Oh the Past Two Days....

Thursday May 14.

This combined was the best and worst day so far. First, not even half to Sandy Point our tire popped while we were driving. Everyone was safe. We waited about 45 mins until rescue came but then we had to wait another hour on a beach while they took our truck back to the center to fix it. Yes i know waiting on the beach doesnt sound bad but it was when it started to pour down rain for about 10 mins. Everyone occupied there time by playing with the snails. It was a battle royal between the snails and hermit crabs.

Once we were rescued we finally got to our destination and ate lunch. We then collected shells to keep for ourselves plus to identify later in lab. Our entertainment started when we got over the last sand mound and realized how big the waves were. They were breaking right off shore. The boys were very daring a body surfed them.The girls on the other hand laughed at them. Everyone got a whole lot of sand in their swim suits.

That afternoon we when to Grotto Beach to snorkel at the reef. We got out there and saw a couple of cool fish but had to come back in because the surf was too rough. Our dive flag was floating out to the open ocean. The last of us to come in were fortunate to see a flounder fish. It was pretty cool.

Since we couldnt snorkel anymore we just played and swam in the shallow water for a little bit. On our way back to the research center it started raining agian. Everyone was soaked by the time we got back.

In lab we all had to identify 12 shells that we collected. Some groups also had to do a sand analysis which consists of comparing sand from beaches on the North, South, East, and West of the islands. Also, everyone is working on their individual projects during their free time. Some are doing the tide pools, a group is measuring plants, and some are comparing biodiversity between day and night on the reef.

For it being really cloudy and rainy out quite of bit of our group got pretty burnt. Ouch.


Friday May 15.

Today we to Storr's lake to find stromatolites. These are calcium carbonate structures created by cyanobacteria. Aka big smooth rocks. The water had a pinkish color to it because of the halophiles. This was also the saltiest lake we have been to. To find the stromatolites we just had to get into the water and walk until we hit our shins on them. The bottom of the lake was very rocky and if you stayed in one place too long you would start to sink. This was an adventure and a very difficult task. Many of us came out with battle wounds. We did find the stromatolites and they were awesome! We took samples of the the stromatolites, the water and the muck on the bottom and viewed them under the microscopes in the lab.

We have the afternoon off to work on our individual projects.

Kelsey Kovacevich and Amanda Paige