Day 3: Let the projects begin!

Elle Hopkins

Day three began with another amazing meal cooked by Dezuse: eggs, toast, and some deliciously ripe mango. We then headed right down to the docks for a full morning of snorkeling! We explored 2 sites today, Pt. Cocos and STRI Point, with the goal of collecting quadrat data on the percent cover of different species on the coral reefs, and the abundance of seagrass shoots in the beds. We sped to Pt. Cocos first, and jumped in the water after Richard kindly laid our transect line. We were equipped with quadrats, slates and cameras, and spent about 30 minutes learning how difficult it is to collect data underwater. Between the fragile corals 3 feet below the surface, currents pushing us around and the general mayhem of grouping up in the water, I have a new appreciation of marine biologists who conduct large scale studies like this! Here are some action shots of our survey efforts courtesy of Maya: 

After the quadrats, we spent about an hour exploring this beautiful reef, and some of our favorite finds are below!

After Pt. Cocos, we headed over to STRI point to conduct our survey on the seagrass beds. This site presented different challenges, as we had to count seagrass shoots and measure them, all while trying not to stir up too much sediment. After this final survey effort, we explored the area and has some really cool finds: a dead reef shark that allowed everyone and up close look, beautiful Elkhorn coral patches, some awesome jellies and a ray!

After a jam packed morning, we had another amazing lunch cooked by Dezuse and then Maya and Richard released us into the wild to begin our projects! We have 6 groups studying some pretty incredible things, with even better team names. The Urchinators are Hannah J. and Bennett, studying the hatting behavior of urchins. La Péz Hombres, Jack, Jackson and Fox, are interested in damselfish and their territorial behaviors. The Funky Roots group of Maya and Randi are studying the differences in the functional groups of organisms in relation to their location in the mangrove grove. The Luann of the Seas duo- Luke and Owen- are investigating the differences in the rubble along a coral reef transect, The Rhiz Lads (myself and Hannah L.) are studying how wave action and human proximity effect the percent cover of oysters on mangrove roots and lastly the Brittle Boyz (Lainie and Alex) are studying the chemical defenses of brittle stars. Everyone got a great start on their projects and we're excited for whats to come tomorrow!

The night concluded with another delicious meal and a chocolate cake made by Desuze to celebrate my 22nd birthday. We all sang and I appreciated all the good wishes and gifts, what an amazing place to celebrate!