For the next couple of days we have a group of university students and professors from Germany staying on campus and touring the St. Andrews area. They are here in the Maritimes doing an excursion as part of their studies.
Today the group toured different parts of the Huntsman, including the aquarium and the ARC (Atlantic Reference Centre), and also went out with me on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and sample the marine environment. While onboard the boat we collected plankton, conducted a scallop drag, checked out the seals hanging around the herring weir, and slipped through St. Andrews Harbour to get a view of town from the water. Our scallop drag samples were pretty diverse with both groups collecting sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers, scallops, sea peaches, sponges, and crabs. The second group also brought up from the bottom a ‘beautiful’ worm called a sea mouse!
To finish off the afternoon the group was touring the St. Andrews Biological Station (the neighbouring research station for the Canadian government) and then heading into town for a lovely meal.
Glad to meet you all today! Safe travels for the rest of your trip!
Our captain dumping the scallop drag.
Getting their hands dirty sorting through the collection!
Sea stars
Sea urchins
The top of the herring weir.
Towing the plankton nets.
Zooplankton and phytoplankton.
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