October 13th: Whale Watching
Today I woke up extra early to catch a train with some
peers into the city and a bus further to the bay where we waited for the boat
to arrive to pick us up for class. Once on the boat we set off through the
Sydney Harbor. Along with the 16 of us in our class group, there were a bunch
of bird watchers on the boat too. We were assigned to tally the bird species we
saw in ten minute intervals all for a total of an hour inshore, on the shelf,
and past the continental shelf. Then we had to do the same on the way back for
a total of 6 hours of recording. We anchored once out past the shelf for two
hours. This is where everyone began to get sea sick. I decided to lay down and
take a nap and it really helped me out. Once we set off back toward shore that
is when we saw all the animals. We saw many humpback whales and even three at
once traveling together. And at the same time we had a whole troop of dolphins
swimming alongside the boat. We didn’t know which to look at! It was amazing to
see such creatures (and such big creatures) so close up! Finally we pulled back
into the harbor around 6:30 and I have never been so happy to see land. That night
I was supposed to go to my friend Danny’s birthday party but I fell asleep
right after having a shower and slept all the way till the next morning. The
sun had reddened my face and the day had really tired me out.
The rest of the week has been a lot of work on homework
and reports and projects for the upcoming weeks.
I’m getting ready for my trip up to the Great Barrier
Reef! I’m looking forward to seeing yet another part of the country :)
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