The rest of KML

The last couple days at KML included more reefs and some mangroves. On Tuesday we adventured into the world of mangroves and seagrasses. We explored a mangrove island where there was an amazing passage through the middle of the island although it was kind of creepy. Then we surveyed the surrounding sea grass beds for various conditions such as epiphyte growth, canopy height, dominant species and other organisms that were living in the sea grass beds. On Wednesday, we explored some shallow water areas including a place that was inhabited by huge sponges with many lobsters and other small fish inside of them. This place was actually really neat since it never got deeper than about ten feet. During our exploration of these shallow water habitats we collected various algae and invertebrates, On Thursday we went to Looe key and dove some extraordinary reefs. While there we were split into groups of two in order to accomplish RCV's. We floated on top of the water and counted the number and species of various fish within approximately a seven meter radius. This was done for about five minutes and then we counted all of the new species of fish that passed by for another five minutes while diving to see fishes that were hiding under the rocks. Then we went to an inter-tidal area to see what we could find. I found a conch that was the size of my head its awesome. We also found a fuzzy Chiton and some sea squirts attached to the exposed rocks in the inter-tidal zone. On Friday the last day we went to Windley key and viewed the fossilized remains of the coral beds that once inhabited the underwater Florida. During our tour we learned a lot about native and invasive trees that have a variety of uses. The black ironwood is so dense for example that one would have to sharpen their chainsaw twice before cutting all the way through a one foot diameter tree. I don't remember which day at the moment but we visited the Mote Marine research lab. The experiments that they are doing is amazing in the world of coral reefs. They have devised a technique that encourages coral growth to the point where they can get a 30 year old size brain coral in just under a year! Hopefully soon we can begin to regrow the reefs of the world and prevent against collection of natural corals in substitute for grown corals.
All in all the keys were amazing and the staff was just as awesome.