My favorite thing

On this trip I think that the 24 diel study was my favorite. just sitting and observing how the ecosystem changed over the course of the day along with weather and tides was really amazing to me. I had never had the opportunity to observe an ecosystem like this before. The complexity of how the food web worked and how each organism played a specific part in keeping the status quo was something that I was dumbfounded by. The level of intricacy that this system has in how the diatoms and plankton create energy from light and how they are eaten by small crabs shrimp or fish and those are eaten by bigger crabs and fish and how those migrate throughout the course of the day and along with the tides. An even on the individual level in how each organism has been specialized to thrive in this very specific habitat was just so amazing to me. The only other time where i was able to see this type of change in time was when me and two of the other guys went night diving in the keys. The level of activity from the different organisms was totally different then during the day. there were tons of fish we never saw in the day but they were everywhere at night and many of the fish we saw during the day were hidden or immobile and sleeping. it was a really cool and unique experience even though we got stung be jelly fish. overall this trip has taught me so much about the individual organisms well as the larger system that they function in. this trip was an amazing experience and will play a vital role in my future research. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the diel study.

(us hauling the 70 foot seine net at sunset)

(the inside of the the weir that controls the lake level)

(me using a kicknet to try and collect organisms to identify)