Beam Reach

Take the Plunge!

We just got back from the FHL dock. The difference between this trip to the dock and previous ones is that this time the purpose was not an acoustic exercise with speakers and hydrophones. It was a swimming exercise/cold plunge. The water temp is about 9 degrees celsius which is cold enough. The idea behind the cold plunge is that if one of us were to fall off the boat, we would know what the water feels like. We all took the plunge, Val and Jason included. I don’t know about everyone else, but I had a lot of fun taking the plunge.

This quick swim was the second coldest water I’ve been in. As a freshman my school has the viking bath which consists of running into the waters on cape cod in late December. It is actually a little bit of a rush which is why I always enjoy swimming in cold water. The cold plunge today brings back a lot of those memories, but at the same time seemed very much different. Thanks to Val’s waterproof camera we will have some good documentation of our plunge.

As for our time at FHL campus, it is slowly drawing to a close for the time being. Sunday afternoon we begin loading our gear on the boat and set sail. As excited as I am about finally being able to go to sea and study the orcas, something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember, it is also very much bittersweet as I start to get ready to go. I’ve gotten so use to seeing the other people here at the labs that it is going to be strange to not be able to see and interact with them as we have the past few weeks. People some times get so caught up with the work they are doing that the forget to notice the people around them who enrich their daily experiences. It is something that is more and more common in todays society and something which I hope I never take for granted.