Journals 2006/2007

Mark Harris
Layton High School, Layton, UT

"Stenella Abundance Research Project (STAR)" July 23, 2006 - August 14, 2006

Journal Index: July 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29        30 - 31 August 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9            10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 Additional Resources

August 12, 2006
ARMADA Video Day

Laura waiting for a whale photo shoot

A short night but I figure I can sleep when I get home. We followed a few whale sightings this morning. We are only about 3 miles off shore. This reminds me of my sailboat in San Carlos, the water is calm, the ocean is warm life is good. The dolphins seem very friendly around here. They can't wait to come over and bow surf.

I was out with Bob, the cruise leader, and Gary, a mammal observer on the small boat and they were teaching me how to shoot the crossbow for biopsy samples. Bob shot a 2 arrows into the water, one orange and one yellow tipped arrow, he then gave me the bow and said shoot the orange arrow. I looked for the orange arrow and being color blind, they both looked like orange arrows. I aimed and shot; Bob questioned "what are you shooting at?" I said "isn't that the orange arrow? I am color blind." Both Gary and Bob chuckled. I can tell yellow from orange up close but far away I did not have a clue.

The ocean is so calm and beautiful, the sunsets incredible; it is hard to believe the cruise for me is coming to an end. Laura Morse, a very multi talented mammal observer, and I put together a short video for the ARMADA project. She is good and I am excited to see the final product.