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• Monday Morning, Camp Outpost : Round Valley, May 10^th

Round Valley is located in a remote rural area of the Eastern Sierras, closer to Nevada than to the Pacific coast. Each year teacher Ralph White organizes a right-of-passage type of expedition for a small group of a dozen students and they head out to Catalina for a challenging physical experience combined with terrestrial and marine learning experiences. Some of these students had never touched the ocean before, and for all it was the first channel Island adventure, and one destined to be remembered as a powerful life / learning experience.

Crossing to Two Harbors from San Pedro on Sunday May 9^th, on the morning of May 10^th Round Valley’s heroic hikers walked into the Wrigley Institute for a morning presentation by Bendan, a staffer from the Catalina Islands Marine Institute (CIMI). They learned about the geologic history, marine mammals, and undersea invertebrates that inhabit the channel waters off Catalina. Using the outdoor amphitheater overlooking Big Fisherman Cove, the group roll played geologic history, and learned how kelp and algae are used in our mainland toothpaste, ice cream, baking, and even car oil products.

Next stop for the group was the live touch tank, a covered outdoor facility approximately 15’x15’ square. Everyone crowded around the tank to see the Sea Hair’s soft undulating movements and egg laying (which looked like angel hair pasta), the Swell Shark that can swim into narrow openings and then swell up to protect itself from being captured by a predator, two types of sea urchins with their long spines and flexible suction cup filaments, and the soft but spiny looking sea cucumber that can eject its internal intestines to distract a predator from eating all of it.

This first visit to the touch tank was a ‘dry’ run for the live Internet video broadcasting provided by Doug from the Wrigley staff to enhance mainland classroom’s ability to participate in the on-island expedition. A computer on a cart and camera were rolled into the touch tank area, connected to the Wrigley LAN and bonded ISDN lines, and by clicking on the Wrigley dock camera icon on their web site, it was possible to see and observe the students clamoring around the touch tank, clowning in from of the camera at items of course, and also lifting up the sea creatures and sharing them with the mainland viewers.

From their time at Wrigley, Round Valley then hiked over the ridge of the island to Little Harbor for a camping adventure, eventually hiking to the Airport in the Sky and taking a mini-bus down in to Avalon to hike at Hermit Gulch.

• Monday Afternoon, Camp Outposts : Oro Grande and Lake Arrowhead, May 10^th

Just before 2pm in the afternoon, the Catalina Express from San Pedro pulled up at the Wrigley dock and off spilled 75 students, teachers, and parents for a two day learning expedition with Camp Internet. Teachers Cressa Glenn from Oro Grande, and Janice Ross form Lake Arrowhead, have been two of the star teachers in the Camp program and have generated a year long enthusiasm for the technology literacy activities and for the natural science exploration featured in this year’s learning activities. Both schools brought chaperones to assist the students, and from the dock, they looked up Big Fisherman cove to survey the Wrigley facility. At the dock is the helipad where the helicopters land and depart several times a day, and the marine research facilities live the pad. Right up the hill is the main Wrigley laboratory, a three-story building complete with science and computer labs, a nice lecture hall room, and a gift store. The center offices are right across the road.

The group then trouped up to the recently renovated cafeteria for an orientation, and checked into their clean and spacious rooms. In a matter of minutes, the group was down at the overlooking the cove, amphitheater with Ellen and Sharon from the Wrigley Education staff, and was beginning their marine and native plant activities. They learned about the introduced grasses and plants on the island, that, like much of the rest of California were brought by European settlers. Before the Europeans arrived, California was covered with bunch grasses, not the undulating spreads of annual grasses. The bunch grasses were perennials – they did not die out each year and have to re-seed themselves – and stayed greener longer. The introduced grasses we were shown – rye, barley, and oats – have essentially taken over every square inch of the landscape at the cove, and the introduced fennel is also causing problems by crowding out native plants.

From the amphitheater, a most amazing opportunity awaited. The group divided in two and while one was sitting out far on the dock learning about the island geology, the other was watching as Sharon ‘called-in’ the eels for a feeding frenzy on the rocks below the dock. These are the moray eels with dangerously sharp teeth. Sharon is recognized for having a special talent to call these eels forth and careful, to keep a safe distance, has not been bitten by the eels even in closer encounters.

In the geology presentation, we learned that Catalina was not formed in the same manner the northern Channel Islands were. Catalina is the result of a collision of three tectonic plates of earth. The Pacific Plate moving from the ocean towards the mainland, and the North American plate moving from the mainland towards the sea, has a collision millions of years ago with a smaller plate, the Farralone Plate, which slipped under the North American Plate for thousands of years, and went through a metamorphosis to become a densely compacted schist. Then as the two upper plates collided, and slid along each other, stretching and pulling the earth’s crust (just as it does at the San Andreas Fault), a rupture occurred and the schist from the lower Farralone Plate erupted up with volcanic rock and ash to become Catalina Island. On big fisherman Cove, you can see the white rock that was from the ash that first blew out of the rupture, and you can see the red and black air-pocket-filled lava rock that followed it. On the other side of the cove is the diatomaceous earth, white and chalky, that has been lifted up more recently from the ocean floor, comprised of compacted diatoms from the sea that long, long ago settled to a sea floor and became rock. Right in this one cove alone are examples of millions of years of geologic time and remarkable events.

