UNF Week 1 - Alyssa Cotten

 This last week has been so much fun but has also presented some interesting challenges. I loved being outside every day and getting to experience so many different parts of coastal northeast Florida. The challenge arose when we all quickly realized the lack of sleep and rest we’d all endure for the week. Other than that I can say that I loved my time at UNF!

The first day started out with water quality samples and seine netting at GTMNERR. It was so cool getting to see the small critters we brought in with the net. There were tiny crabs, transparent shrimp, and lots of baby fish. One of my favorites was the bay whiff, aka flounder, because it was so small and almost transparent around the edges. It was a pretty intense day as we took a daytime and nighttime sample which required us to be out there for about 12 hours. 

The second day we visited the Kingsley Plantation. There we met Ches who is the mangrove expert and showed us the invasive mangrove species that have found their way into northeast Florida. One of my favorite parts of the whole week was when Ches took all of us straggling out into the salt marsh to look closer at the mangroves. They were small but thriving in areas they aren't normally found. Ches explained to us that this was a hint to global warming as the plants can not last through colder temperatures such as the ones this area sometimes experiences. 

Shark day was another one of my favorite moments of this week. I loved getting to work with the scalloped hammerhead sharks and seeing the research Dr. G was doing. We caught 3 scalloped hammerheads and a cownose ray. The cownose ray was foul hooked so we let it go as it didn't pertain to the data we needed. However it was pretty cute and something exiting to see so close. 

I honestly loved the last day so much because we got to see a lot of the Jacksonville area and see how the ocean and rivers work together. It's something that can be a simple but very intricate process. We started at the Marineland beaches where there was miles of coquina rock. I'm from Pensacola and the beaches there are flat and sandy. At Marineland the beach is covered in giant compressed rocks, so totally different than what I'm used to. The rocks were so interesting to explore as we found hidden tidal pools with baby fish, muscles, anemones, and barnacles. There are even spots in the rocks where we could fit into and hide. We then visited the Matanzas river to explore the natural inlet and how it functions. The next stop was the jetties at Vilano beach to see the artificial inlet and the differences it had from the natural inlet. This was really crazy to see as the natural inlet was much wider and flowed nicer. The artificial inlet had rough waves all over and was very narrow. 

Overall it was a great and exciting week! The only true challenge I can say I faced was trying to fight off sunburn and functioning on low sleep. Each day gave us so much great information and the experiences at each location will be something I'll always remember. I've already started thinking about when I can come back to Jacksonville again just so I can see more!