Lab Work and Fairy Pools (Days 4 & 5)

Day 4: Lab work and Camera Testing

Today was arguably the most important day so far. We had to prep all of the samples that were collected yesterday to preserve the marine life so they can be analysed in the lab back in Glasgow. As a result, we had to turn our camp into a makeshift lab, sectioning off into teams to focus on the different aspects of the research.

Make shift lab work at camp

Lewis took charge of analysing his samples, looking out for scallop larvae under the microscopes while a rotating team set about collecting epifauna from the surface of the kelp samples given to us by Kyla or preserving zooplankton samples to send back to the University. Although the day began with high stress, we settled into the outdoors lab environment, got some tunes going, and after a while we were really enjoying ourselves.

As a reward for our morning of hard work, we headed out to Kyleakin for a proper coffee, sitting on the beach front with a view of the Skye bridge and warm drinks in our hands. Despite the periodic sunshine, there was a strong wind and occasional drizzle.

Lewis and Mike headed back to camp to continue looking at the larvae samples under the microscopes, but while in Kyleakin, Lois decided it was best to test her camera drop equipment with Dylan, Jennifer, and Kerry before using it on the boat. With various dive weights, a home-made camera rig, and a very long rope, the group spent an hour or so throwing the rig off of a pontoon and hauling it back up to adjust the weights so that it would hang straight in the water. It was very much a process of trial and error but after testing the entire setup with the camera attached, and being happy with the results, the team headed back to camp.

Lois testing her camera drop equipment

Dinner, cooked by Lois and Kerry, consisted of pesto pasta and a Greek salad, which our resident Cypriot deemed “very good” - high praise indeed! By the evening the weather had cleared up, with the sun peeking through and the team enjoyed their dinner sat outside. But of course, without the rain, the midges were out in full force. Mike made a fire to ward off the worst of them while Lois and Lewis continued to look at the larvae samples under the microscopes.

Mike and the fire

As the sun was setting, Mike settled down besides his fire with the campsite's copy of Around The World In 80 Days while the rest of the group headed down to the sea for a swim. The views were beautiful and, as we expected, the water was freezing. Only two of the team actually swam, Lewis and Kerry, while Jennifer, Dylan, and Lois wadded up to their waists and enjoyed the scenery. It was a long, cold walk back to camp but the fire, which was bigger and brighter than ever, and a couple of hot chocolates warmed them all up quickly. Big shout out to Mike for keeping the fire going so we could all warm up after swimming!

Swimming, left to right: Lewis, Jennifer, Dylan, Kerry

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Day 5 - Fairy Pools

Most of the team got a good lie-in this morning but Lewis woke up good and early to look over his samples before we headed off on our well deserved day off. The weather was beautiful, with strong sunshine, so we were a little late heading out but it doesn't matter, there's no time constraints on a day off!

We drove up to the fairy pools, which are a set of naturally occurring pools formed by waterfalls just west of where we are staying. The landscape was magnificent, (as all of Skye is) and on the drive up there we saw four eagles! We walked up to the top of the track to eat our lunch on the rocks before heading down to a lower pool to swim. Mike and Lewis jumped from the rocks into the deep pool below and we all enjoyed the periodic sunshine. The water was, of course, freezing cold but we expected nothing less so we hot footed it back up to the car where we dried off and tried to warm up as much as we could.

Several member of the team also wore their team t-shirts! We love them to bits! If you're interested in the design process, you can find our logo design blog here.

Team T-shirts at the Fairy Pools, left to right: Jennifer, Lois, Dylan

Team Photo at the Fairy Pools, left to right: Mike, Lewis, Dylan, Lois, Kerry, Jennifer

Next, we headed to the pub to get some pints and chips to wake us up as several members of the team had fallen asleep during the car ride home. The good food and drink filled our bellies and fuelled us to sort out our shopping in the co-op before we headed back to camp to unwind from our full-on day off.

Lewis and Jennifer made fajitas and the team headed to bed nice and early in preparation for another day of data collection on the boat tomorrow.

All the best from a tried but excited,

Seaweed Team