Our third week in this course is
already over! My hometown FGCU week was the fastest week so far. We spent every
day at Vester Marine Station, carpooling from the FGCU dorms, and mainly spent
our days out on the water.
On Monday, we arrived in Bonita
Springs and began with a brief lecture with Dr. Douglass over Estero Bay. We then
went out on two boats and studied epibenthic biodiversity by visiting four
different sites. One boat was tasked with collecting nets that were already
placed at each site and sifting through them to identify and discover what
organisms lived in those areas. The second boat was tasked with taking a simple
survey of what type of organisms lived in the area from what we could find in
the water and sediment around us. The nets were made from simple PVC piping,
encircling a net on the inside. The nets were weighed down, making it easier
for them to stay put over time. After all our sites were visited and sampled,
we returned to Vester to analyze what we found. We went through buckets of
organisms, recorded where and how many were found per site, and pooled the data
into one sheet.
Collecting live samples |
On Tuesday, we started with another
brief lecture by Dr. Savarese over his work along with information about
sediment core samples and how we would use the information during the day. We
split into two groups for the day, each going to do a sediment core in the
Horseshoe Keys of Estero Bay. Our group was with Dr. Savarese, and we sampled a
core from the northern part of the keys on top of an oyster reef. To take the
core, we used a huge aluminum pipe with attachable handles. It took a lot of rhythm
and teamwork because to get the core properly, two people had to be on the
handles, while the third person was in the middle keeping the pole straight.
After the core was finished, we met the other boat at Mound Key for a quick
tour of the archaeological work University of Georgia students were studying.
After we returned to Vester we analyzed the core and saw the changes
in sedimentation over 4,000 years, and discussed what factors caused this and
how the land had changed over time.
On Wednesday, our morning lecture
with Dr. Douglass covered seagrass and its importance in the environment, as
well as what habitat it provides for other organisms. We went back to sites like
the ones we visited Monday, although we collected sediment/seagrass samples with
a Virnstein sampler on one boat while the other boat collected small core
samples. This took a majority of our day up, and after returning to Vester, we
analyzed the core samples as well as the Virnstein samples and sifted through
them to identify what vegetation and organisms were living in the sediment and
grasses. All sites had similar diversity, and the last site was a favorite for
everyone because the bottom was littered with brittle stars! They were fun to
look at and examine, making this site an enjoyable last one.
Analyzing and identifying the samples |
Thursday, we started our morning
lecture with Dr. Parsons over estuarine circulation and were on canoes the first
half of the day. We were partnered up and sent off into the bay with only a grapefruit,
gps, and our notes with us. Our objective was to place the grapefruit into the
water, record the starting latitude and longitude, starting time, and wait ten
minutes. Once the ten minutes were up, we had to retrieve the grapefruit,
record the ending latitude and longitude, ending time, and move to the next
site. We had to record the grapefruit ten times, and once we were finished we
headed back to the lab and calculated the speed and distance of each ten
trials. Next, we plotted our points on a large map of Estero Bay to discover
the current movement and freshwater flow.
VIP tow back to the dock! |
Overall, my home week was one of my
favorites. Not only because I could sleep in my own bed, but because I enjoyed
being out on the water everyday examining all the different organisms that live
in the bay. This week flew by, but I am so excited for my next week at USF!
Nice job, Shelby! Glad you were there to rep FGCU. :)
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