Landing in Seattle I was surrounded by a whole new environment. The first thing that stuck out to me was the towering mountains in all directions. My journey to Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes was a beautiful one with this backdrop. I was finally reunited with the other AAUS intern, Annalise Nisly, after our adventure in NYC!
Having Shannon Point as a home base for diving operations offers a unique opportunity to be surrounded by a plethora of dive sites nestled throughout the islands of the Salish Sea. Diving in the PNW for the first time was magical. The scale and colors of the organisms that live here are breathtaking. Every nook and cranny hosts a variety of critters making any dive an epic one! Apart from being a scientific diver, I am also an artist. The perspective diving provides inspires me. The diving in the Salish Sea has even more so provided me with this sense of wonder and creativity.I was building a whole new catalogue of familiar organisms with every dive.
As part of my internship as the Mitchell Intern, I came into this experience already certified as an AAUS Scientific Diver. I had the opportunity to help assist with the course and reinforce my training as an AAUS diver here at Shannon Point. I was able to put my skills to the test in this new environment. We started off the first week by jumping straight into the AAUS Scientific Diving Course with the two diving REU students, Kevin and Lamar. From late night pool sessions to helping each other out of the 8mm wetsuits we bonded almost instantly!
Every institution teaches the AAUS Scientific Diver course differently using the base set of requirements as a guideline. Here at Shannon point we cover an array of topics to prepare the students for the work needing to be conducted during the summer and any scientific diving tasks beyond this.
After getting our pool sessions done we moved towards data collection techniques such as surveys. We had the opportunity to survey all sorts of critters but one of the most memorable were the sea pens. I had never heard of them before, so when we set out to do a survey of these creatures I did not know fully what to expect. It felt as if I landed on another planet. The seafloor covered in these orange quill (where their name comes from) looking masses. It turns out they are actually a cnidarian!
As the summer progressed we continued with our training. We completed a deep dive at Sares Head, located just south of Shannon Point. It was such a treat! Having access to those deeper profiles gave me the opportunity to expand upon my ever expanding critter catalog for the Salish Sea like the Giant Plumose Anemone! We then completed a night dive right off the shores of Shannon Point, a familiar dive site at this point in the summer. However, it was anything but familiar as dusk descended. Annalise, Lamar and I explored the site witnessing just how much it changes during the night. We even got to experience one of the world’s wonders, biolumence!
Apart from the AAUS certifications, we got the opportunity to earn our NITROX and Dry Suit certifications. These both will come in handy as I progress in my scientific diving career, especially if I plan to keep diving in the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine and Pacific Northwest.
All of the skills we learned prepared us for the next task, completing the field data collection for the Pinto Abalone REU projects…
