Connectivity is still intermittent so I'll sign off for now. so fascinating!!!! Weather is still gorgeous and we're hoping for a shore trip to Dicebox island today. We've been doing (well, the scientists have been doing, but it's the royal we) CTD samples, measuring conductivity, temperature and depth of the water and analyzing salinity, and we've (the royal we again) been doing plankton tows where a small mesh net hangs in the water gathering dinoflagellates. There was also one core where a first look indicated potential impacts on the sediment from the March tsunami and earthquake from Japan, but again they will start analyzing. A humpback whale was feeding last night, seals were playing in the water, and the water temperature in Pipestem was 19 degrees !!! A couple of the cores that were taken have the scientists very excited - past cores have not included more recent 'mud/sediment', however it appears that at least a couple this time captured recent years - they will now start analyzing based on weather, current, etc., data for the past number of years and see what they discover. For the last two days we've been taking faking freeze cores from both Effingham Inlet and Pipestem Inlet - both gorgeous places. We are back in the broken group - anchored just out of effingham island.

Woke up to an incredible sunrise this morning. I am very very interested in what they find now with the cores as they get into the detailed analysis - as they analyze weather patterns over the past years, and correlate them with the info from the sediment cores what does it tell us? What impact did the Japan earthquake and tusnami have on our coast? What are they discovering about the past to help plan the future? I can't thank Audrey and the rest of the team enough for making me feel so welcome, and a part of it. The trip was amazing and I wish I could convey how privileged I feel for having had the opportunity to particiapte. We had a picnic lunch, a chance to swim, and then it was back to the Vector. There is a canoe run on the west side of the island and I can't imagine the hours of work it took to remove the rocks/boulders by hand to create it. On Dicebox island they have found numerous house sites, defence sites, and lookout sites. Audrey has been working with a number of anthropologists and First Nations elders using many of the techniques she uses aboard ship for her own research to discover the past. Saturday we were in the Broken Island Group - got to put on an immersion suit and jump off the boat (fantastic), and our Chief Scientist took us for a shore excursion to Dicebox island. We arrived back at the dock in Patricia Bay Sunday morning after another gorgeous day (Saturday) and very calm trip around the south end of Vancouver Island. the cruise is done and it's back to regular routine.