Sample Schedule - Adult and Family Whale Expedition

School Groups

Whale Camp develops partnerships with academic institutions looking to add summer alternatives for their students. Integrating our programs enhances student performance in school, group dynamics and personal growth. Whale Camp is excited to work with schools to utilize our programs as part of an experiential summer program. Special rates depending on group size, components and selected dates may be arranged. Components of our programs are summarized below. It is a priority that the needs of students are met—should the listed programs not adequately meet your needs, we are excited to look at additional options.

Program Profiles: Opportunities to Discover

While at Whale Camp, participants engage in many activities both on land and at sea. All activities give students the opportunity to explore the world around them and the people they are becoming. The following programs present brief descriptions of many of the activities offered at Whale Camp.

Swallowtail Orientation
Once Students arrive from on Grand Manan they receive an introduction to Whale Camp at the Swallowtail Lighthouse. Many participants in the Whale Camp Experience come from large urban areas. The pace and lifestyle on remote Grand Manan provides quite a contrast. In the opening experience students are asked to take a moment to reflect on their journey, take in the surroundings, and appreciate the world around them. Students are also asked to play some introductory games with their peers and tell the group a little about themselves.

First Night Activities
After the Swallowtail Orientation, students travel the ten miles down Grand Manan to the Whale Camp located on the outskirts of a once booming herring processing community. Students get settled, enjoy their first meal prepared from fresh food by local cooks. After orienting to the dorms, students play several games before getting a good night sleep in preparation for the first full day of program.

Opening Questions
While out in the field students are divided into age-specific teaching groups. These groups begin their experiences with team-building exercises and activities designed to break down preconceived notions and boundaries. Students also tell instructors what they hop to see and do during their time at Whale Camp.

Sensory Hike
Students venture blindfolded to South West Head for this experience designed to push boundaries and develop holistic awareness. Students are guides through use of each of their senses exploring some smells, tastes, and touches that are familiar to them such as nutmeg, apples, and hair brushes. They also experience several things that are less familiar such as native plants, local seaweed, sea urchins, and more. This lesson concludes when students are asked to open their eyes and are greeted by the dramatic cliffs and sea of Grand Manan’s western shore.

Geology
Grand Manan boasts some very visible and diverse geologic features. From the lava flows of the north island and the columnar basalt cliffs on western shores to the magnetic sands of red point and glacial granite atFlock of Sheep, there are plenty of teachable locations. Whale Camp instructors teach students about these many ancient happenings artfully weaving in discussions of how individuals change over time.

Tidepooling
The Bay of Fundy is home to the largest tides in the worl resulting in a very diverse biological community, and few activities are more rewarding than exploring this up close and personally! Instructors guide students in lessons about the amazing Fundy tides using experiential lessons to demonstrate reasons for the extreme fluctuations in water level. Following tide lessons, students "muck about" in the tide pools searching for crabs, periwinkles, nudibranchs, sponges, sea stars, urchins and more! This exploration is followed up with a discussion of human adaptation to harsh environments, and values of diversity.

Schooner D'Sonoqua
The voyage on the Schooner D’Sonqua is the paramount journey for Whale Camp students. Captain James Bates, a thirty year veteran of the vessel, teaches students how to raise and lower sails as they brave the seas searching for whales, porpoises, seabirds, dolphins, sharks and more. First Mate and highly regarded marine biologist, Laurie Murison, complements the crew with her unparalleled whale identification skills and knowledge of the bays elusive migrants. When she is not teaching about whale and seabird identification, she instructs in knot tying and local history. Whale Camp instructors round out the experience with lessons on navigation, water chemistry, plankton, and stories of sailors long gone.

Bird Banding
Local bird expert and professional ornithologist, Brian Dalzell, joins students in the ea morning for this intimate experience of a lifetime. Students learn how to identify various species of warblers, sparrows, and flycatchers that he catches in mist nets. Interested young adults learn to tell gender and identify individual birds. Some common species are northern parula, American redstart, black-capped chickadee, and black throated green warblers to name a few.

Culture and Fisheries
The people of Grand Manan have a long history of participation in the renowned Atlantic Canada fisheries. Traditional fisheries for herring, lobster, tuna, scallops and more have left their mark on the landscape. Students have opportunities to learn about this rich culture first hand as they interview local fishermen and visit old herring smokehouses. Students also learn about the new and growing salmon farming industry and it’s impact on traditional fisheries. All these discoveries are tied together with discussions about sustainability and managing wild populations.

