Inland Seas Trip

Our trip to Inland Seas in Suttons Bay, Michigan, was made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor in our parish. This is a quite substantial donation, and I would like to express my gratitude at this point on behalf of the students and parents who got to take the trip. We had a wonderful time celebrating our Great Lakes in this very special way. Thank you!

Our trip started in Okemos on Tuesday, June 3rd. We drove to Suttons Bay and arrived in time to enter the Inland Seas schooner in the early afternoon. On our three hour boat ride, students learned about invasive fish species in the Great Lakes. We used a trawler net to catch fish from the bottom of the lake and counted the total fish as well as identified the species. Students took mud samples from the lake floor to identify the invertebrates living there. They tested the visibility and temperature and caught plankton in a dragnet. And, of course, they all got to have a turn on the steering wheel. 

The declared mission of Inland Seas Educational Association (ISEA) is to both educate its students about the Great Lakes, and also to instill the pride and awe we all experience when we get to be in and around the lakes. ISEA wants to foster a sense of stewardship and responsibility in the participants by educating a new generation about the challenges we face in maintaining viable ecosystems in these waters. I think they are doing a fantastic job!

The seventh graders, our parent chaperones, and I finished our trip with a walk in Sleeping Bear Dunes the next morning. We hiked to Pyramid Point Overlook and got a wonderful view of Lake Michigan in the fog. Our whole trip was blessed with the great weather and rain in all the right places—at night.