Day 7: July 5

We went snorkeling this morning at 1030. In partner groups we were to do focal species and focal area field study techniques. I was grouped with Olivia. The focal species is where you choose a species to follow for ten minutes. You observe it and take pictures of it. We followed a Blue Tang fish. At first I was nervous that we would easily lose it or scare it off but it was a generally calm and easy animal to follow. He mostly fed on plants and corals and hid under rocks and swam around. It was fun. Next was the focal area. That is where you pick a small area, about 1m by 1m, and observe the habitat for ten minutes. I took pictures and Olivia wrote notes on a dive slate. The observations have been recorded on a poster like PowerPoint that we will present to the group tomorrow. In the afternoon we had time to work on our various assignments. Upcoming we have due our second essay which is to compare sponges and Portuguese Man O’ War on why sponges are animals and Portuguese Man O’ War are colonies. Also, we had to make a poster on our observations from todays field study. Also, we have to work on our newest transect and analyze the coverage in our groups. Lastly, we have to finish our species identification assignment. It was a full day of work, but I have everything under control and it feels good.

We found an octopus today after we finished our focal work!