Excursion to Horn Island

I was supposed to head home on Thursday but the Marine Mammals field research class was going to Horn Island.  New friends and filmmakers Chandler Griffin and Alison Fast (who taught our filmmaking workshop two weeks ago) were going on the trip and I decided to go along with them because when might I ever get to do this again given the current state of things?

I had to cancel an appointment later that day to go out on the boat, but hopefully Mary Margaret will forgive me!  Especially when I treat her to lunch soon  :)

We set out around 8 a.m. made our way across the Mississippi Sound waters.

It was hot and humid but there was a terrific breeze coming off the water.  A thrilling sight was the line of shrimping boats heading out for a days' work.  

The experience was naturally poignant and bittersweet because you end up asking yourself, How much longer will they be able to go out on the water?

Chandler getting B-roll footage of the boats.  

The boats are so colorful.  

As you can see above, the boat's cabin had an A/C window unit.  At first we thought it was pretty funny but by the end of the day were thankful it was there!!

The Marine Mammals class boats out and follows the dolphins around for a little while.  It didn't take us long to spot one!

You can't help but think about how Walter Anderson made the trek to Horn Island and other points in the Sound.  This was no 5 minute jaunt!  If you look at a map of the coast, the Barrier Islands don't look very far from the mainland.  We got out there in about an hour, give or take, and this was a big boat with a motor.  I can't imagine rowing in the small boat of his...

I really can't imagine how incredibly difficult that must have been.  Below is an image from the Walter Anderson Museum of Art website that mapped out his route to the Islands.

Below is our first sight of Horn Island.  We drove around a little longer to watch the dolphins.  You might also be able to see in the distance that there are quite a few boaters still out and about.

Chandler and Alison grabbing more footage.

The guy in dreads below is from Jackson and is a Teaching Assistant at GCRL.  His family owns The Trace Grill in Ridgeland.  Small world!

The boat stopped and a motor was secured on a small raft to take us over to the Island.  As you can see, there is no shade to be had - I immediately thought Uh oh.  I'm gonna be burnt like crispy bacon before the day is done!

We got to the Island and began our walk across.  There was no hiding from the sun - it was about 9:30 a.m. or so and already dangerously hot.  We all took full water bottles with us.  Everyone from Sea Camp counselors the day before to field research professors stressed keeping hydrated by drinking water constantly.  (I don't know about anyone else, but I used the bathroom only twice that day.  Once in the morning and the other time later that night.  Every other drop of moisture was sweated out of me over the day.)

I wore a thin shirt over my camisole and ended up wearing that over my head and shoulders and it felt like I channeled Lawrence of Arabia.  I could totally envision people passing out in the desert!

The island was absolutely beautiful.  The trees were still stripped from Hurricane Katrina but vegetation was slowly growing back and there were lots of animal tracks through the sand.  One of the professors told me the tracks I asked about were Nutria but now I'm sort of wondering if it wasn't an alligator.  Could have been...also there were rabbit and bird tracks in the sand, too.

Here's a view of our boat after walking a little ways from the shore.  It was a lovely silence on the island with waves lapping the shore and birds chattering.

The Parks service put red flags up to let us know where to walk, so folks wouldn't track all over the budding vegetation.  Perched high in the trees were Osprey nests that were really huge.

This one circled around a few times before landing. 

We walked past a lush, green freshwater marsh.  Someone mentioned earlier to watch out for copperheads!  Yipe!

We made it to the other side of the island where I stopped and took it all in. The students went swimming in the Gulf, played frisbee in the water - and I was wondering why I hadn't worn my bathing suit!

 

Above is one of the GCRL professors.  He was really nice and told us a lot about the vegetation we walked through and other interesting facts.  Obviously, there is quite a glare on the white sand (below)!

 The water was cool and felt so good. 

I walked right in a little ways knowing it wouldn't take long for my pants to dry (there is still sand in the cuffs of my pants legs).  It was so pretty there.  I kept remembering what I've read about how harsh the climate is and wondering how Walter Anderson did it all those years, spending weeks out there exploring.  

