August 6th

Blog post from August 6th:

After eating another great breakfast at the CNSC dining room, we all found hip waders that fit and we headed out for another day of collecting data – but today in another location. This new habitat was called the fen. Fens are very wet areas with mostly herbs such as sedges. The ground is very wet and mucky, making it a challenge to walk through since you sink your ankles. This is why hip waders are a must. We arrived at the site after half an hour of driving down a gravel road from the CNSC. Once we got familiarized with the fen species and got used to walking, we started our first transect of the day. For the first transect, probing was a breeze, but after lunch the second transect proved to be more of a challenge. The combination of 140cm deep active, numerous rocks, and deep water made probing difficult, but with hard work and determination we finished early enough to have free time back at the CNSC for showers and relaxing before supper. After supper we entered data, leaned, did laundry, and watched a presentation about the uses of images from trail cameras around research stations and the creation of a data base of these images. Ryan Roth also gave us a talk about the history of Nester 1 and what to expect when we get there. We all then cleaned our rooms and packed our small backpacks and gear that we were leaving at the CNSC. After finishing our packing and all our work from the day, we all went to the observation deck to watch the northern lights since it was the first clear night. We are all looking forward to the helicopter ride out, arriving at Nester 1, and whatever the future brings.

-Sean Perry, Kelvin High School grade 11