This past week was on final week for the course, we wrapped
everything up back here at UNF. In the beginning of the week we started off
Monday by taking a boat trip up the St. Johns River. We boarded up near the end
of the river by Mayport and made one long trip to the area around the Buckman
Bridge. We collected some samples and took some measurements there and then
slowly made our way back to Mayport, stopping and collecting samples along the
way. I’ve always kind of know how polluted and gross the river is but looking
at our water samples when we got back to the lab and just observing things
along the river confirm my idea that I never want to get into the water there!
It’s amazing how much of an effect we have on the river, whether it be
residential or industrial, everyday we’re only making it worse. I enjoyed
looking at salinity changes in the river and finding out where the salt water
and fresh water mix and how far down the river the salt water goes.
Part of our crew riding in the UNF Osprey
Me and Jessica taking a little breather on the boat!
Downtown Jacksonville
On Tuesday we all hopped in the vans and drove to the beaches.
We started out near Guana at the 30.8 North Latitude mark. This beach showed as
a good example of a salt marsh systems with extensive dunes. We next drove down
to Vilano Beach where we got to see the St. Augustine inlet, which is a
monitored inlet held there by jetties. We then went down to the Matanzas inlet
to see a natural inlet. It was really interest to learn and then see the
differences between a natural and a jettied inlet. My favorite part of the day
was venturing down to Marineland, there were got to see coquina outcroppings.
The coquina rock is formed in the ocean when pressure forces small shell hash
and sediment together. I think we all had a lot of fun playing in the tide
pools there and climbing around on the rocks. It was definitely a different
beach environment than I'm used to.
30.8 North Latitude Beach
Matanzas Inlet area
Coquina outcroppings
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