Tuesday’s activities out here on Long Key are summarized by Molly Zook, a senior biology and ASL double major.
Today brought a whole new challenge to what many feel is May term play-term. For us hard working marine biologists, we are in the middle of our “semester.” This means that a full research project and some big exams are coming up. Last night was a stretch for many as we frantically were deciding on research questions we hoped to answer. This meant reading any connecting literature, asking ourselves questions to take care of every detail and variable, and thinking creatively to create a project that would show some results within a few days.
With a hefty pile of work, some decided to power through and were up till nearly 3am, while others woke up at 5:30 after a few hours of sleep. Papers for the project proposal and presentation were quickly finished by 10, just in time for our morning lecture. We got to hear some awesome ideas for projects. It was great to see how creative everyone was and the fascinating questions they posed. One group is monitoring sponge regrowth along a mangrove driven ecosystem. Another looking at sponges in a different light, exploring brittle star populations living in orange sponges. A third group is surveying the density and diversity of seagrass as it relates to sediment, and another will be looking at various gastropods among these seagrass beds. I can’t wait to see what everyone finds!
After our morning full of presentations, the hustle and bustle of the kitchen was in full swing as everyone rushed to make lunch and study for the first of several taxonomy quizzes we have this week. And then the real fun started! We gathered our supplies and all split off into our independent research groups. Some groups took kayaks into the canal for their sponge research, and two other groups ventured to Anne’s Beach. This afternoon was full of troubleshooting, hoping to make methodologies that worked. After a few hours, everyone gathered back at the lab station to grab some dinner before an evening lecture and some late night lab time. However, the full day of snorkeling, the hot sun, and an exhausting evening the night before required a proper recharge by many of the students. Most attempted to catch a quick nap, one even falling asleep at the dinner table. (Oops! My bed was just too far away!)
Once in the lab, groups analysed data found in the lab and worked on cleaning up methodologies. And then the studying continued. Another taxonomy quiz awaits for us at 8am on Wednesday morning.
