Official first week at UNF

We started our first official week at UNF, and it was a great one. We started off the week traveling through some of the local rivers to collect data such as, salinity and turbidity. We took some samples back to test, and even got to look at the zooplankton under a microscope. Then came time for the 24 hour survey of the salt marshes. That was a lot of fun until the rain came and really got in the way of things. We did have a chance to get some pretty cool critters before we had to take cover near by. Seeing what would show up in the nets as we pulled them was super exciting! After the rained clear, we all got our gear back together and headed back out to finish the rest of the sampling. Friday was a really fun day as well. We visited different types of beaches and sand dunes. The coquina outcrops were something that I've never seen before. They are rocks that form little pools of water, and sometimes there are tropical fish trapped inside. One of them even had an anemone inside it! After exploring the coquina rocks, we had lunch and headed out. Our last stop of the day was another beach location where we could finally swim and just have fun. Overall I learned so much during this short week at UNF. I got the opportunity to learn about use equipment that I have never used before. It gave me a better understanding what it's like to be out in the field and then being able to take home your samples and actually analyze the data yourself. I would definitely do this whole week over if I could! Goodbye Jacksonville, next stop Key West!

Our team measuring and counting organisms

We had to stop and pose on top of the coquina rock formations

Taking photos of some critters caught in the pools