SFS: Quebec Labrador Foundation

30 July 2010


We continued to make final changes to the camp schedule and purchase last minute supplies on Thursday and Friday in preparation for camp. On Friday morning, Stefan and I woke up at 2:30 to head out cod fishing with Riley Lavallee, (photo) a local commercial fisherman. Throughout our conversations with cod fishermen, we have learned that there are two ways to catch cod: on a baited hook and line, also known as “jigging”, or by setting gill nets, lengths of mesh netting, in the water. The premise of a gill net is that a fish will try to swim through the fish-sized holes in the mesh, hooking its gills as it tries to escape.

We departed the Blanc Sablon wharf around 3 o’clock, heading up to L’Anse au Claire, the first town over the Labrador border. On the way out, we talked with Riley’s two crew members and learned about the fishing gear onboard. As the three men pulled in the nets, they had to remove not only the cod, but also equal numbers of sculpin and crabs, taking three hours to harvest the fish and disentangle the other animals from four nets. We were able to take a herring home and tried, mostly successfully, to fillet it (photo).

On Monday, our first day of camp, we got to know our fourteen campers and began by splitting into three groups, each choosing a different Marine Species at Risk to focus on (photo). After learning about beluga whales, great white sharks, and killer whales, we reconvened to paint a camp banner. In the afternoon, we headed down to the beach to work on sand sculptures of our team animals and to pick up trash along the shore. While collecting trash, we explained biodegradation, the length of time it takes different sorts of materials in the ocean to break down, and how this affects marine life. For instance, plastic bags, which can take four hundred years to biodegrade, are often mistaken by turtles to be jellyfish. When turtles’ stomachs fill up with this indigestible material, they are no longer able to pass food through their system and end up starving to death.

Tuesday started off with a visit to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) office, just across the road at the base of Mont Parent. Mark Lavallee, one of the officers, gave us a tour of his Zodiac patrol boat and showed a movie explaining the role of DFO in fishing communities such as Blanc Sablon. Upon returning to QLF, the campers went through the trash from the beach and sorted it by type, noticing a high number of plastic bottles and aluminum cans. After lunch, we went down to the river for a scavenger hunt and swimming. All but two of the kids went in the water on this 55 degree and windy day, a testament to their toughness and love of the outdoors.

Camp began on Wednesday with tie dye and a discussion of how our consumer culture is linked to global warming. Later on, we pulled out our recycling bin and let the kids use their imaginations to create crafts out of yogurt containers, soup cans, plastic bottles, and the like. The campers loved this craft, producing everything from life size puffins and replicas of Greenly Island to toy airplanes and pencil cups. It was hard to pull them away for our walk up Mont Parent, but eventually, we were on our way up the hill (photo). Once on top, overlooking the Blanc Sablon and its wharf, we talked about fishing and transportation with regard to its effect on the marine environment. Despite the dry sounding topics of our daily group discussions, the kids were genuinely interested in the conversations, sharing stories of grandparents who were lighthouse keepers or whales they had seen while out fishing with their fathers, and allowing us to show them the relevance of these larger ideas to their everyday lives.

While we had hoped to leave for our overnight trip to Greenly Island on Thursday morning, the fisherman who was to bring us out deemed the wind and waves too dangerous for the crossing. Instead, we hosted the campers at QLF for a sleepover. With the weather being uncooperative, we kept most of our activities indoors, playing ocean themed Pictionary and watching Sharkwater, an incredible documentary chronicling the career of Rob Stewart, an underwater photographer and the world’s foremost advocate for shark protection. The film served to show how gentle and unthreatening sharks are to humans as well as how necessary these animals to the marine ecosystem. My own fear of being bitten by a shark was quickly allayed by the statistic that more people are killed by falling vending machines every year than the ten that are killed by sharks! After dinner, we managed to build a fire behind the house, despite the wet weather, and were able to continue the annual camp tradition of telling ghost stories. Some of them were right out of local history, while others were written by campers specifically for this event.

