Earl of March and West Carleton – Day 2

Tuesday the students started their day in the lab looking at the invertebrates they had collected while on the research vessel the previous day.  The students used a dichotomous key and field guides to help them identify the animals.  Using five animals from different phyla the students had to describe characteristics such as texture, size, colour, and movement, as well as complete biological drawings of each animal.  The students quickly learned that working with live specimens can be lots of fun but also a challenge as crabs don’t like to stay in the specimen bowls and scallops squirt water everywhere!
 
In the morning the group also had a presentation on lobsters and got to view up close, Pinchy the lobster.  The presentation included information about the life cycle of lobsters, their external and internal anatomy, and how they moult and grow.  The students were surprised to find that a market size lobster is about 8-10 years old and jumbo lobsters of 20lbs or more are common in the ocean.
 
After a yummy lunch at Anderson House the students headed to the labs on lower campus to learn about Echinoderms.  Echinoderms are a totally marine group of spiny skinned animals, such as sea stars and sea urchins.  The students learned about the external anatomy and the water vascular system of these animals.  During the lab the students drew and labeled the animals, and had a look at them using the microscopes.  Everyone was amazed to see the sea stars and urchins moving around using their tube feet.
 
Mid-afternoon Ray arrived with the big red bus to take us all to Indian Point, a mixed habitat intertidal zone.  On the way to the beach we drove through St. Andrews and the students had their first glimpse of the beautiful seaside town.  Upon arrival at the beach the students put on their boots and grabbed buckets to begin the Great Phylum Race.  It was raining when we first arrived but then the sun came out and it was beautiful and warm.  Some of the animals the students found hiding under the rocks and seaweed were sea urchins, sea stars, sea vases, rock gunnels, sideswimmers, and green crabs.  They did great during the race finding representative animals from each of the groups except Cnidaria.            
 
In the evening the students gathered for a short presentation on how to identify the different whale species they may encounter in the Bay of Fundy.  The presentation included pictures of harbour porpoises, minke whales, fin whales, humpbacks, and North Atlantic right whales taken with student groups the previous fall.     
 
Today the students left for Grand Manan where they will go whale watching on the Day’s Catch, tour the island industries, and stay the night.  Good luck and hope you see lots of whales! 

Using a field guide to identify a brittle star.

Sea star portrait.

Sea urchin madreporite under the microscope.

 

Started out rainy at Indian Point.

Searching for live creatures.

Found sponge.

One group found squid eggs on the beach.