Sunday 5 June 2016

FGCU Marine Station

This week we were at FGCU's Vester Marine Station. We did not have class on Monday because of Memorial Day but we continued our work on Tuesday with collection Oyster Reef bags that had failed to settle. These bags were set there originally for the intent that they would build an Oyster Reef. Oyster reefs are very helpful for holding in the sediments and provide a structure for mangroves to later go in and colonize. Wednesday we went into more detail with this when we sampled soil cores from a mangrove island. We were able to see the different types of sediment and learned how to tell the structure of the substrate in the past. Thursday, we went out on the boat and took phytoplankton and zooplankton samples from multiple areas. When we arrived back at the Marine Station, we identified the diverse organisms we found using a microscope and interpreted the information we collected. Lastly Friday, we went out and explored various sea grass beds. In these beds, we found larger organisms such as Fighting Conchs and Sea Urchins. We concluded the week by analyzing quadrat samples we collected on the snorkeling trip. This week was probably the most comfortable week and didn't involve much strenuous activity like the last couple weeks. Now we are on our way to USFSP to explore more of the Gulf ecosystems.  


3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I had to be nimble and I received some cuts but overall it was better than I thought.

      Delete
    2. I had to be nimble and I received some cuts but overall it was better than I thought.

      Delete