On Friday morning, the campers spent time playing games in the backyard (photo) before coming inside to work on displays about their group mascot. Everyone was able to contribute to their team’s effort, whether through researching facts, decorating the posterboard, or organizing the layout. The projects all came together nicely and will hopefully be displayed in the airport or another community building.

This weekend we are taking a final trip over to Newfoundland to do some hiking and visit Gros Morne. Then, on Monday, I’ll be flying home. Of course, I’m excited to see my family and enjoy the warm weather, but Blanc Sablon and Newfoundland have been fantastic places to spend my summer and I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with!

21 July 2010

Since Curtis, Stefan, and I returned from our Newfoundland trip last Thursday, the focus of our work has been preparing for the Marine Species at Risk Kids Camp. Our return trip went smoothly, and I even saw my first iceberg (photo!) off Ile-aux-Bois! We could see it from the office, but last night, it floated around the far side of the island and is now out of view.

I spent Friday by myself at the office, as Stefan and Curtis both took the day off, and called the campers' parents to ask that they pay the camp fee before camp actually starts to ensure that all 15 spots will be filled.

On Monday, we even had our first visitors to the QLF office! At the suggestion of the tourism office, a couple from Pennsylvania stopped by to ask about Eider ducks in the area. We gave them some information and talked about our work with QLF, and are hoping that more people visit in the future. Since Stefan was still off with his family, Curtis and I went through past camp schedules and reviewed activities, games, and crafts to put together a program that will hopefully be both educational and fun. The schedule includes marine themed crafts and games as well as trips to the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) office, down to the beach, to the archaeological site by the Blanc Sablon river, and up nearby Mont Parent. The highlight of the week, though, will undoubtedly be the overnight trip to Greenly Island.

The three of us interns continued our preparation on Tuesday by finalizing the camp schedule and buying the food needed for daily snacks and meals on Greenly. After work, we enjoyed the nicest weather yet by going for a run up to the bluffs overlooking Blanc Sablon. The sunshine was such a treat and the fogless view of town (photo) was incredible!

Today, I did some more office based work by creating a spreadsheet for camp income and expenses on Excel and continued calling parents. Stefan, Curtis, and I also finished compiling the notes from Newfoundland and St. Pierre and now have eleven pages of ecological data and observations that will be valuable in the creation of the atlas.

14 July 2010
Since leaving Rocky Harbour last Wednesday, Trish, Caitlin, Stefan, Curtis, and I have traveled through several coastal towns on the south shore of Newfoundland with the aim of engaging fishermen in our Marine Species at Risk observer program. Along the way, Trish has demonstrated how to go about talking with fishermen and explaining our organization. When arriving in a new town, we first talk to people Trish already knows there, or at least the owners of the B&B we are staying at, to find out where and when we should look for fishermen. Then, we head down to the dock with observer kits in hand and introduce ourselves. The first step in the conversation is to pull out our whale, shark, dolphin, and turtle identification charts and go through asking about each species individually. Us interns work with Trish to find out not only what species have been seen, but where, when, and under what conditions. Other information is crucial as well, such as what exactly the fishermen are fishing, what times of the year they are going out, and how far out to sea they travel. By interviewing the full range of fishermen, from inshore lobster boats to crews traveling 200 miles to the international waters boundary, we are able to complete a thorough survey. Once we go through the charts, and can detect at least some level of interest from the fishermen, we introduce our observer program and go through the contents of the kit. The kits we put together include a newsletter, charts, species fact sheets, a logbook, instruction manual, and a disposable camera, along with gifts like magnets and keychains.


Some of the fishermen we talk to tell us that, for whatever reason, they are are not interested in being an observer. Many times, they are fishing by themselves, have small boats, or simply aren't interested. Of course, we would much rather hear this than have them take the kit and then not use it. However, we still consider our conversation with them time well spent because of the data they can provide about what they have seen in the past.