Bog Exploration
These bizarre environments found where acidic soils and limited nitrogen determine inhabitants make a fantastic place to lead discoveries. Students visit the bog in Anchorage Provincial Park to learn about bog history, predatory plants, uniquely adapted trees, and sphagnum moss. Instructors guide students as they teach one another about many of the unique attributes of these eerie places.

Astronomy and Sleep Out
With the nearest large community nearly thirty miles away, the skies of Grand Manan are perfect for viewing the night sky. Students learn about navigation using the stars, how the sky appears to move, lunar cycles, the Milky Way, constellation and star identification and much more as they lie beneath the stars. Experienced instructors also tell legends from this continent and abroad. Lucky students will sleep outside after this lesson and watch the sunrise.

Puffin Trip
Atlantic puffins, artic terns, razorbills, and common murres nest on nearby Machias Seal Island and Whale Camp students have the opportunity to visit this magical place. Aboard the Sea Watcher students travel to this remote location and view puffins and seals from feet away. Skilled captain Peter Wilcox was born and raised in the Grand Manan Archipelago and knows the seas well from his many years as a lobster fisherman and tour guide. Whale Camp staff compliment the experience with lessons on puffin and tern natural history and discussions about symbiotic relationships both in the bird world and between humans.

Seawatcher Whale Watch
Aboard the same vessel used for the puffin trips, students head out looking for whales with a crew highly skilled in finding the elusive sea creatures. While searching for whales students also learn observation techniques and pelagic bird identification.

Evening Programs
Whale Camp Instructors continue the educational experience every evening with programs that compliment daily activities. Some of the evening programs are science-based in nature such as the plankton lab, puffin lesson, and simulated cetacean rescue. Others help prepare students for activities such as the schooner lesson where students raise and lower sails on our simulates boat. Many are aesthetic and artistic—the sunset hike, sand castle building. Others still are just plain fun such as talent shows and kickball. All these experiences accent the daily activities of the students attending Whale Camp.

Marine Mammal Lecture Series
Marine Mammal Biologist Laurie Murison entreats students to college-style lectures of a variety of topics relating to marine mammals. Laurie’s vast knowledge base allows her present on a variety of natural history topics. Additionally, Laurie’s personal experiences with whales, specifically right whales, allow her to teach about her efforts to help endangered marine mammals.

Marine Mammal Lessons
Whale Camp Instructors augment the lecture series with several experiential lessons of their own. Students learn about whale size and anatomy as well as field identification techniques. Additional lessons present information about seals and their unique adaptations for amphibious living. These lessons allow Whale Camp students ample time to explore their curiosities about cetaceans in an environment where opportunities for personal experiences and instructor knowledge are unmatched.

Kayaking
Whale Camp students explore Bay of Fundy waters as they kayak around Grand Manan in one and two person sea vessels. As students visit and learn about herring weirs and salmon farms they are often joined by seals and porpoises. Instructors round out the experience with discussions of geology and team building activities designed for an aquatic environment.

Options
Each evening students are given the choice to participate in one of several activities. These activities include experiential science lessons such as shark necropsies, pond exploration and bird identification. Some activities are artistic in nature such as making whale identification books, painting scallop shells, and writing poetry, while others are active like ultimate frisbee, swimming in the bay, hikes down the beach, and sumo wrestling! Whatever the activity, students exercise their choice and engage in a wide variety of adventures.

Forestry
Grand Manan’s dense forests allow for opportunities to teach about the values of these resources. Students are guided along trails in varied locations on the island learning about trees and sharing their knowledge with their peers. Students sample teas made from the leaves and needles of the trees they are exploring as they share their newfound knowledge about historic uses, contemporary uses, and natural history. These discoveries are brought to a deeper level as students discuss the value of forests environmentally, economically, and spiritually.

Grand Manan Museum & Whale and Seabird Research Station
Whale Camp students discover the vast amount of information available at the Grand Manan Museum. Whale Camp instructors guide students through their exploration of history, geology, birds, culture and history, and more. Students also visit the Whale and Seabird Research Station to see marine mammal skeletons and learn about porpoise rescue, individual whale identification, and more.

Stream Ecology
Students visit Grand Manan’s many brooks, streams and ponds to learn about these fascinating environments. Students discover intricacies of streams and ponds through aquatic insect surveys as well as through testing water for dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity. Explorations are metaphorically tied to assigning value to resources and taking things such as water for granted.

Closing Campfire
To conclude the Whale Camp experience, students participate in an evening campfire. After a myriad of songs, skits, and the like students are each given an opportunity to share their thoughts with the group. Students and staff alike share their advice, new discoveries, and thanks for the unique adventure they found themselves a part of.