I don't think that all of the sand that accumulated in our things this week will ever be gone, but it was totally worth it to spend the entire week at the beach! Of course we weren't completely on vacation, but we definitely had our fair share of fun. Their beaches look completely flat because they have very gradual slopes, and the amount of sandy beach between the dunes and the water is twice the amount of most Texas beaches. This picture just doesn't do it justice:
Unfortunately the first two days we were there it rained cats and dogs, and the rest of the days were cold. We went to the beach at night a couple of times, and actually got to see the bioluminescence! When the microorganisms were disturbed by any movement, they would emit a glow, just like a lightning bug. We would scrape the sand with our hands and feet, and the organisms would glow for us! It really was cool, but unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of it.
This week we were at Pontal de Sul studying marine ecology and resource management. There were a lot of lectures that we sat through about various things, including zooplankton, shrimp trawling, sea turtles, and bycatch. We also learned a lot of research methods that most of the group had never experienced before, including macrobenthos and zooplankton sampling and dolphin watching. We took a full day boat ride to an island off the coast of Pontal de Sul, and we got to sit on the front of the boat to count the dolphin population! I know that pictures of feet can be cliche, but this was just such a cool photo! And the one after is a shot of a dolphin of course:)
Some of the impacts that these organisms and ecosystems are facing are injuries from ship traffic, death from fishing nets, and ingestion of spilled pollutants. They are also building a new port by Pontal de Sul, which means more ships and more problems. We talked to some of the local fishermen and they also are concerned with all the changes that are happening. For example, more boat traffic means less dolphins, and the fishermen actually use the dolphins as an indicator of the presence of fish. The researchers at the university are also working with the fishermen to try and find the most efficient ways of reducing their bycatch, or all of the unwanted things that they catch. Most fishermen are willing to work with them because they also want to reduce their bycatch. It takes more time to sort through all of the unwanted things, so if they can eliminate that cost altogether, they are saving money. This is a good situation for the environmentalists as well because the animals that are not being sold in the market aren't accidentally killed.
Now it's time for some wildlife!
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Native bees. No Brazilian bees have stingers!
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Some type of bird with something in its mouth... haha
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Crab in a mangrove habitat
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A really pretty flower :)
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This next week we are going to Brasilia! It will finally be hot after three weeks of cold, but I'm sure it will get old fast. We are also going to get our own hammocks to sleep in, so we'll see how that goes!
Love your photos and I'll bet you'll have the names to all these creatures and plants by the time you return. :)
Posted by: Jean Loden | 10/08/2013 at 10:09 AM