Cynthia UR Nature Bound

I grew up in California where smog alerts were common place, waste and litter covered our beaches, species had been hunted to the brink of extinction for their fur; many including myself, would not accept these new norms. We are part of this beautiful natural world. I appreciate its detail.

I want to share and protect what is left. I chose this field for the same reasons so many before me did; for the singing bird; for the fish in the water; for the sake of our children and breathable air.

The earth my home, is priceless and not for sale.

Young Wood Stork 

Michelle (UR) - They say fortune favors the bold...

For my IRP, I hope to create a filter that works similar to oysters in filtering microplastics. This is an extension on Lyle Williams' IRP, which was incredibly eye-opening. In my own research, I learned that the majority of microplastics in the water come from synthetic clothing, since wastewater treatment plants can't filter them. I'm no engineer, but I'm going to give this a try. Failure is always an option, right?

I had originally come to DSC to become a teacher. After an internship, I realized that teaching was not for me. That experience made me realize that I needed to do something that I'm passionate about, which has always been the environment. I've been gardening for years, and I even have my own composting bins at home. I decided to get my A.S. in Environmental Science because it allowed me to learn a little of everything, instead of just focusing on one area.

Jenna Westfall (UR)- Shark Bait?

Ever since I was about 6 years old I've always loved surfing. My dad taught me when I was young and I grew up just enjoying being in the water and getting the thrill of dropping in on a wave. As a little kid you're always afraid of something. Well when I was 8 years old, I was out in the water one day and I saw a shark swim right underneath me. Let me tell you, that scared the living crap out of me but my dad told me they aren't going to hurt me unless I hurt them and I eventually began to like them and not be afraid. I'm and animal and ocean lover. I'm 18 years old and I have been stung by three jellyfish, one manowar, and pinched by a gazillion crabs but even that doesn't scare me. I love the ocean just as much.

One of my many jellyfish stings.

A stingray that washed up ashore.

I chose this field because the ocean means everything to me and I want to do everything I can to save it and all of the marine life it holds. I care about the health of marine organisms, the quality of their habitat and what might be affecting them. I think the thought of taking a sick or injured marine organism and making it healthy and stable again really helps motivate me. The ocean is beautiful and we should do everything we can to keep it that way. I love doing beach cleanups. Its sad seeing just how much garbage washes up on the shore, it just makes me wonder what else is out there.

My parents and I during a beach clean-up in New Smyrna Beach, FL.

Karen (UR) - I see dead people

I have always been fascinated with archeology.  Digging up (excavating) things that could be thousands of years old, WOW !  It's only been recently that I have become interested in anthropology as well.  A few years ago I was fortunate enough to spend a year and a half living in the high desert of northern New Mexico.  I was living on the Navajo Indian Reservation and the artifacts and history captivated me. So, of course, that's how I came to love Paleo-anthropology, the best of both worlds. 


I also love anything with fur, feathers and scales.  For my entire life I have had pets of all kinds. Armadillos to Zebras ! Horses are my true love though, well and dogs !!  I also am crazy about plants of any kind, especially trees.  I thought I would combine my love of animals and plants for my research project.


So, here goes.....
In many areas of the world, small holding farmers have a difficult time feeding their livestock and growing crops.  There are many reasons for this but one of the main reasons is water.  Clean water.  I'm not talking about drinking water, that is a whole other conversation.  Because of this difficulty, especially in under-developed countries, I will be researching the use of Lemnaceae lemna minor or the common Duckweed as a water purifier.  This plant can be used to clean water that has been contaminated with nitrates and phosphates (from animal manure and/or fertilizers).  The plant can then be dried and used for animal feed (fodder) or as an organic fertilizer because once dried, it no longer retains the nitrates and phosphates.  A dual purpose aquatic "weed". 

New Mexico

Shiprock, New Mexico
Navajo Sacred Mountain



Katie U.R : Sharks are Friends, Not Food !

