Goliath grouper either.....

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  5. Yep. know what a starfish is..... but not much else in the way of sea creatures. "They" say if you make yourself learn new things it keeps your brain from aging too fast. I better get with the program :)

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  6. Total immersion and instant expertise on your first day. That's what I call hitting the ground running.

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  7. They are really keeping you on your toes, good luck with learning it all. But it is always fun to see kids discover new things! It'll keep you young!!

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  8. Sounds like they tried to get you to take a long walk off a short pier today. Good for you for having and expressing limits. Next time sounds to me like a reasonable answer.

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  9. I have a feeling you're going to be an "old pro" very soon :)

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  10. Why DO they keep changing the names of things I wonder. Isn't a starfish by any other name still a starfish??

    Good for you for not trying to do what you were not comfortable doing. But I know you'll be out there being fabulous in no time at all.

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  11. I imagine you were a lot of help! by the way new to your blog, love your stories and pictures, I have 3 years 7 months and 3 days before retirement! and will be traveling with Codee and Cholee my two labs...looking forward to more from you and Emma...:)

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  12. Don't worry, Judy, if you learn too much instead of calling you the "Bird Lady of Blogland" you could become the Fish Lady or worse the Crab Lady! So, don't learn too much about those sea creatures.

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  13. Looks like a fun activity worth studying for! You do remember studying???

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  14. I would really love to be able to volunteer to do that! I always loved to be a nature lady!

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  15. They say we are never to old to learn. Looks like fun.

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  16. Well I still call them starfish

    I'd be no good at that kind of stuff since I freak out is seaweed touches me. LOL

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  17. That looks like a great time. How fun for the kids.

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  18. Always good to learn new things, of course, but I would have thought that volunteers were given duties based on their skills and what they bring to the program.

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  19. You certainly added fun and enthusiasm to the event, a great contribution!
    Note to Self: Add Sea Star to list of stuff I’ll never remember.
    Along with those new letters for BC and AD ??
    "improvements?" Whatever...

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  20. You can take the girl out of the city...

    Looks like the kids had a ball, what a nice learning time for them (and you). In no time you'l be out there wading in the water and we'll be able to call you "Salty Judy". :c)

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  21. I am glad to learn what a sea star is. I heard about it today (touring Kenai Fjords NP) and wondered how it is different from a star fish. So, now I learn it isn't. Thanks.

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  22. Looks like you will be busy. Hope they gave you a book with pictures to help out. Otherwise, sounds like fun and you can be our new expert in this area also!

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