We began our adventure, loading the trucks to go to Bonefish bay. We arrived at 9:12AM and were greeted with a lovely partly sunny sky and 83.5°F. This morning, it was low tide and some of the rocks were exposed. This meant that our objective was to explore the intertidal zone and its organisms. This location during low tide has many organisms that one wouldn’t normally see during any other time other than low tide. As each student walked gently through the sand, they lifted up rocks to expose the organisms underneath. One of the favorite organisms from this area was the brittle star. Students would hold them in their hands and the flexible organism would crawl across their hands, tickling some of the students. Another organism was a great find: the common octopus. One of the students found it hiding between two rocks due to a large amount of empty mollusk shells clumped together outside of the hiding place. The octopus remained still in its hole throughout many students’ and professors’ observations.
The next area of the intertidal zone was a rock patch that had many holes and crevices for organisms to hide. Students spent most of their time in this area, bent over and looking for creatures. Hidden in the dissolved rock was many red rock sea urchins, and students were able to pick up some of them and observe their unique morphology. Another interesting organism found was actually the urchin’s predator: the king helmet snail. The shell was huge, large enough to be held using both hands, and had beautiful coloration on all of its surfaces. When it was placed back in the water, patient students observed the snail’s siphon come out of the shell. This zone captured the attention of all and presented many organisms that were not able to be observed at other sites.
After lunch, all the students anxiously boarded the truck to head over to the next site: Snapshot Reef. They arrived at the beach at 1:50PM to a bright and sunny sky with a blazing 94.5°F. The objective was to observe the site and the coral that was present at this particular local. However, the snorkel visit was cut short, due to anomalous weather conditions. Even in the short amount of time, some students still managed to see incredible organisms, such as the great barracuda and several species of stingrays. The students and professors evacuated the water and waited patiently as the storm passed above them. When the worst of the weather had passed, everyone boarded the truck to head back to the research center. During the long truck ride through the rain, students found enjoyment by singing classic songs from many decades, including but not limited to “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Carry On My Wayward Son,” and the Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song. Even though the rain put a damper on the afternoon, students still found a chance to turn a bad situation into one where everyone could bond by singing in the rain.
Anna Aylor ‘18 and Tabitha Martin ‘18