Day 6: July 4

In the afternoon we practiced a new field study technique called sampling. We placed flags on four corners of a 5m by 5m grid. Before we got out to the reef we decided on coordinates that we would use to take pictures of; rows and columns, each row/column being 1 m. We we got out there, we measured and took pictures of the spot. We will then analyze the photos for percent coverage of coral and compare them to our transect results to see how accurate/precise the two techniques are to each other.

After that, we got out hermit crab assignment. Each room is given 50 hermit crab shells. We are to label them based on room, number and year (the 15th shell is T1515, we are room T for top of the hill...), and we will place the shells near our rooms tonight and see where they end up in three days time. I am excited to interact with hermit crabs in a scientific sense and I have only played with them as domesticated animals. We also have to measure the length and width of the shell and aperture (opening) so we can later compare that data with the shells that the crabs discard.

our shells all lined up to be measured