Students enjoying the cool water - they spotted a dolphin swimming past nearby.

Alison and Chandler did an interview with the professor in the surf and got more B-roll.  I shot a little bit of footage and did a preliminary interview with William (the guy in dreads).

The professor showed us the little multi-colored mussels that live in the sand.  You can scoop them up with your hand and toss them back on the sand.  As the waves lap up, they begin digging themselves back underneath the sand again.  It was fun to watch. We saw several crabs scuttling sideways underneath the shallow water and the professor also dug up a few crablike animals that live underneath the sand.

It was here on the shores of Horn Island that the state of the oil spill, the lives we lead all really hit home for me.  As angry as we get, it's still easy to be fairly disconnected from the reality of what is going on because all we do is look at a map.  As we discovered and watched the animals, small and large, that make their homes beneath the sand and in the water, the brutal reality made me upset.  It was a thrilling experience but one with marked sadness as well.  Those animals are home and have no place to go and many of the fish live only in the Mississippi Sound and the Gulf, not migrating anywhere else.

Watching the shrimping boats, the private boaters, going out with the field research students and scientists was deeply moving as we all sit and wait to see how long it will be until the oil reaches Mississippi's shores; and what exactly will happen when it does; and how long that impact will affect the ecosystem, the aquaculture and our culture.  Already tar balls are washing up on Horn Island and bringing with it dead crabs and fish.  A coke can on the beach was covered with a thick, smelly black oil that looks a lot like asphalt.  There's so much more I want to say but will leave it at that for now.

After a couple of hours, we headed back to the other side of the island, got in the raft and went back to the boat.  There were several dolphins (with a baby) that we followed around - or rather, I think they followed us!  As the boat gathered speed, the dolphins jumped over the waves the boat made - you could see smiles on their faces.  It was beautiful!

If I can get some video footage of it that Chandler caught, I'll post it here.

Not too long thereafter, I spotted a dolphin-shaped cloud!!

Vietnamese shrimping boat "Thanh Hai"

A view of a student's notebook.

As I headed back to Jackson, I passed the largest rocking chair in the world in Gulfport and had to get a shot of it!  You've probably seen Ginger talk about it on Deep Fried Kudzu.  It was BIG!

I arrived home to a happy husband, smelling of SPF 50 sunblock and the outdoors, with a sunburn and the wish that I could have stayed on the Coast.  What a gorgeous, magical place.

It was one of those experiences that was both exhausting and exhilarating.  I will never forget it.

Sea Camp!

This past Wednesday I made my way down to the Coast to visit University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs.  

The GCRL is in a new location post-Katrina and is directly on the water.  It's such a gorgeous place! (I would love to live there)

I'm writing a story on USM's Sea Camp, which is a summer day camp program all about marine science for kids ages 6 - 13.  Campers get hands-on experience in both the classroom and on field trips into the surrounding saltmarshes, beaches and Barrier Islands (Deer and Ship Islands).

Oil Spill Curriculum was incorporated this summer to objectively educate the kids on what was going on with this oil debacle.  Being down there, seeing all this, really drives home what is happening.

The camp let me be a fly on the wall and follow a few different age groups out into the field, which was a blast.  

In the morning, I accompanied the younger kids when they went out in the boat.  They could barely contain their excitement as we left the dock and headed out onto the water.

They took the kids out a ways to a good fishing spot.  One of the counselors threw the anchor in the water.  The other counselors put bait (shrimp) on the hook and cast the line for the campers.  It didn't take too long before they caught something!

one group caught a blue crab

Several caught "Croakers" and were dared to kiss their fish on the lips for good luck!

The fish were all thrown back into the water once the kids got a good look at it and were able to touch it.  Once the fishing wound down a bit, we spotted some dolphins swimming nearby!

