Wet lab with our collection tanks.

As the semester kicks in, students break into their teams: Aqua-Cheetahs, BAMFEL fish, and Ya’mon, and then begin their species collections. The objective of this light competition is to collect and identify as many invertebrate and plant species as possible. Once collected, they are kept in tanks in the wetlabs with running ocean water. The team that collects the most uncommon species gets a couple extra points. Some students were so excited for this friendly competition that they jumped in the water as early as 6:00 AM to begin their collections. Various species, including as the Banded Brittle Seastar, Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber, and the Giant Anemone were collected.

Student holding a banded brittle star.

Tiffany