It's definitely exciting to talk to fishermen who are enthusiastic about our work and rewarding to be able to walk away knowing that what we have learned will meaningfully contribute to the research that QLF is compiling. When the fishermen send in their logbooks, the information is added to a database from all 150 or so of our observers and will eventually be published in a species at risk atlas for the area. Pictures of whale flukes (tails) and the pink spot on the necks of leatherback turtles are also valuable because these serve as "fingerprints" for these species and can help with tracking and identification.

From our first night in Rocky Harbour, we drove to Harbour Breton, located on the Connaigre Peninsula. There, we went down to the wharf, met our first two fishermen, and were successful in that they both agreed to be observers. On Wednesday morning, we headed to a different wharf in town and talked with two more fishing crews, both of whom joined the observer program. One of the fishermen had just brought in a forty pound halibut! (photo) Our day was spent driving from Harbour Breton to Garnish. Although the towns are only 25 miles apart by ferry, the boat is passenger-only, so we had to make the seven hour drive back up to the Trans-Canada Highway and then down the Burin Peninsula to Garnish. We went out to the wharf in the morning, and although there weren’t many boats, we still signed two more observers to our program and I really enjoyed my conversations both about fishing and just getting to know these fishermen and what life is like for them.

Our next stop was Grand Bank, which is one of the larger towns in the area as well as a tourist destination. We learned about the history of the town as a center of trade in the 19th century and saw several old, beautiful homes that were built by merchants. As I am writing this, it has been exactly a week since we started our trip, and the only sun we have seen so far was for the few hours that we were in Grand Bank. Otherwise, it has been 50 degrees and foggy. We were able to catch a fishing crew as they were loading up their boat for a week long excursion and learned more about offshore species. One of the fishermen had previously worked commercially fishing sharks for a large Nova Scotian company, and told us how they would catch up to 25,000 pounds of porbeagle and mako shark a day, hauling in their 200,000 pound quota in two weeks.

We returned to Garnish for Friday night before heading to Fortune on Saturday to catch the St. Pierre et Miquelon ferry. An hour and a half off the coast of Newfoundland, St. Pierre et Miquelon is a French territory comprised of three islands, two of which are inhabited. We only went to the town of St. Pierre, on the southernmost island, although the one other town, Miquelon, is on the northernmost island. Although it is so close to Newfoundland, St. Pierre et Miquelon share no resemblance to their Canadian neighbor. Most of the 6000 residents speak little English and it is essentially like traveling to France. All of their products, including food, clothing, and cars, are imported and the euro is used for currency. In the afternoon, we met with three naturalists from a local conservation group, one of whom also works for the French government, and their intern from Paris to discuss future collaboration and possible data exchange. They were essentially fluent in English but would switch back and forth. Our visit lasted several hours, but was incredibly productive, and it was so interesting to see their home and learn about their work and life on St. Pierre.

On, Friday evening, we had an amazing dinner in a tiny restaurant where I tried escargot for the first time. I have to say it is one of my new favorite foods. Afterwards, we walked around and watched some live musicians before heading back to the B&B. In the morning, we met with two fishermen who had loads of great information about marine ecology of the area and the fishing community of St. Pierre. There are only ten to fifteen fishermen left on the island, so we were lucky to be able to get two more observers. Stefan and Caitlin, our sole francophones, did the talking, translating for the rest of us, and note taking. Our return ferry was delayed by three hours because of a broken water pump, but, despite the constant rain and fog, we didn’t mind the extra time in such a spectacular place. Once onboard, we saw White Beaked dolphins characteristically following the boat just off the starboard side, but no whales.

We visited both the Placentia and St. Bride’s wharfs Monday morning and found a couple more observers. After lunch, we spent the afternoon at Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Preserve, famous for its seabird population. After touring the museum and meeting with the park rangers, we hiked out to the nesting sites on the cliffs. At last count, there were 27,000 pairs of birds, 20,000 pairs of which are gannets. These cliffs were probably a hundred feet high and absolutely covered in gannets, terns, murres, and seagulls. The smell was pretty overwhelming since we were only twenty feet or so from the birds, but it was amazing to see so many in one place, and I’m sure the view would have been spectacular had we been able to see anything through the fog.