If you asked anyone I'm pretty sure I first fell in love with seeing the commercials of the trainers performing with Orcas. I thought it was the coolest thing being able to spend your time working while swimming with animals that weighed a small truck (Don't get me wrong, after growing up and seeing the truth for the animals that are kept in captivity, I am against all of that!). Living by the beach also played a huge roll in why I wanted to Marine Biology. I chose this field because the ocean is still undiscovered. There is still so many things that need to be explored and I honestly hope to be apart of that group of people who get to. 

The ocean and the life that inhabit's it is what motivates me. The wrecks that have happened through out the ocean that have not been discovered is something I would really like to take part in finding. The ocean inspires me to become a better person for the world. It makes me want to help make people see that we cant keep throwing trash into it and that its not okay to not clean up the debris that is all around it. 

I care about everything in the ocean. I believe there are other things that are more important than other things, but I do care about them all. Sharks are a huge thing for me. I believe there is a lot going on with them that we are not made aware about. When I first got certified for diving, my first dive I went on I got the chance of seeing a couple Blacktips. It was a beautiful thing. Knowing that some sharks aren't so lucky to keep their fins was something that made me upset. Learning more about that is what got me into the whole Sharkwater stuff. Rob Stewart showed everybody what is happening in other countries to the sharks that swim in those waters. People are cutting off their fins and using them for food and other things. Some are even using the whole meat of the shark for things. 

Blacktip in BVI's 2015

Since I cant really stop people from Shark finning in a semester I think I want to maybe do my independent research project on the kinds of bacteria found in sharks mouths that cause bacterial infections in shark bite victims.  I might start out by going out on my grandfathers boat and catching and releasing the sharks that I am able to catch and do a lot of swabbing's on their mouths, and get as many as I can so I can do a range of sharks not just a couple. I also need to find shark bite victims that are opened to telling their stories on what bacterial infections they got. Just some ideas for now though! 

Jenna Westfall, UR- All About Me

         Hey everyone, my name is Jenna Westfall. I have lived in Florida for my entire life, my dad grew up surfing and fishing and as a kid he sort of passed it on to me. Growing up at the beach every weekend, feeling the calmness of the ocean and seeing all of the amazing marine life made me want to become a marine biologist. It has always been my dream ever since I was a little kid. Two summers ago, I volunteered at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet and I got to teach kids and adults all about starfish and dogfish sharks. I think that basically sealed the deal for me. I am currently working on my A.A. degree and after I receive that, I will be transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University to get my bachelors.

The sunrise from my families condo in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Me carrying my surfboard up to the room after unpacking the truck for the week.

Awesome action shot that I took at the jetty in Ponce Inlet.

Niki UR Hi!

Hello! My name is Niki. I'm 25 and a Marine Science major, expecting to graduate next fall. I'm not sure which university i'll transfer to, or what degree I will pursue when I get there. I'm hoping the variety of classes in this program will help me choose my career path, although I would love to tie together my fascination with the ocean and sharks, and my love of travel and photography into a pretty awesome job.
I'm a born and raised Central Floridan, I've lived in the Daytona area for about ten years. I spent a lot of my childhood on the beach, and now I live two blocks from it. You really can't beat those sunrises.

One of my favorite sunrises from across the street from my house

I like camping, arts and crafts, yoga and science fiction. I have three cats and none of them are aware i'm not their real mom. One of my goals this year is to open up my own etsy shop. My mom is a seamstress and is teaching me all the sewing basics so I can make all kinds of stuff!

My three cats, Toulouse, Bagheera and Khajiit

Hannah Vu-Bennett (UR): Introduction

Hello! My name is Hannah and I am a dual enrolled student. I am happy to say I will be graduating from high school with my AA degree in June. I hope to transfer to either UNF or UH and work towards my marine biology degree. Eventually I hope to transfer into UF's Veterinary school and hope to specialize in aquatic veterinary.  My passion for the ocean, earth, and wildlife has inspired me to work in a field dedicated to conservation, restoration, and the study of marine life. Besides my love for the ocean, I also love to travel and hope to venture to more destination later in life. I love being outdoors and taking on new adventure. I can't wait to begin this class!