From the geology and eel demonstrations, the group headed up to the top of the bluff that divided the cove from the Pacific Ocean. Up on top of this bluff, the view is outstanding – either way you can the layers of mountains cascading right into the sea, their steep rock faces marked with pockets of determine plants grabbing a chance for survival on some of the most inhospitable looking rock surfaces. Along this path, the group learned about how the Wrigley Institute is monitoring pollution with a sonar device, and how they recycle their solid waste to return clean water to the sea. Native plants observed in the wild were the Catalina Apple – not an apple at all but a medium sized bush with blossoms that resemble apple blossoms, the four O’clock that blooms in the late afternoon, the prickly pear that dot the southern slopes of the Island along with coastal scrub like California sage. Across the far side on the cove we were shown how on the north side of the island (where there is less intense direct sunlight) the island has a chaparral community with small oaks, and even ferns.

• Monday Evening, Camp Outposts : Oro Grande and Lake Arrowhead, May 10^th

The group then headed to the cafeteria for dinner, and was soon meeting again for a live online chat session from the Wrigley computer labs. For the first time the camp directors were on the same side of the computer screen with the students and it was exciting for everyone. This was the student’s opportunity to serve as reporters – each one posting a few sentences about what they were learning, and answering questions from the public sent to them in the chat room. The students worked in teams of 2-3, collaborated on what to report on, how to word it (and spell it), and conferred to find the answers sent in by the public. It was a high-energy hour session, with students rotating on the computers in the two well-equipped labs. Then it was back to the dorms for a Native American storytelling, and for a good night’s sleep.

• Tuesday Morning, Camp Outposts : Oro Grande and Lake Arrowhead, May 11th

After an early breakfast, the students arrived at the lecture hall for an orientation from a CIMI staffer, Tracey. She took them down to the amphitheater and further down right to the rocky shoreline of the cove. Her presentation covered marine mammals, kelp, and the Catalina environment. They learned how different plants and animals may have arrived on the island – including the native human population’s use of seaworthy canoes. With the help of Sharon from Wrigley, the group then divided in two and headed back up to the Lab building. Tracey took the kids into the touch tank area for hands on experiences with the sea creatures – and the live Internet broadcast. The students learned how to gently handle the animals, about their unique characteristics, and about how they are an important part of the marine habitat. The other group watched a short video about the Institute, and then took a tour of the science laboratory facilities. The two groups then switched so everyone had a chance to see the complete lab building and touch tank resources.

The live Internet broadcast was an experiment in hosting a video streamed look at the touch tank activities, combined with a live chat where classrooms on the mainland could ask questions of fellow students and learn from their peers, live, right there at the touch tank. The School Superintendent, Ken Larsen, who is the Lead Education Agency for the Camp’s California Department of Education funding was present during the chat from the mainland, and witnessed the incredible learning experience first hand that his efforts have helped bring to fruition. This video/chat broadcasting will become a regular feature for the Camp program.

Following the touch tank presentation, the camp was honored to have Dr. Bill Bushing, Director of the Catalina Island Conservancy that owns 88% of the island and is committed to restoration of the natural environment. Dr. Bill has worked online with the students before in live Trail Guide chat sessions, and is working with the camp to secure more funding for new programs. In addition to his considerable administrative duties overseeing the conservancy, and his personal research work on the kelp forests, Dr. bill also has built an impressive Conservancy intranet that is an excellent learning resource for students around the world. His presentation focused on the uses he is making of technology – he showed them amazing microscope video of larval creatures undulating in the sea water, gave them a tour of different resources on their intranet, and culminated with a demonstration of the Geographic Information System (GIS) he is developing to track and record the history of kelp forests in the waters off the Catalina coast.

After a quick lunch, the students were on the road hiking back into two Harbors to catch their afternoon boat back to San Pedro. We waved goodbye to them as they rounded the bend, and knew that this wonderful learning experience would not only enrich their lives, but would result in some concrete projects that we will be featuring on the camp web site. It was a great Expedition for all !!

