Today began unlike most of the others. We walked into class and started by listening to Mr. Kirby and Doc Gruninger discuss the rules for the british virgin islands. Now I could list those but you would probably fall asleep so I’ll move on. Brody and Hayden did the first article today about the blenny, a fish that can survive on both land and water. Thhey discussed several things such as where and how they did this since they were indeed just fish, but what I found interesting was how they did it. Most people are probably thinking, ” wait, if it’s a fish, then how does it breathe out of the water?” Well, this specific fish has a large amount of blood vessels in its skin, it is “highly vascular” as the article called it. Why does this matter? The blood vessels near the skin allow the fish to absorb oxygen from water on it’s skin which it can collect because these fish are many times located in a splash zone. We also discussed the possibility that the blenny could possibly be in the evolutionary history of humans. Although we decided against it, it could give us insight as to how evolution occurred. After this article, Gabe and Will presented an article about the invasive lion fish that we will be seeing in the BVI. These fish are native to the indo pacific waters, but were introduced to the Atlantic and caribean. Having no natural predators, they have grown rapidly. Yesterday, we read an article on the warmer water temperatures that are destroying coral. Unlike the coral however, the fish thrive in warmer waters, and therefore, could become an even larger problem. After that article each group did a presentation about certain wildlife we will see in the BVI. The first discussed the bony fish. This group discussed many of it’s characteristics including their ranging size, u shaped stomach, and the different forms of reproduction, including viviparous and oviparous. The next group talked of the cartilaginous animals. These included the sharks. The way they maintain buoyancy using their liver which is filled with oil was interesting because I did not know that sharks did not have a swim bladder. Our group walked through the hawksbill and green sea turtles. These are the two turtles we will be seeing in the BVI. These two types both do many of the same things including mating and birth. This involves the female going out onto the beach to lay eggs. Paul’s group discussed marine mammals. These, which include the whales, can stay underwater for extended periods of time due to adaptations of more efficient breathing. They are also able to maintain body heat because of their blubber. Sorry I was not able to get this in on time but I did not have Internet until now.
