Dr. Amy Apprill, Dr. Alyson Santoro, and I (Laura Weber- Guest Student) arrived in Key West, FL on Saturday night and drove half an hour north to the MOTE Tropical Research Center located in Summerland Key, Florida.
After we ate breakfast at a charismatic diner called the Galley Grille, we went grocery shopping two islands over for a weeks worth of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and quick breakfast supplies. Then we came back to MOTE and spent the rest of Sunday morning preparing for a weeks worth of coral field sampling; labeling vials and tubes, calibrating the EXO Sonde multiparameter instrument that we will use to gather water quality data (pH, salinity, conductivity, depth, and dissolved Oxygen), and putting weights on the Niskin Bottle (a device we will use to gather large quantities of water for seawater Biochemistry and microbial analysis).
We broke for lunch, prepared our scuba diving equipment, and then enjoyed a lovely tour of Summerland Key via kayaks that we provided to us by the MOTE Laboratory.We ate dinner at another local favorite -the Wharf Bar and Grille - and then we retired for the night in preparation for an exhausting yet exhilarating first day of field work!
We woke up today (Monday) bright and early, excited to begin our work, but unfortunately the weather had other plans. Eric, the MOTE diving expert, decided that we would have a difficult time diving today (rough, choppy water and decreased visibility), so the field work group came to a decision not to travel out to the first coral sampling sites today.
Instead, Amy, Alyson, and I spent the rest of the morning planning where we would like to sample in the coming days and preparing fixative solutions for the coral nubbin samples (where they will be placed and then frozen to preserve the samples).
Now we are relaxing in our room, waiting out the rainy, stormy weather, and planning a fun expedition to Key West for the night.
All the above photos are coutersy of Dr. Alyson Santoro
