On Day Four, we spent pretty much the whole time in the lab. We looked at the critters and bacteria from the various sites where we collected water samples.
A copepod from the Sound!
The three small things that look like symmetrical wings are dinophysis that were all caught in the middle of cell division (hence why they are symmetrical) - so cool!!
Day 5, Dr. Caffery explained how a flourometer to measure the amount of energy given off by excited electrons. It works sort of like a spectrophotometer, except a certain, determined wavelength of light is being measured. She also gave an interesting lecture on the requirements of primary producers in the water, for example phytoplankton, macroalgae, and sea grasses. These organisms will thrive or struggle based on varying light, nutrient, and temperature conditions. Dr. Wade Jeffery explained some of his work studying UV radiation effects, such as how as the smaller the light attenuation coefficient, the more light penetration will be present. He also explained some of his work related to the oil spill in the Gulf in 2010, which found that oil becomes much more toxic for the bacteria to ingest when exposed to sunlight than if not exposed to sunlight. Important stuff!
On Friday we graphed and analyzed some of our data and discussed how the heavy flood that occurred two weeks ago may have added more sediment to the water and skewed our results. We also learned how to use Excel to graph data neatly and clearly, which was shown to us by the Excel whiz Dr. Caffery! I learned that a jubliee is when a water column structure is forced to tilt, comes right up to the shoreline, and causes such incredibly anoxic (no oxygen) conditions in the water, that the fish and critters will jump right out of the water to escape the suffocating water!
We wrapped up with a discussion about our activities over the week and thanked the extremely generous professors for their time, patience, and enthusiasm. I'm very excited to begin the next week at my home school, University of North Florida. I know Dr. Smith has some amazing things in store for us!
OH YEAH - and the UWF professors were kind enough to get us tickets to a Blue Wahoos game - still can't believe the amazing group of people that I get to travel with!
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