Blog 1

    On May 11th, we arrived in Puerto Peñasco and settled into our rooms. On May 12th, we went tide-pooling at CEDO and discovered many hermit crabs, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, fire sponges, sea urchins, and some octopuses. We also listened to Whitney's lectures about salinity, pressure, and density in water, types of tides depending on the orientation of the moon and sun in comparison to the earth, similarities and differences in various species of marine organisms, and much more. Before dinner, we shopped around the local markets near the restaurant we went to. We were able to apply our knowledge to the field while tide-pooling the following day.


    On Tuesday, May 13th, we began our day by tide-pooling near Vina del Mar. This beach was much rockier than the one by CEDO. We found many isopods, brittle stars, sponges, hermit crabs, sea urchins, octopuses, and a star fish. On the way back up to the van, we found a large sea turtle carcass and a sting ray skeleton. Afterwards, Paloma taught us about CEDO and their conservation organization regarding the vaquita, which is similar to a dolphin but much smaller. There are only 6-8 vaquitas located in the upper golf of California and they are considered the most endangered cetacean in the world. The biggest threat for this species is bycatch in gill nets. Then, we went kayaking at an estuary and learned about the native plants that were edible and very salty. We also saw some small crabs while kayaking.



-Kyli


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