This doesn't look like Kansas (squid, octopodes, and turtles, oh my)!

The first and second days seem a bit like a while of a whirlwind. Sunday started out with moped orientation. Every year is a bit different - student skills, personalities, and decisions made by the moped companies make moped orientation a new adventure each time. After a bit of a shaky start, the students were soon doing laps on the Bio Station circular driveway (which includes speed bumps and periodic traffic - perfect for driving school).

As in previous years our first trip was to Whalebone Bay. Just about a mile from the Bio Station; importantly, only one left turn until you reach the end of the road and the parking lot AND very little traffic. The wind was blowing into the bay, which made it a little choppy but everyone did quite well (minor equipment adjustments but overall a pretty "fishy" group). The hit of the day was the parade of reef squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) making it through the bay. Like a precision marching band, the squid would change formation, line up from large to smallest, right and left turn, all while putting on an amazing color display. I present their display in a short (it had to be less than 100 MB video) below.

Today we headed out to Walsingham Pond. Walsingham Pond is a sink hole that is about 6 m deep and is connected to Castle Harbor and possible Harrington Sound. Thus it is a salt water pond that is flushed daily with the tidal cycle. There are a variety of fish, filtering invertebrates, great algae, and, one of my favorites, Upside Down Jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana). These jellyfish are found on the bottom of calm inshore waters and thrive in Walsingham Pond; they lie on their backs with their numerous tentacles and mouth pointing upward allowing for light to reach their photosynthetic symbionts (zooxanthellae). Like other jellies, these also have stinging cells and it doesn't take long before people start feeling (or imagining) a stinging sensation on their skin.

The Pond is surrounded by mangroves and is a little dark. The pond is also nutrient rich and very productive, thus there is a lot of phytoplankton in the water. Result? Many visitors feel it is a bit of a spooky place as they can't see more than 5 feet ahead of them and sometimes, depending on how much material has been kicked up, they may not be able to see their hand in front of their face. There is often a sense that something might be lurking behind you or in and among the mangrove roots. However, in addition to the spectacular algae and jellyfish in the pond, there is a resident turtle that was trapped in the pond some time ago. Low and behold, today when we arrived the turtle was waiting by the entry point welcoming our group. Squid, octopods, and turtles in the first two days - how cool is that?

After our close encounter with the jelly-kind we headed towards the South Shore. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at John Smith's Bay before heading over to the Natural Arches (which are no more after hurricane Fabien). However, there are cup reefs off shore of beautiful pink sandy beaches. The reefs are made from vermetid snails and algae and provide an interesting habitat for fish, invertebrates, and algae. The snails make tubes rather than the more typical coiled shells and while individually small, they occur in huge numbers (thousands per meter square) and together with algae they form reefs. The reefs are also known as "boilers" as the waves break over top of them but today was calm enough for a "look around." One highlight - a very bold barracuda.

We got back to the station in time for an afternoon break. And as I finishing writing I hear the uneven throttle of mopeds suggesting that our students have returned from town. To date, they have done well on the two wheeled machines and our proving to be an independent group. We have a plankton tow (or is that plankton toes?) tonight to wrap things up. I anticipate that everyone will sleep well!