Wednesday, March 23

Day 5:

Today, we visited the Oyster Restoration Center and shoveled oysters to be repositioned in the sea. The experience was very exciting and productive, although a bit challenging at first. It was amazing to see the huge pile of oysters remaining even after our effort shoveling all of them in the cages. However, it felt very refreshing and rewarding after doing the work, as we learned the importance of contributing to the effort to save the bay. Our arms were sore after all the work, but we knew it was worth the while, as the environment deserves our best efforts to protect it.

After our shoveling exercise, we went on a boat ride hosted by Karl Willey and Klide, who were kind enough to guide us through our visit. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to get a taste of the kind of work that is done at the ORC, and had a chance to enjoy a relaxing and refreshing boat ride. Although the weather was a bit cold and rainy at first, it got better as the day progressed. It was also interesting to see the different creatures in the sea, such as the bufflehead and other birds. When we got back from the boat ride, we split into groups, and some of us helped Karl clean up the engine of the boat, which was another very interesting, and productive experience. Having never seen the engine of a boat before, most of us were very surprised, and excited to learn so much about it. Cleaning up the engine felt rewarding, as the engine is the force behind the boat.

We also learned about the life cycle of an oyster, and learned how the oyster progresses through life. All in all, it was a very refreshing, rewarding, and informative day.

-Saqib Ahmed-