Jack
We went on a field trip on January 26th with the Florida Aquarium. We went with our friends Craig, Brian (or BK), AnneMarie and Mrs. Suzanne Kenny, their Mom. On the way there we saw a carcass on the side of the road, Craig and I first thought that it was an Alligator but it was actually a Deer. Looking at it was really weird because the stomach was lying in the grass and only one of its legs was still attached the rest was spread out in the grass. It was gross and cool all at the same time.
When we got there they gave us a lesson on how to use a seine net and some other tools and told us what we would generally be doing. We then broke into two groups, our group went for a nature walk in the mangroves. On the walk we learned about the different types of mangroves. There are three different types of mangroves Red, Black and White. Red is in the front and is the greatest protection from erosion because of its root structure that comes up out of the ground and forms a reinforcing “cage”. You can identify the red not only by the root structure but also by its pointy-tipped leaves (“red red, pointy head”). Black is then behind the red and can be identified by its roots that push up like pencils around the base of the plant (pneumatophores), you can also find salt crystals on the underside of its leaves. White is the last line of defense, growing on the highest and driest land of the tidal area, they are also known as Buttonwoods. The walk was really cool, I caught a type of crab called the fiddler crab by hand. After the nature walk, we built our own mangrove line of defense with materials we found on our walk, like twigs, oyster shells, mangrove seeds and a horseshoe crab molt. They took a cup of water and threw it at our defense to test how sturdy it was. Ours was really sturdy because it did not budge.
Then we went to the shoreline to use the seine net a boy, Brice, and I were the first ones up to use the net. On our first try we got flounder, crabs, snails and all different kinds of sea creatures. While we were in the water I spotted a manatee. After that Craig and I went behind the mangroves and found this section of water that we called the “sacred pool”. I caught some Ghost shrimp, fish and a discarded item that I called the “sacred device” that was actually a multitasking digital clock, calendar and thermostat, it was really cool. I had soooo much fun and I would love to do it again.
AnnaGrace
We went on a field trip to Picnic Island, it was really fun and I learned a lot. On our nature walk, I learned that there are three different types of mangroves, red, black and white. Red are closest to the water, black are in the middle and white are in the back. You can identify them in different ways. Red has a rhyme, “red, red, pointy head” because its leaves come to a point, it is also known for its roots that come out of the water like walking legs. Black is behind the red and can be identified by its root structures too, but they come up out of the water like fingers called, pneumatophores and sometimes you can find salt crystals under its leaves. The white is in the back and can be identified by little knobs, or “bolts”, at the base of its leaf. We ended the walk by stopping at the shoreline to catch plankton with bottles with really fine nets attached. We only got one plankton that we could see, it was see-through and looked like it had wavy wings.
After that we learned how to use a sifter a dipping net and a seine net. Anne Marie and l caught snails in the sifter, nothing in the dip net. a flounder, a gruinard and some ghost shrimp in the seine net. It was really fun, I look forward to going back.
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| Our completed "mangrove defense" |
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| Building our "mangrove defense" |
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| Testing our "mangrove defense" |
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| Looking for plankton |
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| Seine netting |
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| Sifting for critters |
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| The "sacred place" |
