APES Florida Trip 2023 🌴

After our lunch at Sombrero Beach we were lucky enough to get an earlier tour of the Turtle Hospital! We stepped inside the mint green gift shop and discovered authentic replicas of sea turtle shells on the wall. (With accurate sizes! They can be huge!) A seaturtle skeleton was encased next to some information about sea turtles. A TV showed a looped video about the history of the hospital. There were jewelry, hats, t-shirts, pins, keychains and more of seaturtles and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :) Our Tour Guide Karl was very informed and funny. He showed us a brief presentation about the different species of seaturtles, one that's been saved by the Hospital, and how they can be harmed in the ocean. Some turtles get strange tumors on their bodies from pollution. Others injure a fin from boats or develop Bubble Butt Syndrome, where a boat injuries their shell and pent up air develops under the shell. Turtles with Bubble Butt syndrome can never survive in the wild, so they ...

​ By: Maddie Watts Today we had our last classroom session with Mote Marine Laboratory. In class we learned about why coral reefs are important.   They are important for lots of reasons, one of them being a barrier for Big storms like hurricanes. They act as a barrier to the Shoreline. We also learned about how Motes coral restoration happens. We did a restoration lab out in the outside classroom. We got to cut up coral and glue them on the plug like the scientists at Mote do to grow more coral of the same genotypes. Once we did that we got to do what the diving team at more does when they go out to our plant coral in the coral reef. They use a method called coral tree nurseries. This is where coral fragments are hung from the branches of the tree using monofilament line. From there they can start to grow more and eventually spawn. 

​Today we went into the classroom and learned about different types of coral diseases and what can make coral sick. We completed a few fun activities to visualize what is happening to the coral reefs. We learned all about carbon dioxide’s effect on the ocean and it’s magnificent creatures. The first activity that we completed was the quadratic analysis of bleached coral populations. We learned all about global warmings effect on the coral. Increased temperatures of the ocean make the zooxanthellae (algae) leave the coral. The zooxanthellae give the coral it’s stunning color. When it exits the coral, the coral then appears to be bleached. For the quadratic analysis we were given a picture of a coral reef and then a five by five grid to place over the picture. We then had to figure out which coral colony is bleached or in the process of bleaching. We also learned that the increased carbon dioxide increases the acidity of ocean water. This is because the ocean absorbs 1/3 of the carbon di...

​Today we were supposed to venture through the mangrove habitats by kayaking. Unfortunately, the weather was extremely windy and prevented us from kayaking. This may seem like a sad setback, but in reality it was just another path for us to travel on.  Instead of kayaking, we took a leisurely stroll through a mangrove hiking trail. Here we learned how to identify all three types of mangroves in the Florida Keys. The three types of mangroves are red, black, and white mangroves. We also learned an interesting fact about the black mangrove. The black mangrove will expel the salt from the sea water into its leaves. This in turn makes the leaves shiny with salt crystals that you can actually taste! On our hike, we also saw a Cassiopeia or upside down jellyfish. We then had an early supper of hamburgers that Mr. Park grilled for us. After the early dinner, we packed up the van and headed to Key West. Once we got to Key West we headed straight to Mallory Square. Mallory Square hosts a sun...

​The fifth day of our field trip was an eventful one. First, we woke up in our Mote Marine dorm, made breakfast, and went out to eat it at the picnic tables looking out at the ocean. The view was incredible! Then, we met up with our guide Jessica, who showed us a “behind the scenes” tour of the Mote Laboratory. We were able to see their coral nursery, different species such as sea urchins and crabs, and an incredible technology that replicated the coral reef on a computer screen. Then, we entered a classroom where we learned how to identify all the species of marine life and coral that we might possibly see out on the reef. This session was very informative and interesting so we took many notes! After this session, we went back to our room for lunch and to get ready for snorkeling. We drove to Big Pine Key and arrived at Captain Hooks Dive Center around noon. Then, we all piled on the boat, which sailed out into the Caribbean Sea until we arrived at Looe Key Reef, where we would be sno...

 By: Maddie Watts Today we had started our day with breakfast at Hampton Inn in Miami. The hotel was brand new and super nice! Then we started making our two and a half hour drive down to Summerland Key. On our way down we stopped at The Shell Factory on Key Largo, where we could buy shells or souvenirs. Once we left there, we stopped at Robbie’s to feed the tarpon and the pelicans. Once we fed them we got shaved ice as a before-lunch dessert (we are on vacation after all.) And then our leisurely two and a half hour drive was interrupted when a charter bus caught fire; luckily no one was injured. Since there’s only one road in and one road out, our drive to the keys turned into four hours. Plan A for today was to go kayaking with Mote Marine at 2 PM. Unfortunately we didn’t get out of the traffic jam until 1:30 and we still hadn’t eaten lunch yet. Thankfully in the Keys plan B consists of extra beach time. While we were at the beach we were basically on our own ecotour because we f...