This photo was taken along the coast of Vietnam. The baskets shown here are used by the locals for fishing.  Fishing is an important staple in Vietnams economy, however, overfishing is common and very detrimental to the oceans ecosystem.

This was taken locally in NSB.

Augustus Sueck UR - Life.. uh.. finds a way

Hey everyone, my name is Augustus Sueck and I’m am really looking forward to this lab. My major is environmental science/ engineering, still teetering back and forth on the decision there. I guess if I’m going to introduce myself I’ll have to start at the beginning, I was born in Maryland and from an early age science and math were my two favorite subjects. Some of my earliest memories were getting up on Saturday and turning on the TV to watch some of the best programming to ever be on Television, shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jeff Corwin Experience and of course the Crocodile Hunter fascinated me. From the first moment I knew that was what I wanted to do with my life, not necessarily have a TV show but to inspire a younger generation to get into math and science and just start to question the world around them and beyond. 

That’s where my passion came from and after messing around in college for a while I’ve finally remembered what I love and to make a career out of it. 

Beech Mountain in Banner Elk, North Carolina

 And as with any proper blog post I will leave you with a shameless post of my dog, Atticus.

Atticus relaxing at the beach

Ray, UR--Back to the Field!

Hello! My name is Rachel, but I do prefer to be called Ray. I have recently left my beloved job in the Florida State Park Service to finish my Bachelors degree in Coastal Environmental Science. I have only worked in Florida for two years, and you could say am just getting my feet wet when it comes to coastal ecology. I am originally from the Appalachian rage of Virginia, so Oceanography is a very new and exciting topic for me. I feel like I have so much to learn in such little time.


 Being a park ranger gave me a chance to work out in the field, which motivated me to finish my degree and hopefully return as a Natural Resource Manager.

Jordan Vagovic UR - Introduction

Hello all, my name is Jordan, I am studying to get my A.A. in marine bio, and transfer to UCSB hopefully within the next year for my bachelors, then masters. I grew up and live on the beach, so I am in the ocean almost everyday, I cant really imagine life without the ocean. I have a 90 gallon mixed reef tank that is basically a giant money pit, and something is always going wrong with it.

My midnight black clowns and tomini tang

I absolutely love coral and reef life, I would love to work with that, however since I am moving to California, I will probably just settle for otters. One day in the future I would like to start up my own marine aquaculture for fish or inverts. I surf, paddle board and skate. If the waves are good, I am not in class. 

Welsophyllia, my brain coral. My show piece 

Cynthia UR Nature Bound

The great blue heron

Hi, my name is Cynthia. Come join me while I pursue the realities and mysteries that surround us, that make up the creation we call planet earth. Uncover marvels of the physical world, learning to be part of, and beginning to know and understand. Since I was young I wondered at the beautiful formations, plants, and creatures that surrounded me; I learned their names and found out how and where they lived. They are part of me, and I now choose a place with them. 

Michelle (UR) - Introducing me

A combination of two of my loves: Halloween and tigers

Hello all. I'm Michelle. This is my final semester at DSC; I'll be graduating with a general A.A. and an A.S. in Environmental Science Technology. There isn't much to know about me, other than my hair color has a tendency to change often. I love gardening, and am a big believer in limiting waste and composting as much as possible. I love animals and have a fascination with tigers, dinosaurs, and sharks.

Current color. :)

Two of my three dogs; Sirius and Presley

I'm a dog person. Sirius is the big one, named after the character in Harry Potter. I hope everyone gets why Presley is the hound dog. If not, google it. :)
I look forward to a great semester!

Karen UR >> Introduction

Hi everyone,


I'm Karen and I am in the Environmental Science Technology program.  I received my A.A. from Daytona State in 2015 and came back for the EST A.S. program. 
I am a work study student at the South Campus (New Smyrna Beach) in the science department. 
When I complete this program I am moving to Colorado to attend Colorado State University to earn my Bachelor's then Master's in Paleo-anthropology.  Paleo-anthropology is a combination of Archeology and Anthropology, excavating and then studying human (sometimes) remains.

