It was a cool and slightly damp day, but that did not deter Lopez residents and visitors from spending the morning learning more about the birds, botany, and geological features of Fisherman Bay. Sponsored by Kwiaht and WSU Beach Watchers from Lopez, "A Day for the Bay" began and Woodman Hall , where visitors received maps showing different stations they could visit around the Bay during the morning. Kelley Palmer McCarty, Charlie Behnke and Amanda Wedow were stationed at Otis Perkins Park and the Fisherman Bay Preserve with spotting scopes and bird-watching guides, while Madrona Murphy gave tours of Week's wetland and the Fisherman Bay spit. Beach Watcher Lorri Swanson and Kitty Harmon helped kids learn about invertebrates by getting to know a bucketful of interesting critters from the Islander dock. And Russel explained the geology of the Bay's tombolo as well as some of the challenges facing the bay. Lopez photographer Peter Cavanagh also talked with visitors on the tombolo about observing and photographing birds. Peter's amazing bird photos were displayed around the walls of Woodman Hall; he also had two beautiful posters for sale (see
http://fishermanbayproject.org/ for some of Peter's photos.) Lopez artist Layne Nichols also had block prints of Fisherman Bay marine life for sale.
Everyone gathered back at Woodman Hall at noon for a catered lunch and homemade desserts, followed by a discussion of the morning's activities and information about the state of the Bay.
This was the first event held to publicize the Fisherman Bay Marine Health Observatory project, which like its counterparts - Indian Island and the Port of Friday Harbor -- is working to establish baseline data on the health of the ports. The long term goal of these MHOs is to raise public awareness of the status of our three most important harbors and increase community involvement in protecting their vital resources.
The youngsters (and not-so-youngsters,) in the photo above are happily getting to know some of the anemones and other creatures from the Islander dock.
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