The other day I checked facebook, and would you believe it is cold in some places in the world? There was a new picture of our new puppy Rufus on his first walk in the snow. Apparently it is a characteristic January in New York, filled with snow and lit fireplaces… needless to say, I am going to be in for a big shock when I get off the plane at JFK in a few days. [Ed: The course instructors do not condone this taunting of blog-readers in NY.]

New York doesn’t look like this in January?

Yesterday we went to the one trip I have been really looking forward to this trip: venturing into the Green Groto! I would love to see what it looked like before they paved paths and installed lights into the caves. I loved seeing the bats flying around and the crystal clear pools of water with fish! I was probably a bit annoying to my peers because I was constantly asking the tour guide questions – are there fossils? How does CO₂ impact the cave? The most important question, however, naturally, was WHERE ARE THE SNAKES ?

I was way too excited: Jamaican Yellow Boa Epicrates subflavus)

For our research project GraceAnne (my research buddy) and I are looking at boring sponge (Cliona spp.) populations for our research project. We will be higher at sites with smaller bottom sediment particle size, lower coral coverage and lower coral species richness. Boring sponge are encrusting bioeroders that grow on corals.

Cliona spp. Eating away at a coral

I feel like I have become so comfortable with waking up at 6am and I love being in the water every day and exploring the fish, reefs and sites around Discovery Bay. What is going to happen when I go back to napping under my comforter with my audiobook instead of running around in my flip flops and bathing suit?

Perhaps a little distant from the muddy Hudson benthic habitat

How am I going to do “cold”?

Emily