Wednesday 25th April 2012
Portree harbour, Isle of Skye
The first education trip of 2012 is now well underway, this time visiting the schools around Portree on the Isle of Skye. We've been treated to some fine weather and, following an open boat yesterday evening, today welcomed students from Portree Primary School onboard the floating classroom, Silurian.
Here's what they had to say about their experience:
'Today I enjoyed the finding game. The best bit was holding the starfish.'
'I learned a lot about sea animals and found it really cool. I got to hold two crabs. I'd love to come again.'
'Today I enjoyed the octopus, it was cool!'
'I will always remember today. The thing that was the best was the fish in the tanks.'
'Today was awesome because I learnt so many fascinating things like how the octopus changes colour.'
'I enjoyed seeing animals.'

On Monday we visited Portree High School to give an in-class presentation and workshop, which included identifying bones and artifacts from cetaceans. Tuesday was the turn of MacDiarmid Primary School, joining us onboard to learn about our research work, including the noises cetaceans make that we have recorded on our hydrophone. The rest of the week will see the rest of the P3-4 class from MacDiarmid Primary and Knockbreck Primary School board Silurian, and a group from Portree High School will finish the week on Friday.

The two education trips in 2012, and the recent youth trip, are funded by Awards for All. We are very grateful for the ongoing support and assistance provided by Andy Simpson, who generously volunteers his time on the education trips.