Bermuda Field Course 2011 :: Daily Report

Day 05 | Monday, March 14, 2011

We split up again today, sending one group to Walsingham Pond to study mangrove communities and another to Bailey's Bay to study seagrasses. After gathering equipment and coming up with a potential game plan for our sampling, which after four days working with our team we've become much more efficient at, we boarded the bus with measuring tapes, quadrats, cameras, masks, snorkels and buoys in tow. Those of us who explored Walsingham Pond examined algae and tube worm growth on the prop roots of the red mangroves. Afterward we had the opportunity to investigate some caves with real seawater; we even went in for a swim and saw a sea snake! At Bailey's Bay we did seagrass sampling - examining the length, width and density of seagrass at varying depths. We did quite a bit of swimming and made duck dives to 2 and 3 meters, so we were exhausted when we returned to shore, especially after dodging multiple Portuguese Man o' War near the rocky entrance to the bay! The weather was perfect though - sunny and temperatures in the upper 60s, so we all got some nice color (and sunburn!) while collecting data on our seagrass samples on the beach. The BIOS dining staff fed us some delicious cod and potatoes for dinner, which gave us fuel for another night of data analysis. We're all looking forward to exploring some coral reefs tomorrow!

- Laura, Rachel & Renee

On the bus and ready for a day of field sampling