Monday –
Was our inside day. Dr.Judkins was preparing us for our 14 hour field day on FIO’s R/V WeatherBird II. We had a ‘Marine Research Introduction’ and learned the importance of it and the different types of marine research studies. Dr.Judkins also took the time to tell us her entire journey and how she got where she is now. I always enjoy listening to professors when they give their background because not one are the same. It was really cool getting a glimpse into the world of a deep see researcher. Dr.Judkins also taught us about the dynamics of the open ocean.
Tuesday
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| Lisa and I bring in the CTD Photo Credit: Amanda Schaaf |
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| Classmates organizing invertebrates from the Capetown dredge Photo Credit: Amanda Schaaf |
Going out on the WeatherBird II was such an amazing experience. I took all the precautions to make sure that I wouldn’t get sea sick which included taking 4 Dramamines. I had a lot of fun working with the CTD device which measures conductivity and temperature of the water column changes relative to depth. (Totally had to google this just to make sure I was correct, haha) It was such a neat experience learning how the device operates and how it’s not just one click of a button, it takes many clocks and a radio! We caught a lot of unique critters in the Otter trawl net and the Capetown dredge. I just honestly had a blast with my classmates running around on a research vessel doing science. I also would like to give Chef Doug a personal shout out, dinner and dessert were amazing!!!
Wednesday
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| Lisa and I looking at phytoplankton samples Photo Credit: Amanda Schaaf |
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| Little Copepod from Neuston plankton net Photo Credit: Myself |
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| Group photo with our little creation. Photo Credit: Amanda Schaaf |
I’m 89.999% sure that whatever field I study in the future cannot be working with something that is microscopic. My eyes started to blur after looking in the microscope for a few minutes! We also had a fun activity of creating and naming our own phytoplankton, the goal was to see which groups creation could float under the surface but not touch the bottom for the longest amount of time. Our’s sadly did not win, but our Trilutus rubum made me proud.
Thursday –
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| Smiling with the fishies! Photo Credit: Hannah Schaiger |
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| Me being excited! Photo Credit: Chris Kurtz |
This was my first time being exposed to the topic of learning animal behaviors. Dr.Judkins explain to us what scientist can learn from animal behaviors and how to use a Ethogram. We were put to the test at the Florida Aquarium on how to use Ethograms. I always turn into a little kid when I visit aqaureims so I had fun doing this assigmen, I picked the prickly puffer fish as my animal to observe to complete my ethogram. I did learn that my puffer was very shy when the divers came in.
Friday –
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| Delanie and I presenting. Photo Credit: Amanda Schaaf |
On Wednesday everyone partner up and each pair pick a research question based off from the data we collected on the cruise. Delanie and I decided to address the question, if there is correlation between the diameter of Clypeaster subdepressus (which is a sand dollar) and salinity of the water they live in. Thanks to Delanie excellent statistical analysis skills we found that based on the 2013-2018 cruise data there is a correlation!
Thanks to Dr.Judkins hard work USF Saint Pete was awesome!
- Beija Gore
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