USF St. Pete

This week at USF St. Pete was full of new information on biodiversity and really forced us to think like scientists. Our trip on the weatherbird was almost too good to be true. Chef Thomas provided some of the best food I've had in a long time, our sampling was full of organisms that really showed us the biodiversity of the open ocean, and the weather was perfect.  We saw spotted and bottle nose Dolphins, hundreds of crabs, box fish, batfish and many others. My favorite part was pulling in the dredge and trawl and sorting through everything. While it was difficult identifying many of the organisms, it was important to learn and apply. After the first sampling station, the second went much smoother and much quicker in terms of efficiency and a general understanding of the process. Another part of this week I really enjoyed was observing the plankton under the microscope. We found several larval crabs, Copepods, lucifer shrimp, and many others. Again, I found the sorting and identifying process to be almost therapeutic. While it was difficult, it was rewarding to point out the morphological attributes and compare them to organisms in the field guides. Here I also got a little perspective on the sheer volume of microorganisms in the water. In one thousand milliliter sample we estimated about 97,000 thousand individual organisms, that was from one 15 minute drag. The total amount in the ocean is simply unfathomable. Overall it was great and I think I have a much better understanding in the role the open  ocean plays in our environment.