BAY STUDIES

Living the Chesapeake Bay watershed, of course we had to spend some time actually studying the bay itself.  Licensed captains took us out in the school's boats to explore the bay firsthand.
Does it sound odd that a school over three hours away would still be in the  Chesapeake Bay Watershed?  Actually, the watershed extends from Otsego Lake, NY (near Cooperstown) all the way to Norfolk, VA and beyond.  The watershed reaches 6 states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware) as well at the District of Columbia and covers over 64,000 square miles! WOW!


The school's two work boats, Spirit and Twilight, met us at the dock, ready to take us on a learning adventure in this natural ecosystem.
How is this ecosystem different from many others, making it a unique experience?  The Chesapeake Bay is a brackish estuary.  (Brackish water is a combination of salt and fresh water.)
 


Before we could "set sail" all students had put on their lifejackets- Safety first!
Once on the boats, the students learned about the life in the bay.

   Here students study a blue crab from the bay         What kind of life can be found on the bottom of
      Why is the underside of the crab white?                 the bay? In this sample, among other things,
   When another creature looks at it from the              we found tiny oysters and other small aquatic
      bottom, it blends with the water surface                                            creatures.


 In addition to studying the life in the bay, the students also traced the the watershed area of the bay and its contributing bodies of water.  They also determined how far inland the brackish water is located- it's not as close to the bay as you may think!


Here the instructors show a water sample from the bay and explain a bit about the surrounding area.

FISH
While on the boats the instructors caught fish to show the students close-up.


Wow- what a catfish!

"I'll always remember when we pulled up the crab pot but it had a foot long catfish in it!"


One group managed to get an eel that was trapped in a crab pot that had been abandoned. The eel was badly injured, but of course that didn't stop the students from getting close!  It also served as a poignant reminder of the dangers of "litter" in the bay.

KISS A FISH
One of the real highlights of catching the fish was the "close encounter!"  How does it feel to kiss a fish?  These students found out!

"Kissing a fish felt slimy and wet.  It took a lot of courage to do it.
It was fun, but catfish aren't good kissers."

Even some of the counselors got caught in the act!

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