Our fourth and final day of programming at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre was fantastic! It was a beautiful, sunny and very comfortable day. Right after breakfast, all 96 students, 4 teachers, principal and 6 parent volunteers boarded skiffs to cross over to West Bamfield for a slightly longer walk to Brady’s Beach. We spent the whole morning exploring the inter-tidal zone, building sand castles, watching the waves and coming together for a large group photo.

For me, it was the highlight of the trip…

After lunch, Group 6 attended one final indoor lab: “Form and Function in Fish“. This was primarily a lecture-based lab, covering the 5 major classes of fish and how to distinguish between them based on specific characteristics and adaptations. This lab concluded with a brief opportunity to practice identifying fish found in the BMSC labs and display tanks.

After that, we were scheduled for free time, while the other 9 groups completed their final activities. The students in Group 6 opted to visit the local convenience store to replenish their dwindling candy supplies (although one student also bought a large slice of watermelon). Then we relaxed at the Bamfield Community Park for about an hour and a half. I thought it was interesting that all the girls played on the playground equipment while the guys sat and talked and worked on their poems for the haiku challenge.

That evening after supper, everyone gathered in the RIX Centre for the poetry slam. By the time it wrapped up, all the teachers, the principal, lots of students and even two parents got up to share some of their compositions. For me, the highlight was the rhythmic and somewhat bluesy performance by Ms. C, Ms. G and Ms. Waite. Truly excellent!

The weather cooperated for most of our stay, but it was raining again Friday morning when we boarded our charter buses for the long drive back to Victoria. After a quick pizza dinner at the Victoria International Airport, we were once again welcomed by WestJet for our flight back to Calgary. We landed about 10:35 pm – tired, glad to be home, but also very thankful for the opportunity to be part of such an amazing and educational experience!