Exploring Talafofo

This week for Marine Biology, we went to Talafofo to explore the estuary. When you search "estuary" on google, it'll state, "the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream." The class started around 1:20pm, and everyone had separated into pairs. Before heading to the water, Julie, our teacher assistant (TA), explained a few house rules. She explained how to row using the kayak as a safety precaution. As we strapped on our life jackets, each pair decided who would be the front and back paddler. Julie suggested that the back be the more experienced out of the pair since the back paddler is also the steerer of the kayak. The front merely sets the pace for the pair. By this time, I was extremely excited to just onto the kayak and see the river. My partner had more experience with a kayak so she was the navigator for the trip. Once our professor pushed his kayak out, the rest followed.

It was easy to go up the river. The hard part was paddling back to site (the currents were against us). The river split into two channels. What the class immediately noticed was how clear one was to the other. One touch of the water below signaled that the clearer of the two was fresh water (the other was salt water). It was interesting because the temperature of the two differed as well, although both was receiving direct sunlight. I remembered from one of the lectures that fresh water was naturally cooler than salt water. As it neared 3pm, our professor signaled it was time to go back. All in all, exploring the Talafofo estuary was definitely one for the books.

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Things we can't see

There are some things the human eye simply cannot see. This week for Marine Biology, our class got to utilize two different microscopes. The professor collected some marine species to observe; some animals and planktons. It was great because all groups got to see certain mutations their bodies adapted in order to survive within their respective environment. We got to take turns to observe corals, sea spiders, snails, clams, and seaweed. It all looked a bit out of this world as if I borrowed glasses from someone who was almost blind. The sea spider creeped me out the most due to its multiple legs. I think that the most important part of the lab was seeing the plankton roaming around the water. To think that a colossal amount of animals rely on this tiny species to survive boggles my mind up to now. After all, it is what feeds almost the whole food chain, one way or another. So in that case, hurray for the tiny things that swim around in our oceans! You guys rock!

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