Maggie and I woke up with excitement because today we would be going onto St. Paul. We have been communicating with one of the teachers, Tonia Kushin, for quite sometime. Tonia and her students have even joined our IPY Live events that have been a lot of fun. Besides having the chance to meet Tonia, her students, and other community members, this trip to the island included a helicopter ride. Maggie and I were to be the first to go over and then there would be a lot more flights during the day. Many of the scientists were getting off and others were joining the cruise. Bill Springer, the pilot, was going to have a lot of small trips back and forth from the Healy and St. Paul.
Gals Ready
Maggie and I are ready for the flight to St. Paul island.
It was a quick flight to the island and Tonia and some of the new scientists coming onboard greeted us. After getting out of the mustang suits, we headed out of the airport with Tonia. She gave us a great tour of the town and a little about everything that was around the town. It was amazing that about 500-560 people live on the island. Tonia also explained one of the main attractions of the island to scientists is the population of fur seals that come on the island to give birth and breed. She said the island in the summer months is a very happening place because of the scientists and the fishermen.
Tonia
Tonia stopping and explaining some of the areas of St. Paul to us as we drive towards her school.
As we got near the school, Maggie and I got excited about meeting everyone that was going to come to our presentation. We met in the school library and began setting up the laptop and all the stations that Maggie had used for her presentation the day before on St. George. Gradually, students, parents, and other people from the community came into the library. Tonia was worried that no one would come because it was a Saturday. Her fears were left behind as the library filled up. Maggie and I did a presentation on the animals that we had seen so far on the cruise. There were lots of questions and then we broke to allow some of the students to get dressed to perform and others to go around to the different activities we had.
Maggie Presentation
Talking with the community about what life on the Healy is really like. (Photo Courtesy of Maggie Prevenas)
Maggie and I were getting excited about seeing some of the Aleut dancers perform. It was going to be a real treat. Plus it was also nice for them to share something with us. The older students were currently out of town but the younger students were going to perform for us. They did a great job. Just look at the photos I got.
Aleut Dancers
The St. Paul students come out and get in position to start their first dance.
Aleut Circle Dance
The St. Paul students perform an Aleut dance that is done in a circle.
The students did such a great job. I was really impressed with their gorgeous attire. After they finished, Maggie and I followed them back to their classroom. I helped several of the girls get out of their fur dresses. They definitely needed the help because their dresses were very heavy and really soft. I followed a few of the students back out to the library and was able to talk with several of them. They had a lot of questions about the seals that we see and how Mike Cameron and his seal group tag them. It was great to talk with many of the adults and find out about what they did on the island and how they came to live on the island. In most cases, it was for work and wanting something different. Just as we were beginning to wrap up all the scientists came into the school with an urgent message for us to get to the airport. The wind had really picked up and we needed to get back on the Healy. So we hurried up and collected everything and said a second goodbye to many of them. Tonia was going to drive us out there so we grabbed our stuff and headed for the airport.
Farewell
Farewell to all my shipmates that were leaving from St. Paul. (L->R) Dave Forcucci, Alex DeRobertis, Josh London, Jeff Napp, Rob Freyer, AJ LeFevre, and Brianna Blaud.
It was so rushed that Maggie and I didn’t even have lunch. We had gotten so involved with just having the chance to get to know the people of St. Paul that time had just flew by. It had been a really great experience. It was also great to meet Tonia in person and wish her well with her pregnancy. Bill Springer and Dave Doucet were waiting for us at the airport. So Maggie and I quickly got into our mustang suits, or as quickly as one can, to get ready for the last flight off the island. We said goodbye to Tonia and St. Paul and headed back towards the Healy for another two weeks. I was excited to find out how everything had gone with the tour and time spent with the St. Paul visitors that had come on the Healy. I was sure it had probably gone just as well as our experience on the island. Still saying goodbye is always hard especially when it felt as we were leaving that we had just got on the island. I looked forward to meeting all the new scientists too, especially Jay Ver Hoef because his wife has been emailing me after reading many of my journals just like this one.
Aerial View - St. Paul
Aerial view of St. Paul at the end of our visit heading towards the Healy.
Maggie and Me
The return of the teachers. Maggie and I pose after a great day on St. Paul Island.