We started out our day of adventuring with French toast and sausage for breakfast. Before we left for our first snorkeling location of the day, a torrential downpour was among us. Soon after, we headed to North Point where our objective was to begin to learn about algae. We did this by collecting five specimen of different algae species per student. After that we laid out our alga samples and split into groups to identify what we had collected. A few of the most common alga species collected were Pencillus (39 specimens) and Halimeda (17 specimens). A few of the least common alga species collected were Caulerpa (1 specimen) and Wrangelia argus (1 specimen). We observed many species.
Once all the groups had identified all their alga species, we headed back to the truck on which we arrived. To do so, we had to maneuver our way around the rocky terrain during high tide. Waist high in sea water, we attempted to climb over rocks and make it safely to shore. Upon arrival back to the Gerace Research Center (GRC), we decompressed by rinsing off the salt water and heading to lunch.
Lunch today was a delicious pizza as well as our first fruit encounter here, a pear! Also served was pasta salad and lunch meat sandwiches. In our downtime before our next snorkeling location, students either took a nap, visited the computer lab, or wrote in their write-in-the-rain books, also called a field journal, under the outdoor pavilion. Around 1:30pm we headed to our second location, Monument. This truck ride was full of pelting rain and large puddles. We drove for about 20-25 minutes to get to our destination. At Monument, we geared up and headed out to observe the coral reefs. Our objective at this location was to become more familiar with taking directed observations. Directed observations tell us what we are looking at, what that organism is interacting with, what the stresses and adaptations are for this organism, and any questions we came across. We saw a smaller sting ray which everyone swam over to see. One of our personal favorite organisms we observed is the feather duster worm. When spooked, the worm retracts into its tube. Wrapping up this snorkel, we headed back to shore to pack up and visit the local town.
Town was quite a different experience for many of us. There were three quaint shops to look in. Many of us indulged in ice cream at one of the shops which is not as accessible to us at the GRC. One of the shops had a cat that was extraordinarily friendly making all of us content. The third shop had an assortment of souvenirs such as Bahamian flags, T-shirts, bracelets, and other trinkets.
After our short stop into town we headed back to the GRC for dinner. Dinner consisted of steamed broccoli, fried rice, ham, and fresh salad with carrot cake for dessert. During our break before lecture, students finished cleaning up from the day of snorkeling and headed early to lecture around 7:00pm to finish their coloring from the night before. Lecture talked about ecology and ecosystems. After lecture we signed up for our organism group presentations and site/community presentations both of which you will be informed about at later dates. We hope you enjoyed hearing about our day in San Salvador, Bahamas. Hoping for sunny skies tomorrow. Signing off!
Julia Valentine ’18 & Kaitlyn Zavesky ‘17