MORNING:
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| Snorkel Snack Of The Day: Cookies! |
The rain Gods decided to release all
of their fury on us early this morning so we cancelled our afternoon boat trip
to devote time to collecting group data. Snorkel gear in hand, all of us
hopped into the water and dispersed around the STRI dock and House Reef to make
headway on our projects (and without fail, Jan had snorkel snacks waiting for
us near the check-out/check-in board when we returned).
AFTERNOON:
All of us came back together for a
quick lunch and then went right back to work. Below are the up to date project
statuses for each group thus far.
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| Muffle Furnace Used For Ashing |
Cucumber
Crew:
Late last night the Cucumber Crew (MacKenna,
Natasha, and Katie) collected their first set of night samples and today were
able to place their sediment samples into the muffle furnace. This method,
known as ashing, is useful for measuring the composition of organic carbon in
the samples by comparing weights before and after exposure to heat.
Go
With The Flow:
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| Hard Candy Trials |
Katalin and Alyssa were hard at work in
the mangroves using lollipops as a
water motion measurement device. They are
using the Plaster-of-Paris cubes as well and have already collected them and taken measurements. The use of both methods will allow them to have
a set of both short-term and longer-term measurements for their overall data
set. In lab, they are performing salinity tests and use of the drying oven for
their sediment samples.
Damsels
In Distress:
 |
| Modified Centrifuge Tubes |
Nicole, Craig, and I were able to test
out our damselfish aggression table in the field and replenish the centrifuge tubes in the
nutrient increased sites to ensure algal growth. We went out after lunch (when
the fish would be the most active) and collected data on the individual sites
by observing each fish and marking their aggressive behavior toward others that
enter their territory.
EVENING:
This evening, each group spent time in
lab compiling data and organizing PowerPoints in preparation for presentations
that are coming up soon.
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| Stick Bug Post-(Unwantedly) Climbing MacKenna |
Dinner was prepared for us when we got
back to the dining room, where we all got to hear about each others progress in
the field (this is the only place where hearing the words “Donkey Dung”
mentioned at the dinner table is acceptable). Tonight our dinner guest was a
massive stick bug that was hanging out on the wall while we ate. We concluded
the day with another installment of reef fishes taught by Richard, where he
discussed key species of fishes and their impact on the coral reefs.
Goodnight from all of us here in Panama!
-Morgan.
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