Day 5: Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Last night I finally got to use my chemistry skills and tested water samples for Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration, pH, etc. It was interesting to see how the data changed from reef to reef while other parts stayed constant. By analyzing the data over time, they will be able to look for different trends, areas of concern, and water makeup in the different reefs. After testing all the water samples we all went to bed to prepare for today’s testing.
Today was sunny but unfortunately a little choppy and windy again. Consequently we were unable to get data this morning and instead went for a recreational snorkel at Snapshot reef again. It was even more amazing this time. I saw two types of stingrays and a bunch of exotic fish. For our afternoon session it was still a bit windy but we still attempted to collect some data despite the conditions. My partner Nan and I conducted research with the PI Frame. We had to throw the PI Frames (seen in Day 1's blog) in the water, and record what we found under each of the 16 orange flags. The categories included hard coral, soft coral, algae, rock, sand, and other. We knew it was going to be difficult when our first few throws moved with the waves every time we tried to record data. After getting beat up a bit we decided it was smarter to come in. We were able to get 8 throws done and will hopefully collect more data tomorrow. This evening we will have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (vegetarian style for me of course)and then head to the lab where we will have our regular evening class. The nights have been very interesting as we have learned a great deal about important and interesting concepts, such as global warming, coral reefs, and more. Tomorrow will be our last day of going out into the water to snorkel in the morning. In the afternoon we will head out for a Bahamian lunch at a local restaurant and then prepare to depart on Saturday! Hope you are all enjoying your time off and again happy Thanksgiving! – Ms. Biersbach
posted by Ms. Biersbach @ 6:13 PM
105 Comments:
What type of stingrays and exotic fishes did you see? Were you able to take any pictures? Were the stingrays deadly? Stingrays are dangerous while snorkeling because of what happen to Steve Irwin. Remember to always be careful!
I am interested in how you tested the water for nitrates, nitrites, etc... and how you correlate them with corral composition and with water currents. I also read how you were creating a 3D model of how the beach changed over time (topographically, very cool. Another neat aspect of that which would be easy to perform would be to dig relatively small trenches along key points on the beach ( from the shore pointing towards the water ), about 3-4 ft. deep and record the lithology of the sand ( layers of alternating colors and composition within the sand ), it is an easy way to discern weather behavior, sediment transportation and short term geologic history of the island and its beaches. Just like rings on a cross section of a tree the beach is a great place to find information about the islands history. All very interesting stuff, keep up the good work.... P.S. Geology Rocks...!
How does global warming affect the coral reefs?
What are you going to eat?
what are nitrates?
how do you test for this?
how badly is global warming affecting the reefs?
is there any way of saving them?
I am glad that people are testing everyday for coral bleaching it is very important to preserve our corals in the oceans for if we don't, millions of amazing animals and plant could go extinct because they depend on the corals. corals are beautiful and look like pieces of art work. I researched on how coral bleaching occurred. This happens when ocean water is warmer than average. To respond to the change of habitat they change color to a white. (bleaching) Scientists are now looking for ways to stop this from happening. For example, scientists in Queensland are looking at the idea of putting some type of sunshade thing over the coral. I'm hoping that they come to a solution to this difficult problem
i found something else out!
if the bleaching is not that severe, the coral can repair itself. But if its too severe the polyps die. Also, the "disease could spread if not taken care of correctly. It could spread and spread until major colonies are affected. Coral bleaching can be observed from a satellite. not the actual bleaching though, but the temperature changes of the ocean. A lot of people are researching and are worried for the coral reefs. Major companies like Seaworld, are specially worried. I never knew that corals were carnivores. I wonder what they eat. I also never knew that corals had a life span of 2 years to hundreds. And also that colonies lived from 5 years to a couple of centuries. That is pretty amazing. It is sad to see that these creatures have survived so much, and we, the people are the ones to destroy them. Is there any way that we can prevent these animals to become extinct?
hope you had a great thanksgiving this would be my last day logging into your blog because i have moved and i will be very busy, it was really intresting data and fun thing to do over the break;)
hey,
what do you guys base your informationon when you guys dont get useful data?
Question:
1: Is Alkalinity a type of chemical or a bacteria?
2: If the weather was different would your testes be any different or will the chemicals change?
what did you actually eat for thanksgiving since your vegetarian?
Alkalinity the capacity of water for neutralizing an acid solution.
Global warming can do many things and can harm the environment in many ways. It also hurts the corals that you are researching. Global warming is very dangerous.
why did they decide to this in winter time?
How does it feel to be almost across the globe doing work on a holiday?
What were the constants?
& What are some of your favorite experiences of this trip so far?
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! (:
11-28-08
That sounds very interesting how you saw two types of stingrays and exotic fish.
What is the PI Frame? What kind of fish were they?
