We began our day with a quick early morning trip to the grocery store to replenish our food supplies. This extremely important task accomplished, we ate breakfast, made our picnic lunch and started out on our day.
Monterey Bay Aquarium was our first destination of the day. On our walk there, we incorporated some holy humour into our day, posing with an engaging pirate. Arrrh! There be J2A!
We were greeted by staff with stuffed animal seals and crabs, our first exposure to the extremely knowledgeable and helpful folks we met all day.
The Aquarium is a fascinating educational facility, both teaching and inspiring. We saw many wonders, including jellyfish, dragonfish, coral and (true) fish. Our pictures are not capable of doing justice to what we experienced, but a google image search of Monterey Bay Aquarium will yield photos that will knock your socks off!
Following some important shopping time and a break for lunch, we went onto our next experience, a sailing adventure through the Aquarium on the Derek M. Bayliss, a beautiful sailboat.
During the wait on the wharf we had time to relax and to watch the sea otters and sea lions play and sleep.
Once onboard the ship we engaged in some experiments and learning experiences. We saw a beautiful crab and snail. An isopod went into a collection jar as one being and then, as Jenn was holding it, it gave birth to babies. The miracle of life on the smallest scale. We also saw whales and dolphins.
We learned that phytoplanton in the sea is responsible for the majority of oxygen production on earth, and so is the foundation of most life on earth. We learned that the ship will pick up and tag all garbage it sees in the ocean. Fortunately our day included not a single piece of garbage, so local education and enforcement measures are working.
Globally, the situation is not as good. Plastics continue to go down storm drains and into the oceans, where they do not biodegrade. The jar of plastic in the photo below was taken from the stomach of a single dead baby albatross. The stomach of the baby fills with plastic, which it is unable to regurgitate, and it feels full because its stomach is full of plastic, so it starves to death.
Fortunately, we have choices to make, and action can be taken. Our call as Christians is to acknowledge that “We are not alone, we live in God’s world” and as stewards of a world that does not belong to us, we must make choices that respect the sacredness of all life.
We concluded our day with our closing reflection and worship time. As we have not blogged about this yet, here are a few details. Each day the youth receive a journal page for that day. The page includes a brief description about what we will do and why it is meaningful. There is a quote or more for reflection – sometimes the Bible, sometimes a sage like John Muir, sometimes other writings. And then there are a series of questions. Some of the questions repeat each day (i.e. Where did you see God today – in nature, in yourself, in other people, in our group?), and some are specific to a particular day’s theme and activities. We read the page and questions aloud, and have a brief discussion. At the end of the day we provide time for journalling, we discuss the day and what that day has brought us, we sing, and we pray.
Today, we are thankful.
Housekeeping note: we were asked some time back to sign the blog pages. Our leadership team has evolved a distribution of labour in which Jenn sorts through all the photos of the day and selects them, Wendy writes the blog, and Marti uploads and inserts all the photos. The youth leaders of the day (2 of them) write their own comments. Now that you know it is Wendy writing, I’m going to indulge in a brief personal message – Wendy Ann, I love you and you are in my prayers, and I miss you!
Leaders of the Day Comments
Elise Bisset: Today I saw whales for the first time on a sailing trip. No words can describe a whale, to see it moving in and out of the water with such ease is breathtaking. Even without the whales, the sailing was wonderful. I believe it’s the closest you will ever get to flying, gliding over the water with the wind in your hair. With moments of excitement and others of pure peace.
Nick Lindsey-Clark: Today was the first full day in Monterey. In the morning we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. there were lots of types of water life there. My personal favourite was the jellyfish. It looks so peaceful and beautiful yet still really dangerous. then in the afternoon we went sailing. We saw some whales while on the boat. We also learned about the environment. I did not know that plastic straws were so bad for the environment. I have decided to stop using plastic straws. I had a very fun day. I have learned about how wonderful the ocean can be and what we have to do to protect it.
