It’s the final day in a classroom, and it is buzzing with excitement. This Sunday we leave to study organisms in paradise. Today, we started off class listening to two more presentations on articles. The first was about the Blenny fish. The Blenny fish has adapted and evolved to have the ability to not only swim in the water, but move about and breathe on land, using their tail to move and vascular skin to absorb air. This led to a conversation on evolution and if the Blenny is one of our ancestors. I don’t believe it is personally. We then talked about the over population of lion fish of the coast of North Carolina. After all this, we began to give presentations on different kinds of marine animals including: bony fish, cartilaginous fish, marine turtles, marine mammals, and marine plants. Bony fish can control their buoyancy using something called a swim bladder, filling and releasing air in order to control buoyancy. Sharks are primarily made up of cartilage and have a shorter digestive track because it is easier to digest meat that way. Sea turtles have the ability to hold their breath underwater for very long amounts of time. They also don’t have to worry about the over expansion of their lungs. The most dangerous part of a sea turtle’s life is from when they hatch until they get to the ocean. Marine mammals have found a way to adapt to survive underwater. They can store their air and aren’t susceptible to high amounts of atmospheric pressure. I am beyond excited to go to the British Virgin Islands on Sunday. It’s time to leave the classroom and go out in the field.
Until Sunday.
