USF at St. Pete

This week at the University of South Florida at St. Pete has been one full of insight and fun! The school is small and sits right in the middle of downtown Saint Pete and borders a marina. It was beautiful! We had 3 days of lecture and data analysis, as well as a 14 hour day on a research vessel, the Weatherbird. I have never been on a large boat for an extended amount of time before. Sure, I have gone out and went tubing or skiing, but nothing like this. The Weatherbird is used to study the deep ocean, and on Wednesday we Went 30 miles out and stopped at 2 sites. At both sites we used a CTD to measure water quality, an otter trawl to collect a mid-ocean sample, a dredge to collect benthic organisms, and a neuston and bongo plankton net to collect microorganisms at and just below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. It was fascinating to be apart of the team and learn how to work so efficiently as a scientist with the crew members and my peers.  For the first site I was in the dry lab conducting chemical tests of the water sample collected. I love working in labs and this lab was so unique because it was on a boat! After my partner and I finished our tests and documented the results, we joined the team on the deck and assisted in classifying the organisms that were collected from the otter and dredge. This was organized madness. All of us in our vests, hard hats, and field book in hand identified and organized every single organism that hit the deck. It was definitely a challenge to get everything identified in a timely manner, but our cohort definitely learned how to work as a team. We found a lot of really cool things and were able to throw back most of the invertebrates and fish caught. We used the same procedures at both sites and the data collected would be apart of a long term study by dr. Judkins. We took back plankton samples and preserved unique specimens to be looked at closer in the lab. The field day was by far my favorite day and an experience I will always carry with me.

Otter Trawl at Site 1.

On Thursday, we were very very tired, but thankfully we didn't have to be in class until mid morning. Once in class, we got to look at all the cool things we had brought back, including out plankton samples. I found all kinds of copepods, larvae, and other varieties of zooplankton. Over the last two weeks I have realized that I really enjoy looking at the organisms in the water around us.  I have learned so much in the last few weeks of this course and can't wait to see what's in store for the last half of this adventure.