                
                                               I love the mountains and the high desert. 
 

Katie, UR--Can't wait to "Sea" you Guys in Class!

Hello my name is Katelyn but I usually go by Katie. My major is Marine Biology and I hope to teach it at a college level at some point in my life. The ocean is a whole other world to me. I spent the Summer after my senior year on a catamaran for 1 month exploring the BVI's and diving over 40 dive spots while also getting to see the effects of the coral bleaching that is happening there. Seeing oil spills, trash on the beach and trash in the ocean destroys my heart because of all the animals it is affecting. My passion right now is the fight against Shark Finning. I believe in everything Rob Stewart was doing for trying to put a stop to this horrific thing. If you haven't heard of Rob Stewart this is his website. I highly suggest watching Sharkwater if you haven't heard of or seen shark finning.


This is a picture of me in Belize snorkeling. I love diving and snorkeling. Any chance I have to be able to be under water I take it. I was actually here for a trip but we did a beach and water trash pick up with some of the local lifeguards. This also right after I just saw Christmas Tree Coral which just so happens to be my favorite coral!

Snorkeling in Belize.

Allie, UR--My Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Allie and my major is Environmental Science. I'm excited to start the semester and this class in particular. I am very passionate about nature and the environment. I believe it should be preserved and protected by humans instead of exploited. My favorite thing to do would have to be adventuring. I love taking trips to travel the world and explore new places. 

This is a picture of a view from mountain Cheaha in Alabama. During hurricane Irma my friends and I spontaneously picked the highest peak in Alabama. We decided to spend a few nights hiking the mountain and hanging out by waterfalls. 

View from Cheaha, Alabama.

Monica, UR - My Future is Solar

Throughout my IRP, I have learned so much just by researching. There is a ton of different researches on solar panels in general. Maybe not so much the angle of solar panels but how we can get the most efficient energy throughout the whole year. I've learned a little about sun trackers and how these can help identify at which angles you should put your solar panels depending on the season and location. I've even seen some sun trackers attached to panels so the whole system moves with it. It's really cool to me and I'd would really like to get knowledge out about solar energy and maybe go into a Bachelors degree with sustainable energy. This experience has helped me by showing how the research side on new ideas. My IRP may of not been high tech but just the basic understanding has lead me in so many directions. I still believe solar Is the future and I want to educate people about it.

QUESTIONS: Casie sec 201- Hello Monica! Did you notice a difference in power produced and chillier weather (Florida and cold weather haha :) ) ?

Hello Casie, yes I actually noticed a different in power produced and "colder" weather. For example, on a day that was 80 degrees my solar panels produced less power versus on days that were in the lower 70's. Heat plays a major role in how much energy is produced. Between heat and wires, your panels can actually have a 15% decrease in power. Which is normal in the bigger, commercial solar panels.

Dylan Radford UR, My IRP?

I didn't have lab this week because we were just supposed to turn in our note books but in response to Cassie from sec 201, I'm not to sure what exactly I would do for an IRP because it takes a long time to plan one out but I have an idea. If I were to do an IRP I think I would conduct experiments to see if the salinity in different recreational ponds changes over time due to the weather or other factors like fertilizers. I really did learn a lot in the lab this semester and it was a great way to see if this field is really for me!

Steve Cofone, UR - Calm Down! I'm (almost) an Environmental Science Technician!!

Patience and perseverance, A fisherman's creed, definitely played a role.
But fear not, we have catch!!
 4 Channel Catfish, 3 caught at spot 1 and 1 caught at spot 2
We also have 4 snappers to analyze if time permits

All specimens have been wrapped in aluminum foil and frozen
and labeled accordingly.

Analysis of the intestinal tract will take place 4/28/17
I will measure and weigh fish at that time.

