Broadreach: British Columbia Marine Mammal Studies

My experience at Broadreach has been life changing. One of my favorite parts of the program is that we were constantly exploring outdoors. I had the opportunity to immerse myself in so many unique environments through different perspectives. While snorkeling I saw an array of vibrant sea stars slowly inching down into the low tide. On kayaking trips we got to paddle over kelp beds, do open water crossings, and watch pods of orcas porpoising by us. While we were camping off the grid I watched beautiful sunsets with the group. While whale watching, we saw bait balls, Steller Sea Lions, bald eagles, river otters and sea otters. At one of the field stations I went swimming in bioluminescence at midnight and while floating on my back looked up at the stars. This trip was life changing because I want to do it again, and because it inspired an overwhelming and profound appreciation for nature within the whole group that I hadn’t been exposed to before.
Having a small group of students on the expedition allowed for an amazing community to develop. We all had a lot of fun together doing group activities and cooking meals, and were also there to support each other if someone was feeling homesick, or when exams were coming up. The instructors were also a huge factor in everyone being so supported. Our group learned a lot about marine mammals and conservation through field work, lessons, projects, and interacting with researchers at different field stations. Overall, the expedition maintained a great balance between having fun and learning about marine ecosystems.

This course was absolutely life changing, through the mindfulness excercises it provided me with a door to my inner self and also a time to reflect on prior and future actions. Besides that and the amazing food, housing, and tent life, the occasional whale sighting and intense scenery truly put this trip over the top. The highlight of the trip for me though was being able to spend time at the research station and present our science projects to true marine biologists. I highly recommend this trip to anyone with an interest in Marine Biology, a want to learn about an amazing native culture, or just want to see some amazing vistas.

During my time in Broadreach, it was my first time in Canada so I loved the experience. This one evening, we were at this encampment the night before going on our last kayaking trip, the ride had been long and it has rained a lot, it was my day as the organizer of sorts like we do at Broadreach and everyone was feeling down but then my amazing instructors steph and Quinn brought out marshmallows and Nutella! Just that day I had a little internet connection and my dad had told me I should video tape my friends and so I did. During this trip, I had become a kind of "mother" to my friends because I always had duct tape and I always told them things to not forget. Ironically I was also the youngest of our group but we were all a pretty tight family, so after flubs and gloss we sat around our first fire because the fire ban had been removed and I did an interview to all my friends! We had such an amazing time it was hilarious and I still look at the interviews they're extremely funny, my favorite was of Kayley say "hi my name is kayley and this is my 23rd marshmallow" it was funny because she loved marshmallow tortillas with Nutella and marshmallows but I just ate the Nutella, we had a very fun night and the rest of the trip and the whole trip was amazing! We shared stories and we were always on the same page no matter where we were from or how old we were. It was really a moment that I cherished the most.