Great gift for the young Naturalist on your Christmas List!

Hi everyone:

Ashley Moffat* has been putting out award winning children’s albums about nature for 15 years.  She has just release a new album called Habitat containing a super fun collection of songs from syrup to salamanders.   

To listen to the album, please visit her website at   https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ashleymoffat .  

I am placing an order soon.  If you like, I can order one for you and you can pay me back when you come to my place to pick it up.

Peace, Love and Platypuses,

-I.P.Y.N.C Staff

*Full disclosure, Ashley is a good friend of mine 😊

Over 30, 000 views!

Hi Everyone:

Just discover that in 5 short years having a blog site that we have over 30, 000 views.

Peace, Love, the surfin' the web.

-IPYNC Staff

2017 Green Crab Project

Hi everyone:

All campers in this summer's "Big Kids" camp received permits to trap, collect data and destroy the invasive species, the green crab. Green crabs compete with native crabs and lobster for food and shelter, destroy shell fish and damage eelgrass beds, which are essential habitats for many species.

Campers in teams of four placed 8 traps in the St. Margaret's Bay, just off of the I.P.Y.N.C's Boathouse Institute of Oceanography ( BIO for short :).

In total, 155 green crabs were trapped over two days of camps.  This data has been submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada to aid in research.  To learn more about the invasive green crab, please visit http://www.inter.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Maritimes/AIS/European-Green-Crab .

Peace, Love and Permits,

- IPYNC Staff

The 2017 Shark Adventure!

Hi everyone:

On August 4th this summer seven of our young naturalist had an adventure of a lifetime contributing to shark research.  Each young naturalist caught, collected data and released blue sharks,  up to 4 meters in length and 200 Kilograms, back into the ocean!  

Captain Art from Blue Shark Charters took us 10 kilometers off Halifax Harbour where shark researcher Manuel  Dureuil, operator of the Sharks of the Atlantic Research and Conservation Centre (SHARCC) (http://atlanticsharks.org/), attached data tags that he placed through each shark's dorsal fin to help keep track these not very well know species.  

A much appreciated thank you to all the Halifax City Councilors who donated over $1500 to SHARCC to charter the adventure.  Counsellor Nicoll, Austin, Zurawski, Walker, Blackburn, Craig, Outhit, Mancini, Brown and Whitman contributions helped protect sharks and foster in a senses of wonder and responsibility in young people for our natural world. 

Below are photos we took of our shark adventure:

Peace, Love and a sense of wonder,

- IPYNC Staff

Schedule for Friday, August 25, 2017

Hi everyone:

The very last day of camp for the Summer of 2017 is tomorrow and we are ending off in a BIG  way with or annual Kayaking  Adventure to Dover Island. 

For the few remaining parents who have not yet sent in the waiver for the trip, please bring it tomorrow when you young naturalist is dropped off at  East Dover. 

We will bring down to East Dover all campers art and camp t-shirts to take home.

Here's a look at the schedule for Friday:

 Peace, Love and strawberry milkshakes,
-IPYNC Staff

Schedule for Thursday, August 24

Hi Everyone:

Tomorrow we go on our first of two fieldtrips with Camp 4 this summer.  We have a bus chartered and campers who takes that there is a $10 cost to help pay for it.  Also, I reminder that camps end at 4:30 pm Thursday instead of the 5 pm regular time.

Here's a look at Thursday's schedule:

Peace, Love and Haramde,
_ IPYNC Staff

Schedule for Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Hi Everyone:

Another beautiful summer day at camps.  Lots of swimming, splattering paint and collecting crabs for our project.  Tomorrow is our weekly Island Amazing Race but tonight campers and their families ware invited  to come over to the BIO beach to swim with the bioluminescent plankton that last night showed up in the bay.  Not ever day or night you get to swim in the glow of zillions of glowing plankton :)

Here's a look at tomorrows schedule:

Peace, Love and Summer days that never seem to end,

-IPYNC Staff

Schedule for Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

Hi everyone:

Sorry for being so late in getting Tuesday's  schedule published for  you'll.  Its been a busy night rearranging schedules! The reason for this was because of the weather, specifically Wednesdays weather.  The forecast is calling for it to be rainy and windy. Our  kayak friends therefore have cancelled our adventure to Dover Island for this day. However, all is not lost,  The kayaking adventure has been rescheduled to be on Friday.  All will be the same but  we'll be back on shore at 5 pm in East Dover instead of 7 pm we had planned for if we went Wednesday.

Here's a look at Tuesdays schedule:

 Peace. Love and adapting to what Mother Nature gives us,

-IPYNC Staaff

Camp Schedule for Monday, August 21, 2017

Hi everyone:

We are almost through our 14th year of camps but not before we end big with the Big Kids Camp!  Here's a look at Mondays exciting schedule:

Peace. Love and "flying your Learjet to NS to see the ( Partial) eclipse of the Sun" !

-IPYNC Staff

Hi Everyone:

Today we are going to reveal our Mystery Creature for week 3.  Here's a loo back at all 4 clues given this week:

Clue # 1: I sense food using hundreds of my tiny hairs on my legs which “tastes” chemicals in the water which leads me to a meal.

Clue # 2: My favorite food is blue mussel but I don’t mind munching on hermit crabs. Sadly, humans find me tasty. 

Clue # 3: I have a very hard exoskeleton that is a reddish-brown color and have large powerful claws.  Thankfully, I am not very aggressive like my alien cousin the Green Crab is.

Clue #4:  I am found in the camp's Ocean Tank next to you!

The Mystery Creature is  .  .  . 

A Jonah Crab

Schedule for Friday, August 6th

Hi everyone:

Another week of camps is quickly coming to an end.  This can only mean that we will be having Island Amazing Race Friday.  Here a look at the complete schedule for the last day of camp 3 for 2017.

Peace, Love and Holy Mackerels!
-IPYNC Staff

Final two Clues for Camp 3's Mystery Creature

Hi Campers:

Friday we are reveal this camps mystery Creature but not before giving two final clues.  Here they are:


Clue # 3 I have a very hard exoskeleton that  is a reddish brown color  and have large powerful claws. Thankfully,  I am not very aggressive like my alien cousin the Green Crab is.

Clue #4 I am found in the camp's Ocean Tank next to you!

Shhhhh!  Keep your guesses a secret until Friday :)

- IPYNC Staff

Hi everyone:

We had a wonderful day at Blue beach finding fossils in rocks but I'm sure more than a few campers are a little sore after carrying from the beach 100's of pounds of fossil rocks to the bus!  Here's a look at Thursday's schedule:

 Peace, Love and Tetrapods,
-IPYNC Staff

Hi everyone:

We got had a beautiful sunny day on the ocean for our first day of camp 3 with lots of beach time.  Tomorrow calls for showers but we have lots of arts and crafts and bug eating so we can stay out of the rain.  Here's a look at Tuesday's schedule:

Peace, Love and Swimming in the rain,
-IPYNC Staff