MCC's Marine Biology Study Ablog 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Hunting for scorpions
Sunday, June 4, 2017
El Estero
By the time we got out onto the estuary, the tide was already extremely high, and still coming in. According to our guide, Efrain, even he had never seen it this high, and so wasn't entirely sure how to navigate without his usual landmarks, but after a few course corrections, we made it to the other side. Going against the wind was pretty tough, and to whoever was prescient enough to bring protein shakes on this trip, thank you for basically saving my life. During the journey over, running into submerged bushes was pretty much a given, but what I didn't realize was that doing so had netted several of us a little stowaway. Once we had made it to the other side and exited our kayaks, several green and brown praying mantises appeared on different people. I picked one up and let him crawl around a bit before returning him to a bush nearby. We don't really see many praying mantises in Arizona, but it didn't take long to figure out that these guys were pretty content to just chill on your shoulder. The area we had landed at was full of tiny crabs that had burrowed in the loose sand, and once we had disturbed their hiding places, immediately began breaking for the water. There were also a ton of burrowing gnats that seemed to take no interest in a group of humans, luckily for us.
The trip back was also pretty difficult, but we made it, even though we were late. Afterward, we ended up at an oyster shack while we waited for the tide to lower.
As fun as all this had been, it was also really exhausting, so by the time we made it back to CEDO, I was ready to take a long nap. As a note to future kayakers, always check if there's wind before you head out.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Snorkeling with LIONS.. SEA Lions
Monday, May 29, 2017
From scrach; with love
Oysters by the ocean
Tommy guns and toppings
Saturday, May 27, 2017
My third blog post
The mud flats
Jesse Roman
Baby octopus on a clam shell |
A small octopus pretending to be its molluscan brother |
Fwd: Blog post 3
Kayaking was one of my favorite activities this trip. We went kayaking in an estuary to learn about what estuaries do and what creatures live in them. Estuaries are areas of water where the salt water from the ocean and the fresh water from a river meet. They contain a lot of bivalves, which are things like clams and other creatures that can live off the soft muddy bottom sediment. Some areas in the estuary where we were were deep and pure blue while others were more shallow and covered in different plant matter. The pure blue water made it so tempting to jump in. It looked like a nice blue Gatorade on a hot day! I got to learn the proper way to kayak, which was really cool and helpful. I got to sit in the front seat and every time there was a big wave I got soaked but the water was incredible and nice and warm.
Going to the intertidal near CEDO
Friday, May 26, 2017
Diving at bird island
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Selfies with animals
Tide Pools
We went to two different local beaches to check out what kinds of plants and animals can live in the intertidal zone. The first day, we checked out the beach near CEDO, and found tons of crabs, snails, as well as a few sea stars and even two sun stars, which look like regular sea stars, but with way more than 5 legs. These guys prey on everything in the reef, even other sea stars. Someone even came across an octopus that somehow got stuck on the sand. He was probably about a foot long!
The second day we went to the rocky stretch of coast just to the South of the old town district, el MalecĆ³n. There was no sand here, just large, black rocks covered in algae, lichens, and barnacles. There were tons of echinoderms, so lots of brittle stars, sea stars, and by one person's count, five sun stars. Sea anemones seemed to be anchored to every rock, and a few of them that remained underwater had bright, vibrant colors. We found one anemone that had retracted, but it's outside was hot pink with white spots, and it's fair to guess that when extended, it looks pretty cool. Sea cucumbers liked to congregate together with brittle stars underneath large rocks, and when you lifted the rock, they'd make tiny squirting noises and try to hit you with little jets of water. We also found a baby octopus that had cleverly camoflouged itself with the soil, but after the rock had been moved, it became stressed and turned a bright red.
Next time you're at the beach for a day or two, take note of the tides- a quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know. During low tide, chances are that you'll find some interesting stuff in the Intertidal Zone. Just remember to bring gloves, because not everything is friendly, and to be respectful of the local environment by not harming or keeping anything you might find.
Off to the Salt Mines, and relaxing at Punta Coyote
Daniel then hosted us for a very relaxing hour at his lovely all-by-its-self beach-front bungalow at Punta Coyote, mere steps from the water. His home has many murals inside and out - with for sure the most beautiful mural of Our Lady I've ever seen for an outdoor shower!
Tomorrow, into the Estero Morua via kayak with the incoming tide till we run aground on the mud flats for study of its denizens...Then ride the tide out to get Back to CEDO.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Fwd: Blog post
Fwd: Blog post 2
Sent from my iPhone
One of the best parts in my opinion about getting to go to Puerto PeƱasco is getting to see all the different buildings and the way they decorate their homes on the outside. There are sooo many murals all over the place on almost every wall. There are also tiles on a lot of the walls. They are painted different colors and are all mismatched. All the murals are all very bright and all had something to do with the ocean. My favorite mural was one with a mermaid and a blue whale swimming along side each other. The colors were so bright and the details in the whale amazed me. They were so accurate. It makes me think just how connected I feel to the ocean and the creatures that live in it. And it shows just how beautiful our ocean and the creatures living in it are. Puerto PeƱasco is such a bright town with lots of color and amazing buildings that catch your eye.
Hannah Lee
The salt mines
Now one that a salt mine would be like any mine right, just be some sort of cave in a mountain. Well that's actually wrong in this case as a salt mine is on the surface covering a lot ground and made up of huge stones like a quarry.
The salt mine was kind of like a farm only you farm salt not vegetables, and it's government protected. Their were also a few wet area of the area so you couldn't walk everywhere.
