Day 3 in Costa Rica

Our day was spent at the LAST (Latin America Sea Turtle) organization. Our group got split in half. Half of us would work with mangroves, and the other half worked with sea turtles. Then tomorrow the groups would swap jobs. My group got to work with the mangroves today.

Group learns about this sick black sea turtle who will be transported to another facility to receive care.

 We made the journey to the mangrove nursery where we had to start by watering all the mangroves. 

Collecting sea water to water the mangroves in the nursery.

JP and Vadim watering the red mangroves.

Francesca watering the mangroves.

 We had to wait for the tide to recede so we could cross the river and carry young mangroves to a protected spot where they could be planted. We learned a lot about mangroves and their importance to the environment. Many of us had no idea their significance for so many different organisms. Joe, our LAST research assistant, showed us how to plant the mangroves, and then how to collect data so we could help LAST with their data analysis.

Ollie digging a hole so we can plant mangroves.

Phoebe, Francesca, and Subhana planting a red mangrove.

Francesca listening to Vadim as he takes measurements of the newly planted mangrove.

Ollie learning from LAST research assistant, Joe, as Phoebe writes down the data.

Subhana and JP collecting data. 

 After lunch, our group worked on designing their research projects. After taking time to make some observations around the mangroves, two small groups were formed and they were able to create their research questions. Phoebe, Francesca and Subhana wanted to look at the population of red mangroves and compare the number of snorkel roots found near the ocean and away from the ocean. JP, Ollie and Vadim were interested in looking at the number of hermit crabs found in the open compared to being found near the mangroves. They had about an hour to collect data.

Francesca and Phoebe head out towards the mangroves with Joe as they start their research project.

Ollie's group work on their research project by creating quadrats and counting the number of hermit crabs.

Phoebe and Francesca's research project looked at snorkel roots of red mangroves.

We had about 20 minutes of free time after collecting data for our research projects. The girls decided to try out mud masks while the guys went swimming. We walked back to the LAST campus where we were lucky enough to meet with the rest of our group who had brought in a black sea turtle to the beach. We observed them take measurements and collect data of the turtle. The group shared with us that they were able to work with 4 sea turtles. The two groups excitedly shared their day and looked forward to swapping jobs tomorrow.

Free time means trying out mud masks. 

Carla, Yutang and Ms. Moreau help collect data on this black sea turtle. 

Nikki writes down the sea turtle data. 

Jae Bin stands near by to collect sea turtle data.

Nikki, Yutang and Manuel help the research assistants release the sea turtle.