That sounds very interesting how you saw two types of stingrays and exotic fish. (11-28-08)
That sounds very interesting how you saw two types of stingrays and exotic fish. (11-28-08)
Hey Ms.Biersbach,
happy Thanksgiving!^_^
In a vegitarian thanksgiving, what do you eat instead of turkey?
what did all of you eat that day?
thats awesome how you got to use your chemistry skills!
what did u eat for thanks giving since ur vegetarian?? =]
Hard corals are made out of calcium carbonate (chalk). They live in shallow clear waters. While soft corals are made from a little bit of calcium carbonate. They are more colorful than the hard corals. One observation to tell them apart is simply by the fact that hard corals have eight tentacles while six tentacles.
HAPPY LATE THANKSGIVING!!
The Bahamian reef program ended for you Friday, but when does the actual study end?
Its really unfortunate to know the wind are getting in the way of your research. What kind of exoctic fish were you able to see?
Hey Ms. Biersbach, I have a question about the water testing. Why do you need to test the water for Nitrates, Boron concentration, and pH? Is the water's status related to the condition of the corals?
I did some extra research and Nitrates are nutrients for plants. They go into water supplies from things such as, fertilizers or the sewage.
Hi Mrs. Biersbach its me Karen yeah when it came to Thankgiving dinner u came up to my mine how u were probaly in the bahamas celebrating Thnaksgiving vegeterian way
Hi Mrs. Biersbach it me karen yeah i was pretty sure that u were going to mention something about the vegeterian thankgiving. When it came to dinner time on thursaday I imagine u eating and celebrating thanksgiving in ur kind of fashion the vegiterean fashion an oh yeah i have a question what is a trend
what type of food is typically served in the resturant you are going to?
Can you explain what nitrates and nitrites are?
What is "Alkalinity"?
Sounds delicious, a veggie thanksgiving...Well I had a good thanksgiving too! It seems like your having a really fun time!
Were any of the exotic fish you saw dangerous?
What made some parts stay constant? and Why did some change?
i didn't know you were vegeterian.
sooo...ummm...you didn't eat turkey?
i didn't know you were vegeterian.
sooo...ummm...you didn't eat turkey?
Ms.Biersbach happy Thanksgiving to you and how is the reaserch.
Kris here
I think i have heard the word "Nitrates" before, what are they?
I'm glad you got to apply your knowledge of chemistry to the expedition ! So how exactly did you test the water samples for the nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, and boron concentration ? I'm pretty interested in how those elements can be found in the water. Are they naturally abundant in the water ?
Laura elizarraras: november 30
what type of sting rays were they?
I have one question. What is boron concentration? Also, what did you eat?
do we get to see the test results and also what do we need to bring for the junk egg.
Why did the concentration of Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration and ph change from reef to reef? And why did some stay constant? How come the location of these affects the concentration? What was the average ph that you guys found in the different reefs?
What are PI frames?
What do you use them for?
How do you use it?
I'm glad that you had a nice thanksgiving. How did your last day go with the research? Oh, and I was wondering, did you guys all compile/organize the information together or is there a main person who puts it all together?
How does the wind affect your snorkeling? Is it the waves? How far out in the sea do you go before you actually dive?
It must have been cool to meet with all the different people.
Did you guys see any sharks? or any jellyfish? So what do you eat for thanksgiving if you're a vegetarian?
Woah; I'm late.
Anyways...
What was something that you found specifically interesting about global warming?
What types of exotic fish were you able to spot?
How deep would you go into the water to get what you are looking for?
What types of exotic fish did you see?
that sounds like fun
I wish I could have went snorkeling
how is it thnksgiving without the TURKEY...
weeeird.
weber thinks im going to turn vegetarian before i get out of highschool.....haha.
hope you had a WONDERFUL thnksgiving. my mom asked if you wanted some vegetarian tamales(:
sorry for the late posts. i was out for break; no computer resource.
-jessica g. your FAVORITE student[:
Was the dinner any good without any real food like turkey?
It's awesome to her u are having fun, it's always good to venture out and see new parts of the world. I was wondering what kind of stingrays u guys saw, and if they stung u, would it hurt u while u had ur suites on.
Also, about globl worming, did u learn anything new about it that u dind't already know about? if so, i'd love to hear about it!
and another thing, was thnksgiving differnt in anyway then in the US?
i hope u have a great trip back home. =)
Also.. I know that not everyone around the world celebrates thanksgiving, so did everyone there take part in thanksgiving even if it was not part of their culture?
Whats the difference between Nitrate and Nitrite is it like the names and compunds that we are studying in class?
Does Global warming affect corals?
wow sorry for logging in on the last day but ive been busy. well i hope you had fun over there but i wondered if people ate some fish for thanksgiving from the same place that you guys were doing your reasearch and well i guess you had a lot of fun especially with all the things you described in the water, it must have looked beautiful.
