Friday we went on an all day trip to a mud flat next to Long Key called Old Dan Bank. Students laid out 1 m X 1 m quadrats in order to quantify how various species of algae and invertebrates vary across a changing depth gradient. The weather was outstanding, with low winds and sunny skies. We saw a vast array of algae, crabs, sponges, invertebrates, and even several stingrays.
We enjoyed our lunch on the boat, then completed several plankton tows on the way back to the lab – capturing a diversity of dinoflagellates, crab and shrimp larvae, diatoms, copepods…. etc. etc.! The students spent several hours in the evening sorting through the specimens and using microscopes to identify the bounty of the microcosm.
Saturday morning we ventured to a hardbottom site to find loggerhead sponges and vase sponges. Our research question was to examine how the size of the sponge correlated with the number of animals using the sponge as a refuge. We found urchins, spiny lobster, and an abundance of small fish crowding around the largest sponges, desperately trying to avoid becoming a larger fish’s lunch.
Sunday has been a rest-filled day, some went to Layton Baptist Church in the morning, others rested. We all traveled to Islamorada for a seafood lunch. The afternoon has been filled with laundry, movies, a visit to the beach for fun in the sun.
– Ryan for the team