Christian Vinciquerra, UR, Breaking Bones

Last week in lab we had another guest from NOAA, Ms. Dennis. She is an expert on fish otolith and how to extract them. So a fish otolith is a calcium carbonate structure located behind the fishes brain. They are commonly called "earstones" and are part of the fishes inner ear. Otoliths grow with the same structure as a tree trunk; as it gets older it forms a ring.

Class extracting Otoliths

Scientists can use the otoliths to find migration patterns of the fish by locating chemicals and tracing back to a site that matches the water chemical levels. After we watched her presentation, she showed us extremely quick on how to extract one and the process of doing so. Then we dove in. To start we have to measure our fish from nose to fork in the trial. Then we begin by lifting the gill plate and scraping away the the gills and tissue on the bone. Looking for a discoloration in the bone and start to chisel away the 'clearer' part. Use tweezers to remove the bone and then start gently feeling around for the otolith which should be just inside. This took everyone a few minutes to do and understand the process and what to look for. After you find the otolith move to the next fish. We extracted three otoliths each and massed each otolith. After, we logged our data into excel. 

Fish Otolith Graph

So my graph here shows the relationship between the otoliths weight and the fishes length. As you can see there in not a good relationship between these two due to the extremely low R squared value. 

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- Well at least the fish are well fed!

Well sadly today was my last trip out fishing and I caught nothing, and I mean nothing. I am going to say that I am not a good fisher person. I felt many nibbles and had a few things on my hook but they just seemed to jump right off. Really I'm not sad that I did not catch anything but I am very disappointed that I can not contribute any good scientific data about the clearnose skate. I did collect salinity and subsurface water temps so at least it was not a total loss.

Garth: Section 201 - Hello! So how exactly did you choose your locations? Mabey I missed this is a previous post. Were these locations chosen perhaps based on time of year, mating, feeding etc.? 

Thank you for the question Garth!

I picked my locations based on just the environment and nothing else (well for the onshore location my aunt lives right there so that was a determining factor too). For instance I was thinking about fishing off of one of the parks on riverside drive but that location is an estuary with mangroves and I wanted a environment that was predominantly one or the other. If you have ever been to Rose Bay in port orange it is clearly mangrove ( to be noted that mangrove is a type of estuary) dominant. The estuary location is in the intercostal but that was the best I could do with no boat.  Also I had to fish at night by myself most times so I also wanted to pick locations that I felt safe fishing at, I love science but I'm not sure if I'm ready to kidnapped for it!! What I was hoping to figure out with this data was the things you mention, and yes some of the things you mentioned are brought up in older posts. Thanks again for the question!         

Lyle UR Coming to the end...of the semester

Well were almost to the end of this semester. The time has flown by so fast that I wish the semester was longer, at least for this class. I've completed dissecting all four sites that I sampled from and with the results that I got the average micro fibers per gram is 3.25.The average size oyster that I sampled was 2.667 grams. A conclusion that I came to after looking at where the oysters came from is that the closer to Ponce Inlet that the oysters came from the higher the micro fiber count is. I don't know if that is a direct correlation but that's what the research shows.

http://kingofwallpapers.com/oyster.html

Garth from section 201 asks "have you seen a correlation between oyster maturity and plastics eaten. Do you believe Micro-plastics are killing the oysters before they mature?" Garth that is a great question, I haven't seen that correlation but what I did find was the closer to the inlet I sampled the oyster, the higher the micro plastic count I got. I believe that there isn't enough micro plastic in the oysters to kill them but it may be causing them to not filter the water as efficient as they could if there were no micro plastics in them.
Casie from section 201 also had some questions, " When oysters ingest micro plastics, is it safe to say that when humans consume the oysters we are indeed consuming micro plastics? Out of all oysters you have gathered how many had micro plastics in them?" Casie, unfortunately, yes we as humans who eat oysters are ingesting the micro plastics. In all of the oysters that I sampled, I found micro plastics in every one of them. Although the amount of micro plastics varied between each oyster.  

Monica, UR - Results are in!