Do you think that the weather you guys had affected the results? cause you said it was like really windy and stuff, so that might have affected the coral reefs
what are some of the exotic fish that you saw?
So I was watching the Food Network the other day, & they talked about tofurkey. Did you eat that? Or something similar?(;
what did you eat for thanksgiving...?
it must be very different since you are a vegetarian.
hey its me luis. umm i wante to know if u took any pictures of the fish that u saw. also did u see any poisonous fish like not stingrays but like lionfish? also is their poison deadly?
LUIS again soo u know how they take the venom out of snakes and see if they can make cures...dot hey do the same thing for stingrays? or is their venom good for anything apart from killing??
can you name some of the types of stingrays and fish that you saw?
did you take any pictures of the fish so you can show us in class?
what did you eat if it was vegetarian?
hope you have a lot of fun. i can't wait until we see come of the pictures that you took in school.
What type of stingrays and exotic fishes did you see? Were the stingrays deadly? Do you have any gnarly scrapes from the coral?
Overall everything you wrote seemed awesome. Hope you had a great experience.
does the weather really affect your experiments?
Did you really enjoy your dinner?
so you can only get data depending on the weather?
weren’t u scared when you saw the stingray?
What were the results after you tested water samples for Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration & pH? How did the data change more specifically? What other parts stayed constant? different trends such as what?, What were some of the areas of concern?
Where you able to get close to the stingray and exotic fish? what type of sting and exotic fish did you see?
What were the results after you tested water samples for Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration & pH, specifically? How did the data from every reef differ? What other parts stayed constant? Different trends such as what? What were some of the areas of concern? This is all really interesting to me, I would like to know more about it.
What were the results after you tested water samples for Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration & pH, specifically? How did the data from every reef differ? What other parts stayed constant? Different trends such as what? What were some of the areas of concern? This is all really interesting to me, I would like to know more about it.
What were the results after you tested water samples for Nitrates, Nitrites, Alkalinity, Boron concentration & pH, specifically? How did the data from every reef differ? What other parts stayed constant? Different trends such as what? What were some of the areas of concern? This is all really interesting to me, I would like to know more about it.
did you see any familiar faces over there? Or did you just meet new people?
What did you have for thanksgiving dinner? Did you enjoy it? Did you miss your family while having dinner?
Question:
Was there any cultural food besides the traditional thanksgivng food, if there was what were they?
Comment:
1.It must have more intersting that you got to use some of your skills and learn others.
2.Snorkeling must have been fun.
im also wondering what nitrates are andi looked it up but it says that they are used for medications or something like that i didnt really understand it...
i forgot that you were a vegeterian, so you didn't eat any turkey!? or any ham?! What about stuffing? anyways...about science,
how did you test the water for nitrates?
Why is it called Soft Coral?
Does anything bad happen if you squish it?
Hi again! What new things did you learn about global warming? That sounds super interesting! like, does the global warming have any effect on th corals bleached stains and things underwater like that?
-Giselle <3
Where did you buy the underwater camera?
Did you ever feel scared when you went snorkeling?
Some exotic Species that you can come across at the Bahamas are frog fish which are warty-like fish. The angel fish is another one and that one has alot of spots and looks cool. If you go snorkeling around north side of Bahamas you might also come across tiger sharks.
Ooops i thought i posted a post but it didnt show up well HAPPY late THANKS GIVING well i hope u can meet up with the people next time u go (if u do)
What were all the things that you found on the island and the water?
Wow, ms Biersbach
that's so awesome. :D
that's kind of weird how the reefs are able to take different trends over time. could you explain exactly how that happens?
when you mean a vegetarian thanksgiving what do you mean? what type of food are you going to eat?
what is alkalinity and boron concentration?
aren't the stings of the stingrays so painful that you faint, but wake back up from the pain? If you see a stingray swim away from where its headed if what i asked is true you don't want to get stung.
what do you do for turkey day if im guesssing u dont eat turkey
Did you get to see a whale?
If you have the chance can you get me a big huge gigantic shell
I see this trip was very intresting.
But why are Coral's so important?
can you go in the water and just swim for fun?
i researched eels and found out that they could kill you if you get shocked and you are weak and could not handle the elctricity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i researched eels and found out that they could kill you if you get shocked and you are weak and could not handle the elctricity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you had a great thanks giving
Reflection
while i read your thing i remembered the year of 2007-2008 when i was in chemistry and i was still learning about pH which was a kind of boring subject just getting some litmus paper and dipping it into anything. i liked the part that said the waves were really big and that you would get tossed from it.
This is a great experience to show how you care about the environment and also you can meet new people to interact with. But also with this type of experience you can learn new things through out like helping the environment.
How much percentage will this experience help the world??
Has there been any dangerous things out there?
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