MCC's Marine Biology Study Ablog 2025

How can one week feel so long, yet not be enough? I could have lived at CEDO with you guys all summer. Thank you so much to Paloma, Eleazar, Mariel, Angeles, and all of the other staff for making our stay an absolute dream. I had never been out of the country before this trip, and now I want to visit absolutely everywhere. We wrapped up our week at CEDO by doing a service project where we pruned bushes, cleaned signs, sorted trash, cleaned the fish tank and fish pond, and shoveled the sand off of the walkway. Liza and I were assigned to the sand shoveling, and we were quickly reminded of how heavy sand is. We had a leaf blower that was our saving grace, but the battery died very quickly. 😔 Everyone else came to help us after they were done with their own tasks, so it became much more manageable. The walkway was unrecognizable when we were done. (I didn't even realize there was concrete under there before because of how much sand there was) After we were done with the service proje...

Our week in Puerto Penasco has come to an end, and what a week it was! We started the week learning about marine ecology and intertidal habitats and then went out in the field to three different intertidal habitats. Each of the habitats had different physical characteristics and types of tidepools, which supported unique communities. The students found a variety of organisms this week including octopuses, crabs, fishes, sea anemones, sea urchins, sea stars, brittle stars, shrimp (+ snapping shrimp), flatworms, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, isopods, fire worms, clams, mussels, and so many species of snails.     Some invertebrates found in the tidepools.  The students also learned a lot from the CEDO biologists, Paloma, Eleazar, and Angeles. Paloma gave presentations on the natural history of Puerto Penasco and marine mammals, including the critically endangered vaquita. We also had the opportunity to kayak the Morua Estuary and learn about salt marsh habitats and estuaries....

 on Friday in the morning we did a survey of one of the sand dunes in the estuary. we were seeing how many least tern eggs were there as they lay eggs in little depressions in sand they make. they lay one to three eggs. we didn’t see any chicks but we saw some eggs. they blend into the sand very well and you have to be really looking for them. then yesterday we did a service project where we helped clean the fish tank, trim the plants and clean the signs, and remove sand from some of the walkways. we also did presentations on 3 of the invertebrate phylums. my group did mollusks and i was in charge of the gastropod class of the mollusks. the other groups did arthropods and echinoderms. at night we had a traditional Mexican dinner. it was really good, the sauce that you could put on was really spicy. then we had a fire out font of CEDO and made s'mores.  this trip was really fun and informative. i learned a lot about many different cool and unique spices of marine life. thank yo...

I am so sad that the pictures did not upload but the food was so delicious! I loved every bite! Thank you so sooo much with our education, food, places, etc! 💗 I learned so much for the past few days ! I learned how to conserve many items! Such as water usage, recycling paper, how to properly clean fish tanks. Not just that but how over fishing can cause many changes in habitats, over population, or endangering species and wild life! Such as the vaquita, I learned that they are entirely almost gone. :( However, I really love that CEDO is a place for people to learn to help the community, environment, and sea creatures!  Thank you so much for the memories, support, knowledge! I hope I cd a bring friends and families to expand other people knowledge about marine animals and wildlife! I hope to see you again! Thank you! SPANISH ¡Me entristece mucho que las fotos no se hayan subido pero la comida estaba deliciosa! ¡Me encantó cada bocado! ¡Muchas gracias por nuestra educación, comida,...

On Thursday (5/15) we split the group up and took two boats to Bird Island (Isla San Jorge). It's approximately 28 miles from the coast of Puerto Peñasco, which meant an hour and a half long boat ride for us. Our main goal of the day was to swim with the sea lions and complete a census for CEDO. We tried on our wetsuits (provided by CEDO) the day before, which was quite a harrowing task. Most of us had never tried on a wetsuit, so we were very surprised to find out how difficult they are to put on. (And take off) We felt like arthropods molting when it was time to take off our wetsuits. Once we got close to bird island, we understood where the name comes from. The island was flocked with birds, mainly the brown-footed and blue-footed boobies. We also saw some seagulls, cormorants, red-billed tropic birds, and pelicans. Once we arrived at the island and anchored our boats, we saw the hundreds of sea lions that inhabit the island and the surrounding waters. Sea lions are in the Phylu...

  On Thursday, we visited the mud flats! 🥿 it was super windy that day! We had to suit up in our warmer clothes and you can see we did not realize that we were supposed to.😣 Overall there was so many shells and different tiny shells, snails , and hermit crabs!🐚  We explored around and I thought we would not see many organisms or creatures in the mud flats. I was searching everywhere and try to figure out what to find because there wasn’t many rocks to lift in order to find organisms! Until… i heard a scream! Octopuses 🐙 everyone near Dr. C had an octopus! They were many baby octopuses in shells and hiding in little to no rocks 🪨. They were so tiny and the shells they were hiding in fit into them! Dr. c further explained how this is a breeding ground for them. He showed me the eggs, there was so many he explained octopuses lay up to hundreds thousands of eggs! 🥚 I was looking around even more to see if I can find anything on my own then I saw a pretty shell then asked how...

     Thursday morning, instead of going down to the tide pools, we got on two boats and rode an hour to Isla de San Jorge. The ride was very very cold, and very very very windy. But we did get to blast music while we traveled, which made the cold a little more tolerable! When we got there we could immediately see all the pelicans, and sea birds, and then we started to hear the sea lions, and see them swimming in groups towards our boat. Groups of females curiously approached the boat but kept their distance at first. While we waited for the other boat, and the wetsuits, we were able to take videos and pictures of the sea lions approaching us! When the other boat got there we started putting wetsuits, goggles and fins on to prepare for the water! The water was SO cold, but it wasn't too deep, and it was pretty clear so we could easily see down to the bottom! Underwater we were able to see a few sea urchins, lots of coral and sponges, lots of anchovies, and we saw two stone...

As our trip comes to an end, I have been spending some time reflecting on all of the wonderful things we have learned and experienced here at CEDO and out on our adventures. From neap tides and salt wedges to operculums and telson, there’s been so much to discover! There have also been wonderful friendships shared between all of us.  Learning about the marine mammals from Paloma was one of my favorites from the trip. We discussed the vaquita, which is the most endangered marine species in the world currently, with an estimated population of less than 10 individuals still living.    The vaquita populations have been negatively impacted by the fishing industry, like many other species. For our presentations I did some extra diving on Antarctic krill and their role as a keystone species. I’ve loved learning about all of the species niches and special jobs that they have in the ecosystem. When we kayaked through the estuary we learned about the way the plants (producers) are ...

            Our last full day at CEDO was bittersweet. I know we are all excited to return,see our families, and tell them about our adventures; but the week has flown by and I found myself wishing for more time with this group, learning in such a beautiful place!  In the morning we worked on a service project at CEDO, splitting into groups to clean the pup fish tank, clean the cactus garden, and sweep away the built up sand around the walkways. It felt great to leave this place better than we found it.  We wrapped up our studies, presenting group projects to the class, taking our final exam, submitting our final blog posts, drafting our reflective papers - and discussing the fascinating things we learned. We learned about echinoderms, mollusks, and arthropod phylums during group presentations. I learned that krill masses can be seen from outer space (thanks Elizabeth!)! We attempted to visit the post office (a lesson in cultural views on ope...