Final Week

This past week at the University of North Florida marked the end of this course and it was a bittersweet one. We had three main projects we conducted, which included a 24-hour survey of Guana lake and Guana river. I have never learned much about tide or had a good understanding of how it affected the behavior and life cycles of organisms until this temporal study. Water quality was taken every hour using a pH Meter as well as a YSI meter. Then every three hours, a seine net was used to collect a sample of the abundance of fish and crustaceans present. This was a very interesting process at     2: 30 am. After data collection and much needed sleep, my group analyzed the percent saturation of dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen mg/L, and the most abundant organisms every hour found at both environments. The brown shrimp were found to be the most abundant at both sites, which is probably due to them being slower and bottom dwellers. The 24-hour survey was challenging, but fun. We created so many memories that I will always remember. You really get to see your peers and professors in new light when they have had a bunch of coffee and minimum sleep. Haha. 

On Thursday we went to several beaches and studied high energy environments. My favorite part of this week was probably adventuring at Coquina Rock. Over time tidal pools have formed in the rock and organisms have been able to survive that you would not normally see on an open beach. With my dip net in hand, I found sergeant majors, anemones, cling fish, Bennies, and a sea star. After being in the Keys and snorkeling with sergeant majors everyday, it was very surprising to see them so far up north and so small! By the end of the day we were all having contests to see who could catch the sergeant majors. They were incredibly fast! 

All in all, I had a fantastic time with FIO and I couldn't have asked for better people to work with and learn from. My brain is definitely over flowing with information. Since I have gotten home, regurgitating my experiences from the past 5.5 weeks have been a daunting task. I'm so excited to apply everything I have learned to my everyday life and in my classes next semester.