The Late Night Brittle Star

Here in Puerto Penasco, I got to see many different sorts of marine animals. Crabs, sea lions and sea stars were on the list of animals that I was able to see.  One of my favorite animals that I saw on this trip was the Brittle Star. The first day of the trip at the rocky intertidal was where I saw my first brittle star and got to hold it as well.

                Brittle stars are echinoderms, so of course they have spiny skin that you can feel as they move around in your hand. They are fast moving creatures that can cover a good amount of distance fairly quickly, especially considering how similar they look to sea stars. The movement patterns of brittle stars are probably the coolest thing about these animals.

                Later during the week, we took a trip to the beach at night and we saw a super cool looking brittle star missing most of a leg. (Don’t worry, it will regenerate it and be good as new!) Experiencing the beach during the middle of the night was another unforgettable experience. Exploring the rocky areas showed us way more species that only come out during the night. We saw a higher number of crabs and fish all over the place as well as the brittle star. Definitely glad we decided to check out the beach at night.

-Justice

MCC's marine mammals

At least for a short time, Dr. Glenn Bennett and a few of the marine bio students joined other marine mammals underwater at Bird Island.

Last day in Mexico

We have reached our last day here in Mexico. I'm sad to have to leave so soon. I have learned so much about the history and culture of Purrto Penasco and the Sea of Cortez. The people of CEDO have been so kind and willing to teach us about anything and everything that we want to know about the Ocean. We went to a trona salt mine. Trona is mined primarily for sodium carbonate. Trona also is a common source of soda ash that is used to manufacturer glass, chemicals and detergents. Jason

 Today was our last day at C.E.D.O, and I have to admit that it was a pretty relaxing day. This morning we got to semi-sleep in (7:15 which is a treat since 5 am has been our wake up time since we got here) and we ventured out to the Trona salt mines in Rocky  Point where we learned how not only do humans use the salt for manufacturing but there are lots of different species of animals like freshwater fish, burros, coyotes, Blue Herron, and some killer ants that all live in that one area. After our four hour tour we took the trek back to C.E.D.O where our whole group took our finals ,then decided to go hang out on the beach till the amazing cooks made us a delicious homemade dinner. After dinner we had a little rap/karaoke battle and then we went on a scorpion hunt and roasted marshmallows. It was pretty great. Well we have another super early morning planned for our trip home, so i probably should go pack my suitcase that is sprawled across the floor! 

Goodnight! 

-Shelby 

In preparation for my trip to Puerto Penasco, I got my scuba certification. This was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life as it allowed me to experience the ocean at a whole new level. There is no feeling comparable to being completely submerged under and engulfed with water for an entire hour. The feeling of breathing underwater is absolutely amazing and just being in an environment that is not meant for humans is what makes it so memorable.  While I was on my dive at Bird Island, I encountered many different species of animals ranging across all the phyla we learned about on the trip. Many crustaceans and echinoderms layered the sea floor and lurked under rocks in all sorts of places. Platyhelminthes such as the flatworms, were freely swimming about and riding the currents. My favorite thing that I found was an echinoderm known as the pencil slate urchin. Luckily I was able to get a picture with the remains of this fascinating creature.  The diving at Bird Island was by far my favorite part of the trip and I will definitely be trying to dive as much as I can for the rest of my life.

Justice

Sadly today we had our last adventure to the Trona Salt Mines! We had Daniel tour us through this very interesting area in Mexico! There was salt everywhere! There was huge salt rocks, salty dirt, and even little salty pools all over the place! What was very neat was that these salt pools were pink color because of the bacteria living in these salt pools and it was a beautiful landscape! He explained to us the history behind the salt mines and what they do now to protect and save these salt mines. I really enjoyed listening to him explain how important these salt mines are for us and you can see his dedication about these salt mines! It was a great way to end this perfect trip!

5/21/15

Today we had a nice relaxing day, we got to learn about marine mammals with Paloma, who is an instructor here at CEDO, and she told us about the Vaquita who is an endangered porpoise here in Mexico.  It was interesting to learn about how the Mexican government is trying to help the Vaquita survive by putting restrictions on the fisherman and in why area that they can take the fish from. A huge reason Vaquita is endangered is because when the fisherman fish; they use gill nets and since Vaquita is a marine mammals, it needs to breathe air and by being trapped in the nets it can't get the oxygen that it needs to survive. Over the past 5 years Vaquita's population has nearly dwindled from 400 to only 97 in the whole ocean. It was cool because we learned how we as the next generation biologists (in semi-training) can help and make changes in the world that we live in. 

   Tomorrow we are getting up pretty early to make a track out to the salt mines to Check it out! Write more tomorrow!

Shelby