You'll notice the man in the boat (right top of photo) motoring along by us.  He was out crabbing and threw a few fish to the dolphins.  The dolphins were overjoyed at their luck and went nuts jumping and splashing around.

One came came right up next to the boat!

I talked with several of the kids during our fishing trip.  Some were budding marine biologists, others just loved coming out there to learn about the area's marine life.  Many had been there a few summers in a row already.

They learn so much in their interactive classroom lessons combined with the excursions on the water and interactions with the marine animals in GCRL's aquarium.  I was so jealous that I was not 9 years old, too!

They asked me if there was such thing as a poisonous snake.  Yes, I said.  No, they said.  It's not poisonous, it's venomous!  They filled me in on everything they've been learning and their genuine excitement was quite inspiring.



We didn't have enough time to go to Deer Island (they went after lunch) so after fishing we went on a tour of the surrounding bayou. 

We saw an eagle, too!  The picture I got is just a speck in a treetop...third tree from the left.

After lunch, I tagged along with the 12-13 year old campers and went kayaking through the saltmarshes.  

Initially I was nervous because when you think of a kayak, you get visions of a one person gig which has always seemed intimidating to me.  This set-up was a two-person kayak (I so want one now) and was a lot of fun!

It's so beautiful there.

 This is a wild Muscadine bush...thoughts of jelly and wine filled my head...

Sea Camp Director, Michael Carley, led the group and would stop every so often to quiz the kids on what they've learned and teach them something new.  The marsh grasses can't absorb or use the salt that is in the water so it excretes it. If you run your fingers up a blade of grass and lick your finger, it's salty!

A couple of people spotted an alligator but I never saw it.  I was simultaneously glad and disappointed that I didn't see the scary critter.


We had to go under a small bridge which might make someone who is claustrophobic very nervous.  I'm not claustrophobic but still thought Uh oh.  We leaned back and went under.  It ended up being fun and welcome shade from the heat.

Below was my last picture during the row back.  We were rowing against the current and a North wind so I had to finally put my camera down and get to work.  Feel the muscle burn!

What a great day!  

Speaking of burn, the kayaking trip was the scene of the crime for the unfortunate sunburn incident. (I put sunblock on every part of my body except my legs not realizing I'd be sitting with my legs outstretched like that ...)

Before...(I'm so darn white)

After...(and this was two days after and still bright red - it was bad)

Sea Camp was funner than fun! (not the sunburn but the experience, of course)

Warp Speed Kind of Summertime

Walter and I celebrated our 6 month mark of being married, which arrived at the same time we moved to new digs.  So, since things from our refrigerator were going to be transferred from our freezer to the other house, we decided not to wait until the year mark to see how our cupcakes held up!  heh heh

The cupcakes were still decadent. I hadn't wrapped the red velvet one as well as I did the German chocolate so that one was kind of dry; but the cream cheese icing was still divine!  The German chocolate was the hands down winner by default.  Needless to say, we scarfed our anniversary cupcakes down.

I recently completed a week-long documentary film workshop and had such a great time.  Jackson native Chandler Griffin and his wife, Alison Fast with Barefoot Workshops came to us and gave us an intensive tutorial - and when I say intensive, I mean intensive.  Usually the workshops they conduct are 2-3 weeks long to learn all the information but ours was just a week.   

It's impossible to list it all but we learned how to operate the cameras, put together a story, interview our subjects, and edit.  There was so much to learn in such a short span of time but our excitement outweighed everything else.  Hard to go back to normal life after realizing there are so many stories to be told.  You end up looking at everything a little differently, too, watching light and composition - and thinking, I wish I had a camera to capture that!

After 3 days, the conference room we worked in looked like our very own version of a "war room."  It was great!  Here are a few shots when we were learning about our cameras:

I'm wrapping up my film and looks like we'll have a screening later this week (I think).

This month is chock full of interviews, workshops, road trips and more.  So I'll try to post as often as I can.  Hope everyone is having a terrific summer so far! 

What kind of activities are filling up your summer months?