It was an unusually educational day for the AGLP participants today on a stretch of desolate beach in Homer. Alaska. We had come for tide pooling—our mission was to search out little sea critters (and perhaps some intriguing kelp) to look at and learn about. Most of us learned quite a lot about the marine life on the beach—and some others along the way took a hands-on course in common sense.
      The first lesson we all learned together had nothing to do with tide pooling: if you ever get lost, ask a construction worker for directions. We actually walked to the beach from our previous engagement, the museum, led only by a very large map and a very enthusiastic Brazilian by the name of Gabi Fratta. Having only gone a block before she suddenly didn’t know where we were, the rest of us convinced her to ask for directions before we ended up thirty miles down the road in Soldatna. The lady construction worker was very nice about our group of about 60 descending on her all at once. And, with her help (and a few other wrong turns—the map turned out to be upside down), we found the right beach!
      So there we were, ready to go tide pooling, right? Most of us happily squished on out and began digging through the mud. A few other unlucky ones picked up another tip really fast: always wear waterproof hiking boots while tide-pooling. This lesson is, of course, closely related with #3 on the list: it might be nice to roll up pant legs before plunging into the water. Then, a person doesn’t spend all of her tide-pooling experience thinking about how uncomfortable she is in wet jeans or wet feet.
      Speaking of wet feet, let’s talk briefly about the power of observation. We all know that a person can only go tide pooling at low tide. However, some people forget that a low tide doesn’t last forever. Or, they just don’t notice when the tide starts rolling in. Both of these things happened today on our expedition. We’d been out for about an hour, exploring the little pools like we were supposed to, the tide inching closer all the while. Suddenly, it all seemed to pour in at once, flooding the small ponds and covering huge rocks.
      A little group of explorers (yes, I am slightly ashamed to admit, from our group) apparently failed to notice this extreme phenomenon taking place. They were so intent on their marine educational experience that their other senses seemed just to have disappeared (along with their common sense). All of a sudden, the enthused Columbuses were stuck on an island, surrounded completely by cold water and stinging jellyfish (no, I’m not kidding about the jellyfish)! By this time, the rest of us—safe on higher ground—had noticed these dumbfounded explorers (complete with wide eyes and open mouths) and were yelling at them to wade across to shore before it got deeper. So the brave ones rolled up their pants and plunged into thigh-deep water.
      Braden DeWeese was ever so nonchalantly inching along through the water when, out of the blue, a jellyfish darted in front of him! He shrieked and jumped back, to the laughter of the safe and dry people on high ground. Needless to say, he beat it towards shore after that. The rest of us happily welcomed a group of soaked, shocked, and newly enlightened people safely back to dry land. Hence comes lesson #4: be observant and use your noggin!
      We returned from tide pooling with smelly hands, wet feet, and hopefully a fully informed brain. We’ll leave you with one last very important lesson: be very careful of angry drivers after you’ve left your wet shoes and socks in their vans!

     After a beautiful wake-up song that was written and sung by Gabi Fratta and Britta Seifert, along with some disputed words thrown about the tent, we made our way to the rustic vans of Alaska.
We first rode off in our caravan to the Pratt Museum, which is dedicated to the history of Alaska, focusing on the southern half of the rather large state. The Pratt Museum recently won an award for “museum quality” of its size. It is owned and run by the Homer Society of Natural History. There were four main exhibits including a marina, grizzly bear watching, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and a homestead.
The marina had a live camera, which you could control and look at different birds on Gull Island. It also had multiple tanks with different animals such as crabs, sponges, sea anemones, and starfish.
The grizzly bear watching exhibit had a ranger from the local area explaining and answering questions from onlookers. There was a live camera, with which you could see the grizzlies themselves eating and catching their meal: sockeye salmon. Some facts about these bears included their average life span, 20 years; running speed, 35 mph; and their eyes, which are only near-sighted.
In 1984, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill event occurred. The captain, being drunk at the helm, put an inexperienced driver in control of the boat and crashed into a reef area, which ripped up the entire side of the boat. The oil spilt would easily cover both the upper and lower peninsula of Michigan.
Last, but most definitely not least, was the homestead. The Homestead Act for Alaska was introduced and passed in the 1960’s. A homesteader had certain qualifications they had to meet before the land they tilled and worked for seven years was theirs.
After a lunch of meat and bread, it was off to the beach for tide pooling. There were tons of crazy looking creatures like the sea anemone with its long, squishy arms, which harpoons its prey and eats it. Some crazy people, like Austin Robison, even dared to lick it. “It gives you a tingly sensation,” he said. Some unlucky visitors to the beach from AGLP were on an island during the rise of the tide and almost got stranded. To get back to mainland, they had to cross thigh deep water, which had only been ankle deep just moments before.
After the exciting and somewhat tiring adventure at the beach, we headed off to the Spit where everyone enjoyed plenty of shopping, finding gifts for their friends and relatives. One favorite among the campers was The Better Sweater, which is a shop full of woven and knitted clothing and purses. Two hours and plenty of ice cream later, we all headed to bed with the sun still watching over us, high in the sky.