Well, it’s been a month since I last updated this blog. Whoops! I’ll blame it on being at the point mid semester where I start falling behind on things. Anyways, here’s an entry on the two weeks of Marine Ecology. I will post one on the two weeks of God and Nature shortly!
We started the first day of Marine on the beach and discussing the past, present, and future of the marine life of Kaikōura. I love how Jody (our prof for this course) brings a balance of personal experience, knowledge, and hope to the topic of marine conservation. One of the challenges of looking at our ocean ecosystem is the grief you experience. There is a lot that is damaged and lost! And while it is important to process that, there is also hope! I see this in the actions of Kaikōura locals rescuing grounded Kaikōura tītī (endemic seabirds that only breed here in the Kaikōura mountains), in the research being done on many Kaikōura local species, and in the passions I see in the students. What a blessing to be a part of this class and community!
We spent much of the rest of the two weeks of Marine out in the field. This included visits to spot Cetaceans from shore, marine and shorebirds, kekeno (NZ Fur Seals), and other amazing creatures! Jody also brought local researchers in to talk about their specific studies. The course concluded with the students presenting on their projects – taking data from Jody’s Hector’s dolphin research and asking new questions of it. I’m really proud of them!
That’s it for now! I’ll have more to say in the next update. 😉
There and back again Brush 