So far I have about 20 good days of data. I'm still trying to collect as much data till the presentation so my graph may be a little different than this one. I know it's a little difficult to see but on the power point it will be bigger. I will be making other graphs too. One for each angle with Volts. One for each angle with Amps and one graph to see if there is a correlation between outside temperature and the powering be produced. If anyone has any recommendations or want to know anything else let me know!

As you can see, my scientific question has been answered. My solar panel at 25 degrees produced the most energy everyday. The panel at 44 degrees was in second place and the one at 0 degrees was in third. You can also see the spike in energy produced between April 12-13th. This was the "enhancement" due to the reflection of the clouds and the suns rays. This is also one of the days I got an error on the 44 degree angle due to clouds partially blocking the sun.

QUESTIONS: Garth: Section 201 - Do you know if any studies have been done to artificially create           this "phenomenon" to enhance solar production? If not is it even possible?

Hey Garth, there are some "control" solar experiments but light source from light bulbs are very different from the sun. I actually went to the Florida Solar Energy Center this Tuesday and asked a Ph.D student about your question. He said it's not really possible. They can use other light sources but It's just not the same as the sun. They can not recreate the reflection that the clouds do. 

Dylan Radford, UR- Fish Guts!

Fish Guts!

Fish Otolith Graph

This past week in class was pretty awesome if I had to say. The class and I got a chance to extract otoliths from fish that were already dead. an otolith is basically a bone near the fish gills that can be taken out to measure their age. At first when I was told that we would be doing this I was pretty nervous because I have never dissected a fish before or anything for that matter. As I started working on my first fish, I couldn't fin the otolith so our instructor came over to help me. She made it look so simple. There was a bone that I needed to crush to get to the otolith and I couldn't get it. After I was finally able to crack it, I cracked it too much and snapped the otolith into pieces so I had to get a new fish. After a few trial and error situations I finally got my fish otolith! It looked awesome, mostly because I extracted it myself, but I could see the rings in the otolith which are the indicators of the fish's age. After my first one the next two came super easy! Now that I had gotten all of my otoliths we had to go and weigh each one and put that number in the class spreadsheet. once that was complete the next step would be to put all of our information in a scatter plot. The scatter plot I made shows me that all of the fish we dissected, except for one very small fish, were around the same age when they were caught. I thought this was pretty interesting when looking at how many fish we dissected. I thought the points were going to be spread out everywhere. This was a great experience for me because I had never dissected anything before, I thought it was pretty fun also. In response to Garth, section 201, yes I believe there is a restoration project going on that is helping to fix areas in the Indian river lagoon like sea grass beds.

Carly, UR - It's mating season (for most) !

Good day everyone! 

Just another week of data collecting for me, I haven't really noticed anything new.  I've got about another week or so of collecting to do before we have our final presentations.  I'm excited to put it all together with a couple of images and possible graphs to show off what I've learned.  We're right at the beginning of mating season for sharks and the tags certainly show that for most of them.

Let's get to a question from Garth:

Garth: Section 201 - Why do you think these sharks would be specifically spending time in certain locations. Could this relate to breeding or feeding grounds?

Blue Shark North Atlantic Circuit

Sharks do generally mate in certain areas along with have their pups in others.  Let's take Blue sharks for example, they generally mate around the New England area, then the female will conserve energy by taking the North Atlantic Gyre to Europe to have her pups. 

Below here is a map of this past week of shark pings on the OCEARCH website.  I've color coated them to show each species and you can see how the blue sharks are pretty close to the image above showing their circuit.                                

I hope I answered your question Garth!  Thank you!

Fins and grins,

Carly

Kelly-Ann UR, Are We There Yet?

     This week I was finally able to travel the length of the St. Johns River and test surface samples at five locations for total nitrate.  The day I chose to preform the transect was beautiful for field work.  Each location was at least partly sunny with a mild breeze.  I had started at the North part of the river, in Jacksonville, and traveled against the flow to take a total of five surface samples.  These samples were immediately placed in a cooler with ice packs. 

