Hi Everyone,
My name is Alex and I am one of the three ESSA co-chairs for the 2009-2010 school year. This summer I have the amazing opportunity to work at the exciting Saguenay-Saint-Lawrence Marine Park (Le Parc Marin du Saguenay-Saint-Laurent). The park is not only a tourist destination because of the amazing views, biological diversity, and outdoors activities found there, but it is actively involved in conservation and research.
More info about the park can be found in both English and French at www.parcmarin.qc.ca
On this blog and photo gallery I plan to share my experiences working hands-on with conservation in this amazing environment!
-Alex
Photos:
4 Comments
Hi Everyone!
I have officially arrived in the absoultely stunningly beautiful community of Tadoussac, Québec and it has officially taken my breath away! Having driven across the country in two weeks to get here, I have had the incredible opportunity to see all of the beauty that Canada’s landscapes have to offer but even after all of that, this unique region still managed to take my breath away. The night that I arrived (this past Friday) there was fog so thick that I could not even see 20 feet in front of me, which kinda hindered me from seeing the area in too much detail. By the time things started to clear up, I had arrived at the ferry from Baie Ste-Catherine to Tadoussac so I got to enjoy that short trip with an uninhibited view of the area where the Saguenay Fjord (the longest fjord in Eastern Canada, and the most meridional) meets the Saint Laurence Estuary: incredible!
The next morning I woke up and went for an explore of my area. About 2 minutes into my walk down the hill from the house I’m staying in here into the village of 900 people, I arrived at the top of a hill with the most majestic view of the water I have seen in an incredibly long time! So much natural beauty here… even after spending a few days among the cultural vibrance of Montréal again on my way here, that city’s colourful sights could not compare to the natural beauty of the bright blue waters contrasting with the untouched forests on the mountains that reach up into the bright blue skies.
A couple of days into my time here, I decided to explore some trails in the area, the first of which led me to a place called ‘La pointe de l’islet’ which is a rocky protrusion into the water right where the fresh water of the Saguenay Fjord meets the saltwater Saint Lawrence. Right in this area there is a huge abundance of krill, small fish and other diverse inhabitants of the ocean that draw the numerous species of whales and other marine mammals here that come each year to build up their energy stocks. Sitting on that point of land as the sun went down, I had the opportunity to see des ‘petits roraquals’… a species of whales that frequent this area… playing, socializing and feeding. All of that was seen from shore, without disturbing their activities in the least… absolutely awesome.
Tonight I went out on a whale watching tour that was held for people who work in the marine park and also for those in tourism in the region. The boat operated in very respectful and proper ways, not pursuing, approaching too closely, encircling or acting aggressively toward any marine mammals, but even still we saw a pod of belugas playing, more petits rorquals, and a huge array of landmarks in the landscape such as waterfalls and breathtaking cliffs. There is something about nature’s power to amaze that cannot be replace by anything else.
I am excited to start my job on Monday, which includes teaching tourists about the park, interacting with other people from Parks Canada, and communicating with partner organizations and NGOs working the the park, as well as with for-profit whale watching companies who operate in the region. On that note, let me just say that it was really great to see the company I travelled with on the whale-watching tour tonight operate in a manner that was so respectful of the marine mammals and their habitat… proof that humans can coexist with other members of our surroundings in a non-detrimental manner.
Looking forward to a summer of learning, seeing, teaching, and experiencing!
-Alex
Alex! This sounds so great! Did you undergo much training?
Can you share some of your favourite french vocab words, new ones that you’ve learned so far?
What are the people of the town like? Is it very tourism based?
Heike
Hey Heike!
So the first two weeks were alllll training. During that period, we toured around together to all of the interpretation sites, museums and activities that make up our terrestrial ‘discovery network’ (as the park itself is purely the water) to get familiarized with the area, the work being done in the park, and the experience that visitors will have. We also attended a number of lectures given by experts in different fields related to the park’s research and conservation goals, marine biology and oceanography. The training was a ton of fun because there was a consistent group of us travelling together in the Parks Canada van who got to know each other, making it a fun roadtrip every time we went somewhere. After two weeks of such thorough training I feel completely comfortable reccommending things to visitors, talking to them about conservation and research, and teaching them about the oceanographic and topographic phenomena that contribute to the area’s biodiversity by channelling in food.
The French vocab I have gained since starting at the park is mainly the French names of marine mammals so here are a few !
Minke whale – Petit rorqual
Fin whale – Rorqual commun
Pilot whale – Globicéphale noir
Blue whale – Rorqual bleu
Beluga – Béluga (m) (not too different :p )
Harbour porpoise – Marsouin commun
Baleen whale (a category, not a species) – Rorqual
Baleen (the ‘filter/brush’ used by baleen whales to filter food from the water) – Fanon (m)
The town is pretty amazing! It is a village of 850 people in the winter that totally springs to life in the summer when tourists from all around the world start to fill the sidewalks. We hosted a music festival in Tadoussac at the beginning of my time here and there were thousands of people who came and this is what we can expect to happen again a couple weeks from now when our tourist season is in full swing.
What is interesting me the most here is studying the role of public participation in the conception and creation of the park. The park has held public meetings on basically every decision made during the life of the park and in this way has seemingly managed to help conservation goals to mesh with local concerns. There is also a co-ordinating committee that is involved in the daily operations of the park which is composed of members of each of the local communities bordering the park, plus several reps from nearby native communities. Another thing that I really like about the park is its motto: ” connaître pour mieux conserver ”
This means ” know/understand in order to conserve better ” hahaa I swear my English is slipping as I am speaking French pretty much 24/7.
This motto seems to me to represent an idea that is very present in ES, which is to acquire the most knowledge possible about a system before attempting to restore/alter it because if we enter into a project uniformed we can just do more damage.
That is all I have to ‘report’ for now but if anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to answer!
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer and having better weather than the fog, rain and clouds that have plagued us for the past while!
-Alex
Great experience! No wonder you are sticking around there