For all of our friends, family and blog stalkers out there, we apologize for not being able to post pictures and the text every night – the internet here is not quite what it is back at home! But we are doing our best to keep you updated.
We began our day today similar to yesterday with discussion on research projects. They are forming nicely and we will begin the real work on them tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, we set out for a very adventurous hike to the end of North Point to practice counting organisms on a transect line. Many of us were pushed past our comfort zones by having to scale down a very steep rocky edge! After many ups and downs we made it to our destination safely, a little island just past North Point called Cut Cay. We set up three transect lines starting near the water’s edge and going vertically up the rock. Students used a cubic meter quadrant to mark an area of rock and count all the organisms that inhabited the space all the way up the line. This meant hundreds of snails, sometimes very small and hiding in cervices. Ed tried kissing a hermit crab, but unfortunately for him it did not turn into a princess!
After our work was complete, it was time to head back to the truck as we were all tired and hungry. The only problem was that the tide was rising while we were working, and the water that was once at our ankles was now at our waist! This resulted in very wet clothes, but a nice cool down for us. Today was a very strenuous and interesting day, but in the end, we all were happy we went on the “hike” to Cut Cay and to experience new terrestrial challenges.
Gracie Winzeler ’13 and Michelle Brumm ‘15