Taking a Surface Sample at Lake George

      Working on my own out in the field taught me to be adaptable.  I had originally decided that I wanted to take a sample one meter in at each site, however in two locations, Jacksonville and Sanford, I was only able to access the river via floating docks.  My GPS also proved to be better as a general guideline to the sites and could not always be trusted.  Twice it told me the park I was trying to get to was half way over a bridge.  I had gotten frustrated enough twice to pull over next to the river and take a sample instead of going in circles trying to find the exact site I had planned on.  

Testing for Nitrates

     Back in the lab I used method 10021 with a Hach DR/890 colorimeter to analyze the total nitrates in each sample.  The data surprised me, with nitrate levels much lower than I expected:

-Site one: 0.3 mg/L

-Site two: 0.1 mg/L

-Site three: 0.1 mg/L

-Site four: 0.1 mg/L

-Site five: 0.0 mg/L

The nitrates become more concentrated closer to mouth of the river, which was expected, however with the many possible anthropocentric sources of nitrates that I observed near several locations, I did think these concentrations would be higher.

     The last step to this project will be looking up what the acceptable levels of nitrate are for the St. Johns River, and what steps the St. Johns River Water Management District is taking to keep the river clear of excess nitrates.

  

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- Where to go from here

Picture I took while fishing

I have made it out fishing twice and with no luck. I fished at an onshore location with frozen squid as bait. I will most definitely be trying new bait this weekend when I go out again. Live shrimp should hopefully be the change needed to get some skates on my hook! One thing did work well on my trip; my thermometer rig. Instead of tying the thermometer on the line I ended up just wrapping the hook through the hole in the back just so I don't have to undo my set up every time I take a temp reading.




  
Haley Section 201, are you going to use different locations for mangroves, inshore habitats, and estuary habitats or the same one the entire time?

Hello Haley thanks for the question!
I plan on sticking in the same locations but move around that area. If I still am catching nothing after I try new bait then I will have to try new locations or presume that there are no clearnose skates at that environment. Here are the map locations that I will be fishing.   

Estuary habitat

Onshore location

Mangrove location

Alex UR- Grazin' some seagrass

Last weeks class was our Seagrass Survey out in Oak Hill. We had a great time and I'm glad we able to do something in the water this week, though it was quite chilly and windy out, hence the wetsuits. We took a short boat trip from Riverbreeze dock to the seagrass beds, we broke up into three groups of about 4 or 5 people and we covered an area of over 200(m). We took data every 10(m) and looked for both drift algae and seagrass. They have been keeping track of the beds here for a long time and it is not at all what it used to be but you can tell that it is starting to come back and the manatees are still grazing so thats a good thing. 

My group and I counting seagrass

Annie was working with us and taught us how to properly get our data and how you can tell where the manatees have been grazing. She goes out every few months I believe to collect this data. The visibility wasn't so good so it made it a little difficult at first, you had to wait a few minutes to let everything settle once you got down in the water.

Annie giving us our instructions

*Questions from previous post*

Jason, sec. 310-  Yes we did, we measured the total phosphate, pH, and we used a secchi disk which tells us how far down the light goes through the water.

Michelle, Sec. 201- Some ways to limit sources of error... thats a great question, I would say that some things you just can't help so just be prepared for that. Yes, we do account for the errors in our data as well.

Casie UR-The Final Count Down!

Michelle, Section 201: Will you be measuring the plant growth to determine if copper has any effect on their growth rates? Do you hypothesize that it will help or hinder them?

(left) Copper in the water hyacinths (right) Copper in the controls 

Thank you Michelle for the question. I am unfortunately not measuring the growth of the plant in regards to copper input. I did notice, however, that the plants did not decrease in size over the week I did my experiment.  From the research that I  have done so far there is no evidence that copper will hinder the growth of the plant. If you would like to know more about growth rates and climate change check out Garth's blog Putting the data to the test. 

Wow, this experiment  has taken many turns, the latest is that I made a HUGE error. The plant food that I was giving my plants contained.....COPPER! Yes. I know. How will I ever find out if these plants suck up copper when my controls have been compromised? Well, thanks to Dr. Woodall and her husband I will be taking the average and the standard deviation of my 3 controls and creating a bar graph to show my data. I will have the final data available next Friday.

