A visit is worth a thousand words. On August 2, 2017 Whitney King, Mandy Grant, Nicole Denier, Carol Hurney, Justin Becknell, Laura Seay, Stacey Sheriff, Ghana Gherwash, and Kara Kugelmeyer spent the day visiting the Herring Gut Learning Center and Allen Island. The warm summer air over the cool ocean water created a fog bank from Port Clyde to the shores of Allen Island. We had great weather five miles off the 
coast but were really appreciative of the Archangels radar and an experienced captain on the ride to and from the island in very dense fog.
Highlights of the day were the tour of the island village and the realization that the rustic accommodations at the bunk house are really not that rustic! 
A hike south the length of the island found the group appreciating the stone throne build into the landscape of the island ponds and the hundred year old birch trees that have successfully out competed the island spruce for both space and light. The group left the island with ideas for future projects ranging from the sociology of island communities, expanded writing opportunities, and an investigation of the forest ecology.
At the Herring Gut Learning Center the group played with the tide pool specimens on display for a local community open house and had an opportunity to tour the aquaponics systems.
The favorite crop for the group was the basil that seems to thrive on nutrient rich waste water from the Tilapia fish tanks.
This will be out last big group visit for the summer. We will continue our work building the climate monitoring station and bumble bee surveys over the next few weeks. With the start of school in September we are scheduled to be on Allen Island or at Herring Gut almost every weekend with programs on Documentary Video, Art in Maine, Geologic Mapping, Climate Research, and Alternative Education.