We drove to Trespassy to spend the night, and then Tuesday morning, went to the Fermeuse wharf. There, we met a fishing captain who operates the biggest boat we have seen to date. Having just come back from a week long crab fishing expedition, the 60,000 pounds of crab were being offloaded and the carapaces individually measured. Seeing this in progress was really interesting, as was our tour of the boat. The captain explained the navigational, communication, and safety equipment that they keep on board and told us about life while out at sea (photo). They keep a crew of six men, and have a full sized galley, dining area, and bunk room. I know that the tour was definitely a highlight for me, especially since no other fisherman has invited us to look around their boat. After lunch, we visited some of the nearby whale watch companies to show them our materials and talk about how they run their tours.

Finally, we got to get out on one of the tours ourselves! Despite having talked and written about whales for the past two weeks, the closet we’ve gotten to whales is seeing a little blip far away in the ocean. Just outside Fermeuse Bay, we drifted next to four humpbacks for half an hour. It was incredible to be so close to these whales and gave us a new appreciation for their size. Having never seen a puffin, I was happy to have the tour finish by showing us an island with 60,000 nesting pairs of puffins.

Yesterday evening, we drove up to St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the only city that I have seen since flying out of Boston. It’s small, but is home to Memorial University, and we are all excited for the chance to have food other than from sandwiches, seafood, and french fries. We spent the night with one of Trish’s friends from QLF, and today we have an eight hour drive to Corner Brook, back on the western coast of Newfoundland. Corner Brook is the go to place for Coasters (residents of the Lower North Shore) to do their shopping. Beyond groceries and hardware, there aren’t many places to shop along the Lower North Shore, so they make the ferry trip and four hour drive several times a year to stock up on whatever is needed.

This is pretty much it for the Newfoundland trip, since we are heading back to Blanc Sablon on the last ferry tomorrow! I’m definitely excited to get back, but this tour of Newfoundland has been eye opening in so many different ways and given me a much better feel for how important the work of the QLF is to the future of these fishing communities.

6 July 2010

Last Friday, Blanc Sablon celebrated Canada Day with a parade and activities at the town hall (in photo). We sat outside our house after lunch and watched the cars and trucks parade by into town before heading back in to watch the end of the Netherlands-Brazil game. Mid afternoon, we went down to the hall for some presentations and barbeque and got to meet more people from town. They gave Canadian themed toys to every kid and tote bags to the adults, and presented awards for community service and other achievements. We headed home for dinner and then back to the hall for more celebration. It was fun to see people of all ages at the dance and we definitely had a good time.



On Saturday, although it was foggy and cold, we decided to hike up a hill up behind town (photo). While there were no trails, the lack of trees made it easy to take whatever route we wanted to the top. Of course, there was no view, but it was beautiful all the same and it was nice to get outside. On the way back to the house, we stopped by the town hall to see if we could help the Canada Day committee clean up at all. They had already done the job, but we were still able to collect trash along the side of the road on the walk home. That was pretty much our Saturday; the fog and cold kept us inside for the rest of the day.

We took another walk on Sunday; this time, we hiked up Mount Parent. It was only a ten minute walk or so away from town and then from there we could go up the ATV tracks to the top. The kids around here love their ATVs and dirtbikes and can go all over without trees. It's not uncommon to look out the windows and just see heads zoom by. Thanks to the fog, there wasn't much of a view at all, but we could see Greenly Island and Ile-aux-Bois out in the ocean. Greenly was the site of the crash of the first attempt at an east to west transatlantic flight. The crew of the Bremen took off in Ireland and intended to land in New York,but lost their way in the fog and luckily survived their ditch landing on Greenly. Also, Stefan, Curtis, and I will be running a kids camp later on in July and will take the kids out camping on the island for a night. In celebration of the fourth of July, Tom, Charley, and Will made homemade burgers and fries for dinner, and we invited some of our friends from town over for a little fire on the beach. All in all, it wasn't the most typical fourth of July, but one that we will definitely remember.

