Last full day at CEDO

    Yesterday, we went to an intertidal area to help contribute to some research being done on the number of species found within the environment at Sandy Beach. We used a surveying tape measurer to map out a transect line from the shore about 28 feet vertically up the beach. After we placed the transect line down, we used a quadrat (which is a measured square) every few feet to map out an area to look at for the number of invertebrates found. The organisms that we found were found in each of the different phylum's we learned about earlier in the week and in my previous biology class.

Two groups of five people with a researcher did this twice across different areas of the beach. The team at CEDO does this every month because Sandy Beach is one of their first certified beaches in Puerto Penasco. This includes having an environmental cleanup crew, monitoring the ocean water for health and salinity (salinity is the dissolved salt content), and having a place to recycle and take trash. We learned so much from this activity and it was a look at what field work for a marine biologist is.

I have enjoyed this trip so much, made great friends, and came to understand the cultural and biological differences of the beautiful country of Mexico much more than I did before. Thank you to everyone at CEDO and our professors for being so dedicated to our education and environment, this was the best experience I have ever had and I have even greater passion for my future career in conservation now.

-Kat T.