Today included discussion over two more articles as well as dissections of a perch and a dogfish shark! We started out the class though with a little bit of a twist. To test if we read the articles or not, we were given a sheet to fill out asking us to provide overviews of the articles as well as giving facts and telling what experiment was used. I felt okay about it, but was uncertain with a few things. After turning in our papers, we started to talk about each article with one being about the mimic octopus and the other about the effect of ecotourism on white sharks. The first was very interesting, and I was fascinated with the many adaptations this octopus has. It can mimic other species such as the sea snake and lionfish for protection. When finished with a video of this creature in action, we moved on to the next article. Many good points were brought up in the discussion including how ecotourism was not really affecting the sharks, but the sharks began to be drawn to the boats for food. They did say though that to extend this experiment to more levels, more research would need to be conducted aside from Seal Island. When we finished these discussions, we moved onto the lab where we began to dissect a perch. We first observed some of its external features such as its mouth and eyes, but then opened a side of the fish to look at things like the liver and swim bladder, which helps the perch move up and down. After looking at this fish for a while, we moved on to the dogfish shark, which I was a little hesitant on. With its size, I did not know really where to start, but once we had the abdominal area open, it was very interesting looking at the different organs and such. When I finally got used to it, we had to stop for the day, but will continue it tomorrow. Today, the various topics we discussed very much relate to the ideas of the class. Learning about a creature and its various adaptations along with the effect of ecotourism on sharks, we are able to be more familiar with concerns that may be occurring in the oceans. Also, being able to dissect a fish and a shark allow us to see the various parts of the organisms that allow it to survive in such a big environment. I look forward to tomorrow when we will finish off the dissection!
