LiMPETS Reflection

 

Team AP Bio took a field trip to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to help the LiMPETS program monitor the tide pools. LiMEPTS stands for Long-term Monitoring Program and Experimental Training for Students. While we were at the beach we surveyed different areas of the coastline to compare biodiversity. Right now the coastline is experiencing some change in the environment so our class got to experience first-hand how it is impacting the coastline.

Right now there are thousands of Velella velella getting washed to shore. These are also called “by-the-wind sailors” and they are closely related to jelly-fish. They have no motor abilities so they float on the water with the currents. If they are washed to shore they have no means of getting back to the ocean, so many of them get stuck on the beach. With an increase in wind along the coast there have been more by-the-wind sailors washed up in recent months. Scientists working for LiMPETS are using data collected by students like us to figure out how this change will impact the local ecosystem.

Velella velella weren’t the only species we saw. While we were at Fitzgerald we looked for aggregating and sunburst starfish, algae, hermit crabs, limpets, mussels and so many other species. We worked in groups of three and went up and down the coastline to collect data from various tidal zones. As we moved closer to the ocean, or towards the low zone, there were more species of coral, kelp and starfish. The area between the shore and the ocean was dominated by mussels. The difference that 10 feet made from one area of the beach to another was incredible, it was as though we were looking at a completely different ocean all together. One of my favorite parts of exploring the tide pools was touching anemones and watching them contract their tentacles.

Before going to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve one of the naturalists from LiMPETS, named Abby, came to our class to introduce us to the species before we went to the beach. When we got to the starfish, she told us that the number of starfish at the reserve had declined in recent years due to a bacterial infection called “wasting syndrome,” where the starfish looks as though it is disintegrating. The bacteria gets into micro-abrasions on the starfish so that it cannot heal and it loses it’s legs. The syndrome has become a larger threat to starfish as the ocean has increased in temperature because the bacteria that causes the disease lives in warmer waters. The population is reached it’s lowest point in 2008, but has been slowly rising since.

Even though I used to go to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve all the time I learned so much on our field trip. I really enjoyed looking for specific species and seeing the biodiversity on the coast, rather that just walking around looking at starfish and mussels. Field trips have been an amazing perk to being in AP Biology, and I am thrilled I had the amazing opportunities throughout the year to get out of the classroom and into nature.