I’m lucky to be in Nova Scotia, where at any point within the province, you’re never more than 67 km from the ocean. To me, that means I’m never more than 67 km from an adventure. This also means that once Nova Scotia’s hot, humid summers roll around, I have easy access to numerous beaches. Something I am quick to take advantage of.
A typical day on the beach for me means packing snacks, plenty of water, and of course sunscreen (I like to say “I don’t tan I burn”). I then leave my house in the late morning/early afternoon, usually along with some friends, a good book, and a new playlist. The rest of the day consists of me laying on the beach to warm up after coming out of the cool ocean, eating snacks, and reapplying sunscreen – many times. I usually come away from it feeling relaxed, refreshed, and happy. How could you not be happy after sitting by this all day (figure 1)?
Usually, my motivation in going to the beach is to just enjoy it by shutting my brain off and basking in its beauty and calming properties. It wasn’t until last week that I realized that by doing this, I was neglecting to really appreciate the beach and all of the living things which call it “home”. Maybe this was because 8 months of my year are spent either in a classroom or in a laboratory, in which I’m learning to make the most detailed observations, hypotheses and questions about the macroscopic and microscopic world around me. And maybe I just need a break from thinking of these things.
Our trip to Bayswater Beach
Last Thursday, Doug, Kathleen, Lauren and myself took a trip to Bayswater beach, with the goal to collect as many unique things (specimens) as we could, and to notice everything around us (using all of our senses). During this time, my scientific training and curiosity kicked in. I was actually thinking about the world around me, as a questioning, curious scientist. Intrigued by everything I heard, saw, smelled, touched, and even tasted. This is what my post-secondary education in Biology has been training me to do, and I loved it.
We spent a couple hours that day scouring the beach, collecting anything we found in little bags and containers. We ended up collecting water samples, a sand sample, and a full table of specimens. These specimens included everything from different types of seaweed, sponge, algae, kelp, and garbage. Usually, if I were to come across any of these creatures on my day on the beach, I would either ignore it, or brush it off, followed by an “ew”. Part of the afternoon was then spent identifying and making observations on our specimens, which was an interesting experience as we were identifying things that we actually noticed and collected ourselves.
That day, I still went home feeling refreshed and happy, but I also felt accomplished and intrigued about the world around me. My mind raced on what interesting specimens I had collected in my bags that day. My phone was full of pictures, this time, however, the pictures weren’t just of the sand and the beautiful view, they also consisted of closeups of seaweed, barnacles, periwinkles, and a myriad of other things. My notebook was full of observations of anything from the temperature change, to the many coloured particles which made up the seemingly white sand. It is really amazing what you notice when you actually pay attention. The next time I am at the beach, I will definitely be taking note of everything which surrounds me, I never want to miss out on noticing those things again.
