16 Jul My projects at PAIS!
This blog post about my projects here at Padre Island has been long overdue. Factors like the weather, Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl, being short staffed, COVID, has been hectic but a learning experience none-the-less. With that, my programs for the park took a while to be available to the public. My supervisor told me ahead of time that the focus for the park was the fishing program. Birding involved yes, but not the main factor. Even though we had the materials from IGFA, we would not be able to follow the fishing clinic method as the Interp and Education division is already short staffed with projects of their own. Plus, other park divisions also had big projects to do for the summer, so it was difficult to get enough people for the stations in the clinic method. Instead, I created a Fishing program tailored for the park.
Doing that meant going over the IGFA online fishing course and on-site materials to see how I could create the program. Not only that but checking volunteer availability and having access to the education room. I also had to type up a Job Hazards Analysis document and a Program Outline so interns/employees can use them for future fishing events. It was a bit of a process as I also helped at the Visitor Center, helped with public Turtle Hatchling Release days, and attended some outreach events I mentioned in one of the previous blogs.
Our first Fishing program took place Saturday June 29th, it was meant to take place sooner but Tropical Storm Alberto hit the park about a week prior. The park was closed for about a day or two. When I got back there was a lot of debris washed up and the sand was too soft to be driven on. So even though the park was open, certain areas were closed. During that time, one coworker was out due to COVID and another was out to take care of their family with COVID. Those days I covered and answered a ton of calls. Very busy those days.
Going back to the program, the format had two parts to it. An indoor classroom portion and a fishing portion. Sign-ups were done a week in advance and capped at 10 anglers, not counting babies or parents of children. This was due to the size of the classroom. The indoor portion was broken into 5 main topics: Fishing Tools, Knot Practice, Dehook Practice, Fishing Regulations/Measuring Practice, and Conservation and Protection. I referenced the IGFA materials to form my own. For the Measuring Practice I drew some fish with crayons so kids could practice measuring them to find out if they can keep said fish according to the Texas regulations paper I printed out. After the classroom portion, it was just fishing at the beach. I am super grateful for our volunteers, Ashely and Kent, for helping out. They are expert fishermen and even aid in tagging sharks for the Harte Institute at TAMUCC. They were a big help in teaching guests how to cast, dehooking their catch, plus they brought fresh shrimp for us to use.
On the 6th, we had a scheduled Fishing program but had to cancel due to Hurricane Beryl. On the radar we were in the cone of uncertainty, so closing was the safest bet. Then the Saturday after, we had to reschedule to Sunday due to weather. That same Sunday was a scheduled public Turtle Hatchling Release. So, a double whammy of events I was in. I was up since 4 am but it was worth it. One kid caught 6 fish back-to-back!
As for the birding program, the aim is to be a pop-up done twice a week. For the bird program I also had to make a JHA, program outline, and get materials. Since it’s very hot where I am at and some birds have left for migration, the run time is shorter, but I included activities for the guests. Like learning how to use a bird guide, a bird migration game I was taught during training, and a birding etiquette game I made.
Honestly, I was pretty nervous to start bringing these programs to the public, since I know I was one of the last interns to do so. But I’m thankful for the curveballs that came my way, I learned a lot from them. Thanks for reading, bye!
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