This is pretty much what I look at every day for research. The circular things in the middle and right in the front of the picture are Cassiopeia. They are "upside down jellyfish" that swim around or stay chilling at the bottom.Hola,
Yesterday we just did transects all day again. We had to walk quite a ways this time.....we weren't too happy. The truck almost got stuck in the road so we had to walk all of our gear the rest of the way....through brush....full of mosquitoes.....and mud. It was great. We actually found a seagrass bed so I had to cut samples of the grass. Then when I got back to the center I had to measure the length, width, and weight of each blade. Turns out that isn't as fun as it sounds.
Today we were supposed to do beam trawling, but our net still hasn't shown up. Instead we did some work with red mangroves in the afternoon. It was high tide so we were up to our knees in muck, but luckily the bugs weren't too bad, the Cassiopeia were. Cassiopeia are small little jellyfish that can shoot pneumatophores (stinging cells) into the water column. I got stung 3 times; once on the back of my knee, once on my thigh, and once in my armpit....it was glorious. I wasn't the only one that got stung, most of us got stung. Don't worry, the stings aren't so bad. They are just kind of annoying. They don't hurt too bad, it's more like a dull sting. In the morning I got to sun bathe which I haven't done in forever, so that was nice.
Right now Termario, one of the local kids (he's 7) is showing me that he knows how to braid hair better than I do. I wish I could show you a picture of what he is doing to my hair. Termario comes around a few times a week. His parents play volleyball on our sand court and he just chills with us. His favorite person is Mitch who is 6'7. It's quite funny to see them walking around together.
Tomorrow we are hopefully starting the beam trawling, if the net shows up that is. When we do that we drag it along the bottom to collect the organisms. Then we record what organisms we caught and let them go (hopefully). That's about it for now. I hope all of you are doing well.
Love,
Michelle
3 comments:
Um....fyi, measuring doesn't sound remotely exciting or fun, haha. You need to take a pic of your hair being braided by that lil kid. I can't believe you're letting a lil kid touch your hair!!
oh, joy! mosquitoes & stung by cassio...s what a blast! You'll need to bring home Termario to do our hair! ALthough I, like Julie, am surprised at your comfort with him braiding it for you.
Just imagine....a nice steamy hot shower in your own house...vehicles that usually work...a nice soft bed...abundant food choices...what blessings you have here at home!
Only 3 more weeks - enjoy every moment of God's beautiful island! And cherish the people...they are God's gifts, too.
Love,
lmm
hi there - when will you be back in LZ? And are you available on 12/20 for J & S sitting?
:+)
lmm
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