This past week was pretty interesting. I was getting all prepared for my day out for my research project, and the night before we had a huge rain storm and the following day the wind was surely 20mph or higher. You wonder why this would be an issue, well I will be boating in the lakes with an inflatable boat. It is sturdy but with the wind speeds we had that day I would not have been able to keep the boat in place long enough to secure my water samples with the equipment in tow. Dr. Woodall and I also thought it could pose a safety hazard if I were to possible go overboard with the waves; it'd kind of funny, I know go ahead and chuckle. So we postponed the research day till next week, so hopefully we have good weather and I will be able to report my day in the field.
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| Ahoy Matey |
The week of the 11th we worked in the lab as well as in the field. We collected settling plates from the Marina in Daytona Beach. One of the buoys with the settling plates had been there for around 6 months. We each placed the plates in tupperware and took them back to look at under the microscope. It was awesome we came across some invertebrates that looks like alien life forms. It was really fun to lookup what each living specimen was in source materials, as well as using our own ways of tracking down the info, i.e google. We also learned how to calculate in excel the area of coverage, it's amazing what you can do with technology nowadays.
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| Barnacles, Skeleton Shrimp, and more |
Kristen--about your research project. I would like to know why they dig/build these small 'lakes'--do they serve any function or purpose or is it simply for aesthetics? Also--what do they do with the spoil? In addition, what sort of care or maintenance is required to maintain them (e.g., do they ever have to dredge?, and what about chemicals and/or fertilizers--are they ever used or needed?
ReplyDeleteSo, can Dr. Woodall please film you paddling about in your "boat". :)
ReplyDeleteI believe that is for esthetics, especially since our street is called "The Fountains". The only maintenance that I have seen is right before summer is in full effect, they spray the perimeter with what seems to be mosquito repellant. As far as fertilizers I have never seen them directly introducing it into the lakes, but all the yards are made to flow into the lake, so anyone who uses Massey's or any other fertilizers in their yards are sure to have that flow right into the lake. :/ Angela she is more than welcome to film me, I can't say that she would listen if I told her not to. :)
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