Greetings from Sarasota!
I awoke this morning at 3:30 am, and met my Manatee Project partner, Audra
Plante, a teacher from West Warwick at the airport shortly before 5 am.
After going through security (it was easier and shorter than I had expected),
we boarded the plane and flew to Atlanta. Here are a few pictures I took
from the airplane. Can you identify the landform seen in this photograph?
Look at a map of the east coast of the US between RI and Atlanta and see
if you can make a more specific guess.
After a short stop in Atlanta
we flew to Sarasota. The flight took about an hour and we were in Florida
before noon. Below see some shots of the coastline from the air. See if
you can identify some of the landforms. Note how much coastal development
there is!
We were met at the airport
by a scientist from Mote Marine labs, named Teresa Kessenich. We
will be working closely with her during our two weeks here. On the way
to the earthwatch house which will be our home for the next two weeks,
we stopped at the home of a Sarasota resident who allows the scientists
from Mote to observe the manatees from his back yard. Within seconds we
saw our first manatee! Here is a picture.
Although you cannot see them
in this picture, the manatee has distinctive scars which allow the scientists
to identify them. My partner, Miss Plante, developed a wonderful
activity related to manatee scarring. I will send the activity and perhaps
you will have an opportunity to try it. We will be returning to this
beautiful location on a daily basis to observe the manatees and record
our observations. Below are pictures of the house and yard.
After we got settled,
we took off on bicycles to explore the area and locate Mote Marine lab.
Here we are checking a map (map reading skills can come in handy!) We made
one wrong turn, but found the lab. I am writing this journal entry from
the computer lab at Mote.
These pictures show some of
the Florida vegetation. There are some trees, like various needleleaf evergreens
which are similar to trees we see in Rhode Island,. Others, broadleaf evergreens,
like the palm tree pictured here is found only in tropical or sub-tropical
climates. I was surprised at how many different varieties of palm trees
I have already seen!
The house we are staying
in is located on Lido Key. We are directly across the street from the beach.
You can locate the earthwatch residence on the map or the research area.
We hope to take a walk and explore after dinner. One of the interesting
things we learned today is that the nesting season for sea turtles begins
on Wednesday. Volunteers walk the beach to locate these nests so they can
be protected. Area residents are asked to turn out the lights at night
so the turtles will not become confused and head for the homes instead
of the water! Hopefully I will be able to send some photos of nesting turtles.
Here is a picture of the earthwatch house.
Tomorrow morning we will
receive an orientation to our field work and with any luck we will be on
the boat in the afternoon. Until then….
