MCC's Marine Biology Study Ablog 2025

     I can't believe it's over already! Everybody who participated in our study abroad program made this an unforgettable experience. On Friday, May 16th, we began our day at a beach where Least Terns were known to nest in the sand and lay their eggs. This imposed many threats since the eggs were a similar shade to the sand and was difficult to spot out. Because of this, the locals have helped by spreading the word about their whereabouts and explaining that they warn people when they are approaching the eggs by flying around them and screeching at them repeatedly. We were also told that if we step too close to the eggs, they will fly overhead and poop on us. Due to these limitations, we formed 4 lines and moved in a specific direction across the sand fields synchronously and we all looked for the eggs and nests in the sand. We also found a few sea urchin tests along the shoreline. Attached is a picture of some of the eggs we found along with the test.     ...

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...

  Once we got to puerto penasco we got introduced to the people running Cedo! They told us their rules and expectations for staying here at Cedo. I was so nervous but soon enough I was excited to meet my group! We settle down and picking out our spots to set up our stuff and sleep! Before that though, we went tide pooling ! Camryn found a sea hare, it’s the little blob looking. I learned that the sea hare can spray venom and they use their little flippers to swim around. I thought they just move like a normal land slug but the sea hare has more of an advantage in getting A to B. Eventually, Audrey found crabs 🦀 I was really impressed in how she can handle them safely! Then our professor Dr. C explained that male crabs have a triangle shape and the female crabs  has more of a round shape on their abdomen in order to hold their eggs ! Then we saw many other organisms such as the sucker fish. Eventually, it got late then Camryn found a octopus but it hid under the rocks 👎🏽😾 A...

 Hello! Today is Saturday which means tomorrow is our last day here unfortunately. I had such a good time while we were here and I feel like we have learned so much. I wanted to focus half of my last blog post on my general experience and the other half focusing on my favorite organism while we were here. I think this trip really helped with my confidence in myself in a lot of ways. I have never really seen myself as an outdoors person but I have found myself having a lot of fun here! It has taught me that half of doing something is trusting yourself. I think it just took the right environment and people for me to have fun. As I was saying before, I also wanted to focus part of my blog post on my favorite organism I found while we were here: The Fitch's pygmy octopus! At first glance, this little creature blends in really well with the sand. We found a bunch of them at Cholla Bay along the mudflat, especially under and in shells. They are tiny compared to the other octopuses we fou...

Hello! I can't believe that we are already almost done with our trip! We explored so many places and different tide pools too. I think my favorite trip by far was snorkeling with and surveying the sea lions. In Spanish they are called "lobos marinos" which literally translates into "sea wolves." They have a ton of sea lion skulls here too! You can tell which is female and which is male by looking for a protrusion of bone on the top of their skulls. The ones that have this are males and they use this to fight other males over territory.    Male sea lion in center Male sea lions will have harems which can consist of 10 to 15 female sea lions. Their breeding season is in the summer time and during this time the males will bark a lot and guard their territories particularly well. When we went to Isla San Jorge we could pick out the male sea lions very easily because they were barking quite a lot! It was really fascinating to see them interacting with one another. Th...

Our first day was very exciting! We went out to the tide pools around 7:00 AM and saw so many different organisms. I made sure to take some pictures of the ones I found particularly interesting. This first picture is of a brittle star we found! You might be thinking "Is this a starfish or a weird octopus?" The answer is neither! It is more closely related to a starfish than an octopus but they are not the same. One difference is the strongly marked off central body present in brittle stars but not starfish. Starfish and brittle stars belong in the same phylum of invertebrates called echinodermata. Echinoderms actually means "rough-skinned" which fits this brittle star well! Here is another photo! In the photo you can't see how it moves its legs, but the best way I can describe it is like an octopus. However, it does not have a centralized nervous system or suction cups like an octopus has. Instead, it has a decentralized nervous system that consists of a main ne...

Blog post #2 it is now Friday May 16th hmm ...... much has happened since I last posted so let’s start from where we left off.  Starting off with May 14! It was my first time kayaking! I know scary but after wards it soooo fun I cannot wait to do it again. While kayaking we got to learn more about the types of plant where we got to see some batis maritima and maybe got  snack o n 1 or 2. They’re really yummy and was surprisingly juicy with a salty flavoring! Moving on to yesterday we had the opportunity to snorkel with some sea lions! The boat ride to the San Jorge Island was about 1hr-to-1hr 30min. The ride itself was very soothing with the cool breeze and smell of fresh salt water was very relaxing. Getting to island and getting close to the sea lions at first was scary due to the massive size of the males. As we were about to start snorkeling and getting into to water the sea lions seemed excited for us to get in. They started to swim circling around us and under our feet, ...