Seagrass Beds and Rocky Shore

It was a balmy and beautiful Thursday. Before we left for class, Annalise spotted a large cowrie about 6 inches long. Other organisms we’ve observed at our resort are nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus), and hermit crabs (Clibinarius tricolor).  We started our day with a lecture about marine systems. At 11:00am we headed out to Triton Flat and spent an hour snorkeling and attempting to record data about seagrass and macroalgae density. The current was very strong today and made research almost impossible. Erica and I spotted a squid! As we traveled back to our station, we saw a manatee and a nurse shark in Zane Grey Creek.

After lunch, we went to a rocky shore area near Lime Tree Bay resort. We saw a myriad of biodiversity along the rocks, including barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), crabs, parrot fish (Scarus guacamaia), hermit crabs, sea anemones, coral, and a wide variety of algae. We finished our afternoon by identifying the organisms we’d collected and adding them to our growing list of species. We ended our day with a dinner of curry. We are looking forward to learning more about marine systems in the Keys tomorrow.

– Alexa Kennel, ’23