It Is Essential To Care For The Sea

Today was a rather eventful day. We had our usual 8 am breakfast by the lady who makes it all by herself. On a side note, she did a great job. Anyway, we met at the front of the train station at 9:30 am and had two men from Kanazawa University drive us. Five were able to fit into each car. I was not mentally ready for the three hour drive to the Sea of Japan Marine Environmental Research Center. I actually didn’t even realize that it was going to be that long of a drive. About halfway through the trip, we made a pit stop at a little market for a bathroom break. There was a little trail next to the market and there was a tower that you could climb and view the Sea of Japan. It was the coolest thing I had witnessed because the view was spectacular. I was able to see for miles on end.

The walkway on the tower

View from the tower

After the break, we got back on the road towards the research center. Throughout the entire trip, our driver got lost at every location we were headed to. It was a bit entertaining and funny. When we finally got to the spot, we got on a boat and sailed onto the sea for a little bit. While out there, we collected samples from the bottom of the ocean floor, and from the water itself to observe the plankton. It was really neat because when they would drag in the tools to collect the water, jellyfish would be stuck inside and the researchers would reach in and throw them out. We were able to touch some of the jellyfish and they weren’t as soft as I thought they would be. It amazed me because they looked white in the water, but clear when above the water's surface. After the collection of samples, we went back to the laboratory and the researchers and professors gave us handouts to look at. Luckily, they were all in English this time instead of Japanese so it was much easier to understand what they did and what they were studying. They also set up a microscope and we looked at the material from the ocean floor. They wanted us to see if we could find anything moving underneath the microscope. I think the only person who managed to find anything was Jill. I don’t actually remember who found the plankton. Anyway, there was more to do besides look under the microscope and read the handouts. I was able to look at the marine life they had in the laboratory. My favorite was the flounder fish whose face was on the side of the body because they swim on the ocean floor. I thought this was cool because the way their eyes moved and followed everyone that walked by. After we explored the research center for a little while, we went to lunch in a nearby airport. I honestly thought that it was the most random thing that we ate in an airport, but the food was still really good. Oh, we also got lost trying to find the airport as well. Like I said, our driver got us lost everywhere this day.

Microscopic Handy Work

Tori, Mioko, and Leo enjoying the boat ride

A tid bit of Marine Life

Collecting Water Samples

Once we were back in the car, I fell asleep and the next thing I know, we are on a beach. The beach was beautiful with the sun completely reflected off of it. As I walked along the beach, I found some sand dollars, sea shells, and a couple of dead fish. Also, right down the beach from us, someone was filming a movie and there was big camera crew. It looked like a pretty dramatic scene with the girl looking into the distance and the guy trying to get her attention. Anyway, as I was walking, one of the men from the laboratory told me the direction of where North Korea would be. I looked at him with horror and he laughed at me and said it got even more interesting. He explained to me that since the wind current moved from North Korea to Japan that sometimes on the beach, people will find product or waste from North Korea after a really bad storm. I asked him if anything interesting was ever found and he said not that he knew of but most likely yes.

Our stop at the Sea 

The Sea of Japan

After a while, we got back into the cars and headed back to the hotel. When we got back, we had the option to get food as a group, or go by ourselves. I ended up falling asleep for about two hours and woke up to find Jill and Julia with me as well. We went to the mall by the Kanazawa Station and ate at a pancake restaurant. It was actually really good. Afterwards, we walked back and went to sleep for the night.

My Pancake Dinner!