Nearby, David Ballard, one of Coates' classmates, knelt on a pile of crushed shells in front of a large rock.

"He's in there," Ballard said, hoping to glimpse the tentacled arms of an octopus tucked into the protective darkness created by the rock.

Friday's low tide was a perfect opportunity for the high school science students to get an up-close look at organisms that inhabit the bay's underwater world. Their field trip was organized by Tania Spurkland. Formerly of Homer and now a Seldovia resident, Spurkland is a doctoral candidate in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' marine biology program.

"I've been a teacher for 30 years and I'm used to bringing students to this side of the bay," said Spurkland, who taught science to middle and high school students from the 1970s until five years ago.

Now, as a student, Spurkland is immersed in a study of Kachemak Bay's sugar kelp. A grant from the Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center in Seward is helping fund the project, which includes an education component involving the high school students. Accompanied by HHS instructors Vicki Lowe and Jan Spurkland Lowe teaches science; Jan Spurkland, Spurkland's son, teaches physics the students were learning to see the beach the way Spurkland does.

"What do you call this kind of sponge?" she asked.

"Bob," the students answered, laughing at their SpongeBob Squarepants joke. Spurkland laughed, too, knowing, after two days with them, that the students knew a breadcrumb sponge when they saw one.

After arriving on the south side of the bay Aug. 27, the students settled into Kasitsna Bay Lab's bunkhouse. Located less than two miles from Jakolof, the lab is home to work done by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Wet and dry labs, a dive locker and overnight accommodations complete with kitchens, laundry facilities and showers, are made available to other scientists and students working on projects. Hallways are lined with posters documenting the research that has been done or is currently under way.

Before taking Homer High students back to Jakolof Bay, Spurkland presented them with journals in which to document everything they learned before departing Friday evening.

"Marine biology trips like the one you are about to begin are designed by your leaders to cram as much knowledge into as few days as possible," Spurk- land wrote inside each journal. "Your job is to observe and record everything you see, feel, smell, taste, hear and think."

First to be recorded were Jakolof Bay's physical and chemical parameters based on tests the students performed. They noted the light intensity at varying water depths, the bay's salinity, the temperature of the air and the water. They measured oxy- gen, carbon dioxide and ammonia all clues to what organisms live in the bay's chilly water.

An exploration of Seldovia's intertidal beach was on the schedule for Thursday, as well as a nature walk and an introduction to orientation and using a compass. The evening's schedule included an opportunity for translating science into art, specifically mobile-making and poetry.

Early Friday morning, the students were back at Jakolof Bay to conduct a study of the rocky intertidal area. Divided into teams of three, they narrowed their focus with a half-meter square quadrat, closely examining four different tidal levels. Among their task: noting the number of organisms. That seemed a daunting task when applied to barnacles.

"It's a snap," Spurkland said, giving the students a mathematical approach they, in turn, applied.

Each group was to sketch the areas they explored.

"It' doesn't have to be perfect," Spurkland said, encouraging them by adding, "It's the first time you're doing this."

Before long, her enthusiasm spread to the students, with Coates enjoying the brief interaction with the tiny crab and Ballard hoping for one more glimpse of the octopus. What's known as a leather sea star captured everyone's attention with its garlic-like scent. The luminescence of a ctenophore seen swimming beneath the Jakolof Bay float made the class stop and take notice. When Spurkland identified nori, red kelp used in making sushi, students bit off samples to taste.

At the end of the day, with their journals reflecting three days of activity, their bags packed and transportation on its way to take them back to Homer, students gave presentations on organisms with which they'd become acquainted. Their talks and accompanying artwork were rewarded with broad smiles from Spurkland, as well as applause from classmates and teachers.

"If we can ignite an appreciation and passion for the natural world, people will naturally want to act responsibly," Vicki Lowe said. "Projects like this may be that spark for some of Homer's youth."

Spurkland will follow-up the students' trip to Jakolof with a visit to the HHS science class later in the year.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.