When copper is present the vials (to the left) will turn purple If not it is colorless. Both vials turned purple to indicate that there is copper present, but my controls had a considerable amount more then the ones that held the Water Hyacinths. Prospects look good! I can't wait to share my final results. :) 

Filtering my samples 

Garth Parish - UR Putting the Data To The Test !

Putting the data to the test. So, once you hit the grinder chase all the links down and get that research in…well, what’s next? Experiment time! Oh boy, I feel like Bill Nye would be proud, haha. What’s been going on in my water hyacinth world you might ask?

                Well, we got together six small fish tanks and a heating thermometer to keep a stable temperature for each pair of tanks. An aerator for each, a bit of liquid fertilizer six water hyacinths and a measuring tape. The temperatures chosen for each set of tanks was pivotal to the purpose of this experiment which was to see if there was a link from the growth ratio of the water hyacinth and temperature. The idea was to simulate a winter growing water temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The other two pairs of tanks are  increasing into the plants optimal growth temperature with data, pulled from the Saint John’s Water Management District’s historical charts. The temperatures chosen for these tanks were chosen based on Florida summer water temperatures.

                I then measured the root length, a single leaf’s length and width with the stem being measured at the base of the plant to the tip of the same leaf. The idea here is to remeasure and at the end of the experiment see if indeed there was a variation between temperature and growth ratios. So, cross your fingers folks and we will see soon what happens.

                Here is a shout out to all those avid readers 😉 I would like to answer a few questions for you guys:

Dana sec. 101 what do you mean by growth ratio?

Good question Dana, the growth ratio of the water hyacinth is simple, exactly how much and how quickly this plant grows, weather it is a foot or an inch. From what I have read, this is directly reflected by water temperature as this is a native tropical plant of Brazil. So, everyone be sure to thank, Brazil.

Sam sec. 301 Where else do these plants grow? Are they exclusive to Florida?

Unfortunately not, Sam. This invasive, troublesome plant is a global sensation and can even be grown up north and out west. Other than its natural predators, which are primarily in Brazil, a good hard freeze for an extended period of time is about the only thing which can kill them. Even their seeds are tough as they can last up to thirty years in a dormant state, sometimes even braving a good freeze.

Michelle, Section 201: In your analysis of the data, will you include what areas could be affected by the Water Hyacinth if the warming trend continues?

You know Michelle that’s a very astute question. Until I read this I had not yet thought about it. I believe I will, because climate change is not exclusive to Florida, it is a global issue, which unfortunately means so is the Water Hyacinth.

Lyle, UR--Micro-baby...love at first sight!

Taylor James 

Hey there everyone, there has been so much going on not only in finding micro plastics and research but also in my personal life. My better half and I just had a little baby boy named Taylor James on the 9th of April.
The last time I was in the lab I got to dissect a 2 oz oyster and found 5 micro plastics in it. I am still using the same extraction procedures to get the muscle out of the shell and still following the same precautions so I will minimize contamination. This past week we went out with Anne Roddenberry fro FWC and did sea grass sampling and other than the water being a little chilly we had a great time.
I have had a few comments on my other blogs that I would like to address. Deb and Paul asked me if I have seen the video on plankton eating the micro plastics? No I have not and if you know where to find the video I would love to see it. Carly Magnus shared with me an article from FACETS journal on micro plastics in the Ottawa River in Canada. After reading the article I have learned even more about some of the effects that plastics have on the environment, so thank you Carly for sharing that with me and the rest of the blogging community. Michelle from ection 201 asked, How many oysters do I take for a sample from each location and is there a specific reason I chose the oysters that I do and am I attempting to sample various sizes? Those are great questions Michelle, I will typically take 2 to 3 oysters from each site that way I don't effect the habitat to much. As for specific size, I have to go by the Florida state rules and regulations for size which is no smaller than 3 inches in length.