Marine Biology at the Texas Gulf Coast
Yesterday we woke up to full sun! We were grateful to have arrived on the island Monday so that we were able to take advantage of dry roads and have a full day of programming.
We started hands-deep in marine conservation - literally - we started the morning with shark dissections. In groups of 3-4, each student was able to dissect and isolate a shark's liver, intestines, stomach, eyes, and brain. One shark even had 5 developed pups inside, and recognizable stomach contents, evidence of its last meal - undigested shrimp and a small fish.
We started hands-deep in marine conservation - literally - we started the morning with shark dissections. In groups of 3-4, each student was able to dissect and isolate a shark's liver, intestines, stomach, eyes, and brain. One shark even had 5 developed pups inside, and recognizable stomach contents, evidence of its last meal - undigested shrimp and a small fish.
We were assured that these sharks were bycatch (caught in trawling nets by fishermen and would have been discarded if not donated for research purposes). After lunch students were able to view a variety of preserved fish.
Students also enjoyed a presentation from an employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about how scientists study coral at Flower Garden (Texas' coral reef 100 miles off the coast). At one point students role-played the life of a coral. It was neat to talk to a scientist from NOAA after our guest speaker last week who earned her Ph.D. studying coral reefs off the coast of Mexico. Today we are excited to head to Texas A&M Galveston for oyster reef ecology and to work with turtles.
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Students also enjoyed a presentation from an employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about how scientists study coral at Flower Garden (Texas' coral reef 100 miles off the coast). At one point students role-played the life of a coral. It was neat to talk to a scientist from NOAA after our guest speaker last week who earned her Ph.D. studying coral reefs off the coast of Mexico. Today we are excited to head to Texas A&M Galveston for oyster reef ecology and to work with turtles.
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