2011

Today was the most interesting and fun day of class so far. As always, we began with discussion of the articles we were assigned to read. Today, though, we were taught by our peers, with a little help from Dr. Grunninger and Mr. Kirby, of course. We talked about how Butterfly fish feed on coral polyps and how mullusks...

Today's class was structured a little bit differently than before. We started out talking about the trip a little more and getting some more details. I can really see the change in everyone's attitudes and I can tell everyone just wants to get out of the classroom portion and down to the BVI. I have to hand it to...

Today marked the start of the final week of the in class portion of marine biology! We started off class with two brief discussions on butterfly fishes and marine mollusks. Alec Sims and Kells Koch led the first discussion. I tried to listen to it as much as I could, but I was a little nervous over having to...

We're finally here! After much anticipation, we arrived at the Virgin Gorda airport last night and checked in to our hotel last night (the Guava Berry Resort). We couldn't do much when we arrived since it was storming but the following morning was filled with activities. Today we took a refresher dive to determine the number of weights we...

Today we are beginning our study of marine organisms. We spent last week building on prior knowledge and setting the context for their experiences before and during our trip to BVI. Alec S. and Kells K. did a great job discussing an article about the impact of butterflyfish on coral reefs. They were followed by Paul P. and Nick...

People of marine biology class, I bring you good fortune; no longer will I stand alone in class. Today my brothers I formed a bond that we never be broken; our minds our now one. Let us rejoice, for the day is near that our me voyage to the Land of Gorda. United we stand as brothers, under our...

Today in class, we learned about butterfly fish eating coral, invertebrates, and squid. The butterfly fish eat polups on coral, which break down the coral which are home to some fish such as the clown fish. Invertebrates are organisms that do not have a spinal column, and they play a major role in the ocean. Squid are invertebrates in...

Today in class we began by going over our trip. The talk about it really got me excited and ready to go. After this we talked about Brody and Hayden's article. It was about the adaptations of the leaping blenny. This relates to marine biology because it gives us an idea of how marine organisms might have made the...

Today we focused on the chemical composition of seas water, climate change, tides, currents, and waves. I think that this lesson is one of the most important lessons of all when discussing marine ecosystems because it truly ties in to the ecological aspect of the ocean seeing as all the factors above directly affect marine life. When thinking about...