This morning we drove to Norris Point to go to the Bonne Bay Marine Station. It is an educational research station located along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We explored the touch tank and some of the exhibits while we waited for our tour.
We got to see a cool starfish without bumpy skin. He felt like a sponge.
The lion’s mane jellyfish was just amazing. We stood and watched it for a long time.
We learned more about echinoderms and how sea cucumbers can throw up their intestines and regenerate them.
There is a lot of coralline algae in the area and it is amazing how it can coat objects. They had an entire tank full of bottles and other knick knacks that were covered.
We saw a few other rhodoliths (coralline seaweeds). They were very cool.
Snow crab is another important critter in the fishing industry here. The main animals are lobster, snow crab and green sea urchin. They also catch halibut. We got to see some really big snow crabs.
One of our favorite fish was called a wolffish. It was mean looking and can bite your finger off.
They also had a large collection of unique colored lobsters. Our favorites were the blue and the green.
We explored the back docks and saw crab traps and learned how the crabs would get caught in them.
We spent part of the afternoon doing laundry. There are six machines in the town laundromat and a LOT of people wanting to use them. We had to wait a while and deal with a backup. The washers took 30-35 minutes and the dryers took 45 minutes. This created an obvious issue!
In the evening we met back up at the playground with out new friend. She leaves tomorrow to head home. We scoured the beach for treasures. We found beach glass, sand dollars and a few bones. I found what I THINK is a femur bone of a moose. Sadly, we had to leave the bone behind because we were not able to verify what the laws were to bring in back into the US.
We said our goodbyes and maybe we will meet again someday!
We have downloaded the Pokemon Go game and are enjoying playing. We can’t wait to see what it looks like in areas with actual populations!!!