Monday began with finalizing plans for the Newfoundland trip. We reviewed our itinerary and made reservations for lodging and ferries. After lunch, we went down to St. Teresa's to visit Tom, Charley, Roz, and Will at their soccer camp. They had broken the kids up by age and were working on some relay drills and scrimmages with the older group. After three days straight of literally not seeing the sun, the 55 degree weather felt absolutely balmy, and we did as much work as we could out on the deck.

Today, Tuesday, we spent the morning packing up the observer kits, getting all of our own gear together, and running a few last minute errands. Stefan and I said our goodbyes to Charley, Will, Tom, and Roz since they will be long gone to Harrington Harbour to continue with their soccer camp by the time we return to Blanc Sablon on the 16th. Trish picked us up in the rental van and we met her daughter Caitlin, who is coming on the trip with us, at the ferry terminal. After landing in St. Barbe, we took the same route back down the western coast of Newfoundland as I did when coming up. Right now, we're in a town called Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne National Park, and our research and meetings with fishermen begin tomorrow.

On Tuesday the 29th, my five weeks with QLF began with flights from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then to Deer Lake, Newfoundland. With me were Beth Alling, the vice president of QLF, her friend Janet, Beth's son Charley, Roz and Will Brokaw, and Tom Sherwood. Charley, Roz, Will, and Tom are traveling along the Quebec North Shore to four different communities to run a soccer camp for kids, while I am staying in Blanc Sablon to work for the Marine Species at Risk program.

When we arrived in Deer Lake, we drove up the western coast of Newfoundland to Norris Point (photo!) for a great dinner and to spend the night. Norris Point was our first taste of what our time would be like here: scenic and and relatively cold. At night, the temperature is in the 30s and 40s, while it gets up to 50s and 60s (if we're lucky) during the day.

On Wednesday, we began with a tour of the aquarium at the Bonne Bay Marine Station right in Norris Point. The aquarium had several animals that we had never heard of before as well as information about the fishing issues and history of the area. We continued driving up the coast and stopped for a walk into West Brook Pond. About a mile in, we ran into a mother moose and her calf only a couple feet from the trail. Because moose, especially with their babies, can be so dangerous, we turned right around. We spent the night at Tuckermore Lodge and had the chance to hear a musician from the other side of the island who was playing for the guests.

We headed up to St. Barbe on Thursday morning to catch the ferry (photo) over to Blanc Sablon. During the hour and a half ride, we saw porpoises and whales and had a chance to meet about our work responsibilities. When we arrived in Blanc Sablon, we drove to the QLF office that doubles as the staff house and met Trish Nash, who oversees QLF in the area and is in charge of Marine Species at Risk, her daughter, and Stefan and Curtis, who I will be working with. Trish and Stefan took us grocery shopping and introduced us to some camp counselors at St. Teresa's, the school in town, who we will be working with to plan activities for the kids later on. Our entire group went to dinner 5 minutes over the border into Labrador. While Quebec runs on Eastern Time, Labrador and Newfoundland are both an hour and a half ahead, which, as you can imagine, can be a nuisance for people who frequently travel between the two provinces, but does allow them to have two New Year's Eves among other things. After dinner, we said goodbye to Janet and Beth, who are flying back to Boston today.

Today (Friday), is Canada Day! Later on, there's a parade and other 4th of July-like activities. This morning, though, Curtis, Stefan and I assembled 40 observer kits that we are going to hand out when we return to Newfoundland on Tuesday for some field work. QLF is always working to sign up more fishermen, ferry operators, and whale watch guides for the observer program to collect data and connect with new communities. In the bags, there are identification guides for whales and fish as well as guidelines for reporting sightings and releasing animals caught in nets.

It's absolutely beautiful here. There are actually no trees, but the view is great when it's clear. Everyone has been friendly and helpful and I'm really looking forward to the rest of my time.