Their are a few natural springs at the salt mine which attracts animals to the area. A lot of the area of the mine contain concentrated pools of salt that were form do to a little help from rain water.
La Isla de San Jorge - Monday, May 22
It's a three hour cruise to la Isla de San Jorge, and the view is incredible. We travelled away from the coast at a slight angle, watching the detail and the buildings slowly fade from view, while the crests of the island came into greater focus. There was also the local wildlife to keep us occupied, and from the boat we could see sea lions lazily floating, fins up, absorbing the rays of the morning sun. Birds flew in the wake of the boat, taking advantage of the temporary clarity of the water to make a catch. If you've never been, the Sea of Cortez is a vibrant blue, and from the boat you could see it hug the sandy coast, stretching on to the horizon. Pictures don't quite do it justice.
We're approaching the island, so soon we'll get to explore what lies below the tranquil surface. I'm looking forward to it!
When we finally arrived at the island, it took us a few minutes to get everyone ready to get into the water. The divers had the most equipment to put on, so they went first. The people who were snorkeling, which included me, didn't take much longer after that to get started. Part of this involved clumsily putting on a wetsuit in the confined space of a boat restroom, which is sort of like trying to put toothpaste back into a tube, only you're the toothpaste and the tube really hates you. After squeezing into one and cycling through three different masks, I finally got out into the water. Naturally, the first thing I did was receive a mouth full of nice, cold, salty water. I probably should have tried clearing my breathing tube before inhaling my daily sodium intake, but I guess that's just my style. Mortal peril aside, I got my bearings and began to explore.
The area we were in was surrounded by sea lions and various birds, and while the water isn't crystal clear, visibility to the bottom was fairly good. We were immediately greeted by sea lions, who had been swimming about the boat playfully while we got ready. Once in the water, the sea lions would jet up to us from behind in what felt like an attempt to scare the crap out of us- and admittedly, it did startle me more than once. They even got close enough to touch, although we were told in advance to keep our distance for our safety, and for obvious reasons, trying to pet a wild sea lion is not advisable. These sea lions didn't seem to get the memo about personal space, but it was adorable to watch them rocket about around you and play, so for a few minutes we let them while we continued exploring, before wandering away from them.
After the sea lions, I ran into a school of fish casually swimming about, and they didn't seem too phased about a human floating in their midst, though unlike the sea lions, they kept their distance. There were at least 50 of them, each with the same white and black stripes and a yellow tail. Wading out further, a barnacle-covered outcrop shallow enough to stand on hid a sea star near the base, hugging a boulder.
We spent the next few hours snorkeling, and went to a different area about halfway through. A few students even tried freediving, and someone even managed to nab a shell from what looked like several meters down.
This outing was definitely one to remember. I wish we got to spend more time snorkeling, and the next time I get the opportunity, I'm getting scuba certified so I can participate in real dives. I'll absolutely try to do this again as soon as I can!
Bigger than life
A real fin whale skeleton! CEDO has a full fin whale skeleton on display. You don't realize just how huge certain types of whales are until you are staring their skeleton right in the baleen (which basically is a bunch of keratin strips packed tightly into a whales mouth instead of teeth so they can filter out the small plankton as food like a giant comb).
Blog 1
Monday was quite an exciting day, even for us snorkelers. I got to experience playful, defensive, and sometimes aggressive sea lions. They are fast and flip and swim in all directions. The babies were the most interested in us and the Bulls (the males) were the most defensive. At one point, while kayaking near the rocks that a ton of sea lions were occupying, the Bull moved from the rock into the water in an initial effort to protect that area. He made a move in my direction and at that point I was told to come back to the boat before I ended up in the water.
This wasn't the only marine life I saw. There were a couple schools of Sargeant Majors that we saw in the rocky intertidal.
I also saw pelicans looking for a meal all along bird island. According to Dr. Bennett, they are not very discriminatory eaters.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Woke Up Like This. 5/21/17
Below and Above the Deep Blue Sea
The several very small rocky outcroppings which make up the island host a multitude of sea birds, who have made the rocks white with guano. The birds' calls were loud, but overwhelmed by the barking and baying of the many sea lions. Snorkeling was in murky conditions, but still a startling adventure made so by the sudden zoom-bys of the sea lion pups, who are very curious. Good thing no appearances were made by any belligerent males.
Today, we were off to transect the high tide/low tide expanse of beach at Estero Mauro, adding to the ongoing census of nests of the least tern and plover. The nests blend in well with the colors of the beach, but we were successful in finding about a dozen or so with unhatched eggs, all told. Katie also conducted a fearless necropsy on a dead grebe to see if there were remnants of plastics in its gullet, but none were seen.
Tomorrow we're out the front door of Cedo to the beach investigate the creatures of the rocky intertidal zone.
Taking part in scientific research!
Estero Morua
We checked to see how they were growing by looking for nests that still had some eggs in them. Then we recorded what we found on special charts as we went along.
The birds eggs that we were focused on looking for were Least Tern eggs which were light green with black spots. We also kept an eye for Wilson's Plover and American Oystercatcher birds and nests as well
We also looked for any young birds and as well as adult females flying around. Together we found a decent number of eggs, and saw some cute birds wandering around.
The waters where we were snorkeling were quite murky, and it wasn't very deep either (about 20 feet). we saw a few small schools of fish and a few fish that were on their own. There were a few sea lion pups swimming around us, and playing with each other like energetic kids.
The mountains of the island were white thanks to the bird guano (hence the English name bird island). The island had many birds on it that mainly consisted of seagulls and herons.
Afterwards, we had some great American style pizza at a place called Al Capone's. There were several wandering guitarists playing songs on request.