Goodbye FGCU!

I had so much fun this week but I’m kind of glad it’s over now. This week at FGCU has been CRAZY! Jam packed with so much information, I’m going to be an expert by the end of this trip! Wednesday we were supposed to do some microbial work but unfortunately our sediment samples we took Monday didn’t want to cooperate with our bioplates so we weren’t able to do some things. But we did go out to some mangroves and collect degrading leaves to look at under the microscope which was pretty cool. We also collected some sediment and detritus, which is basically broken down organic material from the mangroves. I’ve never looked at a leaf under the microscope and I was really surprised at how the different degradation levels of our leaves looked. So far Thursday was my favorite this week. We went out to two different seagrass beds and did some quad samples to get sea grass abundance, and we used nets to catch organisms living in the seagrasses. We took some samples back to the lab and sorted through them with dissecting microscopes. Although we had to stay pretty late to finish everything I really enjoyed finding little critters with the microscope. It’s absolutely amazing what you can find! I never knew how complex a simple seagrass bed could be and how many organisms rely on them. Today we went out on the bay to find some oyster reefs. Like the seagrass beds, I was amazed at the things we found. There were all kinds of different crabs and snails crawling around on the oysters. Thanks to this week’s little adventures and classes I have a whole new appreciation for estuarine habitats! I’m sitting in the airport in Ft. Lauderdale right now about to fly home for the weekend for a wedding so have a great weekend and I’ll see you in the Keys!

Frolicking in the mangroves!

 

Oyster reef we visited, make sure to wear your booties!

 

Jessica playing with a crab!