Dreaming of the Reefs

So this is my first attempt to engage with a new form of communication-blogging! The last time I did field work I was working without a computer, cell phone, ipod, or GPS! No, you do not need to calculate my exact age, just leave it at” texting is still a challenge”. I am really excited to learn something new!

Where is Earthwatch sending me? Look up the Bahamas on Google earth and see where I am going next week. Look for an island by the name of Little San Salvador. Are there other islands around?

Before I can even begin to think about actually being in the Bahamas I have had my own form of homework. I have read about the island I am going to, learning about geography, history, and natural history. Who was thought to have landed there while “discovering America”? I am also learning about the birds that live there. They are not unlike the birds we studied in the wetlands of SF Bay. They have adaptations to their environments. Do you remember the kinds of adaptations the birds we studied in the wetlands here had? We looked at beak shape, leg length, coloration, nesting locations, and size. What might a bird in the Bahamas have to adapt to? Come to think of it…what might I have to adapt to?

One of the really surprising things I have learned in my reading is about the temperature of the water! It will be around 74 degrees. I was expecting the water temp to be something similar to a warm bath; after all it is the Bahamas. Do you think the time of year might have something to do with it? What effects ocean temperatures?