• Wednesday, Camp Outpost : Oak View-Arnaz, arrives at CIMI’s Cherry Cove at the isthmus

Oak view teacher Joan Archer has been spearheading 5^th grade trips to Catalina for several years, raising the $15,000 in funding each year to get her students out to Catalina for a three day learning adventure. Joan’s class has been a star classrooms funded to participate in the camp through the USDA Distance Learning Program which also brought them their first Internet computer and connectivity on campus. The camp also provides a community technology Mentor in the classroom twice a week, and has installed mirror equipment in the small rural library Homework center for student use after school. We will post Mrs. Archer's class reports on their trip shortly.

• Wednesday, Camp Internet island exploration with the Catalina Island Conservancy, 9am-2pm

On Wednesday morning the camp Directors were picked up in a conservancy van and taken on a cross-island trek to visit a variety of natural history sites. Guide for the day was Jeff, and the driver was Tom – both knowledgeable in different aspects of Catalina’s natural and human history - even a few ghost stories. First stop was one of the only mud flats on the channel Islands, right at the narrow isthmus between two Harbors and the well protected Catalina harbor, know by locals as cat harbor. The mud flat is a location where seasonal fresh water empties into the briny harbor, and supports grasses and plants common to salt water marsh areas. Towering over cat Harbor is a rock formation that is thought by some to resemble a sleeping Indian woman pregnant with child. At the isthmus is also the one room schoolhouse that is home to the education needs of seven elementary students (the high school students bus every day to the east end of the island to attend school in Avalon). The original civil War barracks established on the island are also at two harbors, and were built for the secret purpose of determining if the island could be used for a forced relocation reservation for Native Americans during the Civil War, and idea that never came to fruition.

Heading up into the mountainous spine of the island, the explorers followed the curving dirt road past rare plants like the Ironwood, a plant only known from the fossil record on the mainland, but that has mysteriously survived on Catalina. Another plant had been wiped out by grazing on Catalina, and had only had a few specimens survive on the small Bird Rock that sits right off the bay at two Harbors. Naturalists propagated new plants from that rare remaining specimen, and have reintroduced them back onto Catalina. We saw the Catalina Island sunflower, old weathered buffalo herding pens, and then dropped down towards Little Harbor. Before stopping at Little Harbor, we went to an overlook where one of the Native American rock art paintings has been found on the island, this one of a fox. Dropping into Little Harbor, a beautiful remote sandy beach area with camping facilities, we discovered one of the only sand dunes on the island, and saw up close another Native American rock art image – this one apparently of a wide spread winged bird.

From Little harbor it was back into the island interior with a quick stop at the Wrigley’s Arabian horse ranch. Soon we arrived at the Airport-in-the-Sky where the Conservancy has a grouping of offices. We were taken down to a prehistoric soapstone / steatite quarry to see how the native peoples extracted the stone that became their primary trade item, and that has been found through out the Gabrielino and Chumash territories in the form of bowls, animal effigies, pipes, and ceremonial objects. In the display cases at the Airport are artifacts from prehistoric life on the islands – bowls, metate grinding stone, tools, fishing weights, digging weights, and animal effigies.

From the mountain top vantage point of the Airport, the now-paved road descends down to the coastal community of Avalon, passing towering Eucalyptus and pine, and searching for an illusive buffalo from the historic herd introduced to the Island in 1925 for a movie production. But alas, the only evidence we saw of a buffalo was a mat of fur with burs in the campground back at Little Harbor.

• Thursday, Camp Internet undersea expedition to Lover’s Cove, Avalon, May 13th

From the waterfront of Avalon, decorated with historic Catalina tiles produced on the island in a craftsmans workshops sponsored by the a Wrigley family in the 1920s and 30s, one has the option for a variety of boating adventures offered by the Catalina Island company. From flying fish that can sail 200 yards through the air using their pectoral fins - having first propelled themselves into the air with their tail beating at a rate of 50-70 times per second! – to the mysteries beneath the waters surface seen by glass bottom boat (which first made Catalina a famous destination ) or by the state-of-the-art technology of the semi-submersible boats that take viewers down five feet beneath the surface.

To conclude the tour of Catalina, the Camp Directors attended a semi-submersible tour of Lover’s Cove, and witnessed the spectacular undersea life that makes its home on Catalina. Our first view through the water was to suddenly find ourselves in the midst of a giant kelp forest, a marine plant that can grow two feet per day – that is three inches an hour. The waving, undulating blades of the kelp and the towering forests they form are home to many creatures in the Channel and eastern Pacific waters. Moving quietly through the kelp forests, we became surrounded by the brilliant orange of the California State fish, the Garibaldi, schools of the white spotted Opal Eye, a small shark, and schools of iridescent blue striped Topsmelt. Calico bass swam by and as the sailors above fed the fish, a virtual feeding frenzy took place as the hungry fish converged on the welcomed food source. It was such a surprise to go up topside and see we were only a few yards form the main boat docks, and yet had felt we were on a voyage to the bottom of the sea a few minutes before down in the semi-submerisble chamber under the boat.