While here the students completed two collection trips on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray. Onboard the boat the students collected plankton to take back to school to study. The samples even included five or six little comb jellies, which were very cool! Then scallop drags were conducted to collect invertebrates from the ocean floor. When the drag was brought onto the boat the students sorted through what was collected to find animals such as sea stars, sea urchins, hermit crabs, sponges, blood stars, sea peaches, scale worms, scallops, sea cucumbers, and brittle stars. Some of the animals were brought back to the lab for the students to study. The group couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was a beautiful day to be on the water!
While in the lab the students did biological drawings and descriptions of five animals from different phyla. Including the animals collected on the boat the students also were able to study green crabs, rock crabs, and a cute little sea spider. The students were excited to see the animals moving around in the specimen bowls and reacting to each other. The group had lots of questions about the different parts of the animals, how to tell if they are male or female, and what they eat.
To finish off the students completed a behaviour experiment with the live sea stars and sea urchins to see if size affects their flipping rate. The students were amazed to see how the echinoderms move using the suction cups on their tube feet. The stars were definitely more flexible than the urchins!
Below are some pictures from the day (please excuse the incorrect date on the pictures).
Group 1 onboard the Fundy Spray.
Diligently drawing a rock crab.
Measuring the fiesty green crab.
Hmmm, which phylum?
Describing a common sea star.
Flipping sea star...wow!
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