Relax, We're in Jax!

Yet another wonderful learning experience! After arriving at UNF, the first thing I wanted to do was explore the beautiful city. I was in awe at the amount of things there were to do, but I ended up doing what I always do; going to the beach! It was all fun and games but after I checked into the dorms, I knew it was time to get some sleep for a week that was even busier than the one before.

Monday was a beach day. We ended up at several points along the beach, including Ponte Vedra, Motanzas, and many other stretches along the beach. While I was soaking up the sun, I also spent a lot of time listening to Dr. Hackney and Dr. Smith who informed us of the difference in the beach and coastal environments in the east coast from the ones in the gulf coast. The sand was not quite as soft, but that's only because of the high energy that the waves carry! We also learned about jetties, which are large formations of manmade rock that keep the inlets and causeways from shifting. Dr. Hackney informed us that erosion is not the issue, rather natural causes such as storms and salt spray, and manmade formations such as jetties, rip raps (more dredged dumping), and bridges.

Tuesday was a boat day in the Saint Johns River! It was water quality analysis day, and everyone knows that puts me right in my element! Using the YSI, salinity, conductivity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels were measured. The secchi disk was also used for light penetration testing. Water samples were taken back to the lab and tested for chlorophyll a using mg/L, turbidity using FTU, and color using PU.

Wednesday and Thursday (today) were the same project. Yes... we had a 24 hour sample period! We were all overly confident when we found out it was a YSI hourly reading and a sein haul every three hours with a water quality analysis using the tests from the day prior. Everyone was tired enough to fall asleep in all sorts of areas out on the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve. I personally passed out in about four places, the wet, cold ground and a chair being one of them. The best part was that I was still writing! I came home confident that a nap would follow, but instead I'm eager to find out the results of the sein net pull in regards to abundance and diversity!

*DISCLAIMER: Pictures will soon follow in the next post!