Molly’s day: In the reefy morning, it was impossible to collect any data because the water was so murky. Lucky for us it cleared up in the afternoon, and all the reef project-doers were able to gather some data. There were also a few sunburns and a sea urchin attack (casual).
The clear water in the afternoon helped Rayna and me locate sea pearls on the sea floor. They are a large, single-celled organism, and just look like small, glass balls (try finding a big marble when you can’t even see the ground). We are searching along the reef for ‘groups’, or trying to find sea pearls that are near each other.
In order to determine whether or not the pearls are in groups, first we need to find one. Once we find one, we treat that as the center of the group. We examine the immediate area around the pearl (a square meter, to be exact), and if there are any other pearls in that space, it means that there is a group of sea pearls (!). So far, there have been 17 sightings of sea pearls.
Kasey’s day: This morning, we were to begin the first day of our data gathering. After some confusion, I settled into a group with Naomi and Madeleine, and we went to the rainforest to look for poison dart frogs. Equipped with our cell phones, a measuring instrument, water, bug spray and wellies, we began our expedition.
Our project is focused on the sex and size of the frogs in comparison to the location in which we found them. They are small, their backs are green with black spots, and their bellies are yellow. They are around 20mm long, and are great at avoiding humans. Pete, our resident herpetologist, had given us lots of background information and sparked our interest in the frogs.
Collecting data proved to be a big adventure. So far, we have chased and held 20 frogs long enough to measure them. It felt very strange to cup my hands around a frog and feel it still jumping around on my palms. The rainforest itself was shady but buggy. We spent about 4 hours total hiking and jumping after frogs. Along the way, we saw a snake, got a little lost, and trudged through a swamp. Tomorrow we will head out again in hopes of getting a larger sample of data. Wish us luck.
<3 Molly and Kasey