The salty sea air, the wind on our faces, it was a great day to be at sea!! So today started out with the class and professor’s going to Telephone Pole Reef down from Snapshot Reef. Our purpose for this snorkel was to focus and review fish that we have learned so far. J-Dub gave a brief introduction to the area so we knew how far out we could swim and we were off! Many of us snorkel with underwater cameras, dive slates, reef fish in-a-pocket guide books, and a curious mind. All these tools help us to record our findings so we can later document them in our field books. Along the reef we saw colorful angel fish, fairy basslets, Spanish hogfish, doctorfish, and barracudas. Along with watching for and identifying the fish we also have to think of the lives of these fish. How they live, why they interact with other fish, what they eat, and how they reproduce. P. Rich is always emphasizing the ecology portion of this trip so it is fresh in our brains! As we were coming in from the reef we were also able to see an octopus and feather duster worms! Very cool indeed! Our ride back to the GRC was spent in more water as the sky decided to grace us with some much needed rain. We never thought we would be cold on this trip but we were wrong!
After lunch we took the truck out to North Point to look specifically at algae. Did you know that some algae looks just like plants? In fact, most seaweeds are actually algae. Algae has no roots, stems or flowers and can be microscopic, like phytoplankton, or really big, like kelp. Our group found 12 different kinds of algae in a fairly small area so they are obviously a very big part of the ocean ecosystem. We may have gotten distracted by a passing Southern Stingray in the beginning and later by a Common Octopus but we tried to stay focused. Of course, when J-Dub is pointing out a cleaning shrimp living inside a Giant Anemone, you can’t help but get excited. We waded back to the truck in crystal clear water and wondered what new experiences the next trip would bring.
Later dudes,
Kathi and Jennifer