Marine Science Field Trip 2009

Our long anticipated Marine Science field trip to Cedar Key was yesterday.
In the days prior to this annual trip, I always sweat the weather.
Lightning is a deal breaker.
Rain is not, but it detracts from the experience.
Wind is nice if it's a breeze, but a boating deal breaker if it's too brisk.

I awoke at 2:00 am yesterday to the sound of roaring winds ushering in the expected cold front. The cold was a minor inconvenience (30's), but the winds were bugging me.
Getting back to sleep was difficult as I knew such winds would be a problem. Still, there were still 6 hours between that moment and the field trip, so I allowed myself to hope.

Five hours later, on the way in to work, my cell phone rang with an urgent message from school.
"Call the boat captain ASAP"


Dang. I knew what that meant.
I called the skipper.
She answered,

"There's small craft advisories and the wind is ripping at about 20 knots ... I have whitecaps on my swimming pool!"

Double dang.

I went to my classroom and awaited the kids.
They arrived as soon as the bell rang, pumped up and eager to go, even though it was a very chilly morning.
I told them the situation and that I would let them decide.
Either we go today knowing there will be no boat and it will be a shore collecting trip in extreme windchill conditions, or we wait until Thursday for another attempt with the boat.

I gently lobbied for Thursday, but they were in field trip mode by God, and it was a unanimous vote to go as planned.

So off we went.

The look on their faces when they stepped off the warm bus and into a biting wind roaring off the water was one I will remember for a long time.


This fine Lightning Whelk was the first critter found. It's a predatory snail that gets even bigger than this one. This view shows the operculum which acts as a "door" when the snail needs to retreat completely within it's shell.


A few feet away was a clump of tulip snail eggs attached to an oyster. We also found adult tulip snails to bring home to the classroom aquariums.


Two boys who relentlessly seined in a wind so strong you had to bend way over to walk against it, captured this batfish. The batfish posed for a few pictures, and then we released it. Batfish don't seem to do well in the aquarium, so we always release them.

Junior and one of his best buddies head out to sea, ignoring the cold water and ripping wind. This simple action seemed to get the other kids going. Prior to that, most were huddled in tight bundles of bodies, trying to stay warm.

One kid said to me, "Mr. FC, next time do not allow us to make the decision!"

I told him, "Sometimes democracy is painful."

I wish I could show you more pics of the kids in action. I have other pics that show them tossing castnets that more accurately portray the weather and wind conditions.

I don't post recognizable pics of my students though and the action shots are all close ups.

(Of course they are probably posting them on every Facebook site they own.)

Today, we looked at the pics I took on the big screen and discussed the trip. Afterwards, they had to write to me about their experience.

The comment I heard over and over from both classes was that the extreme conditions made the trip much more memorable and that they were actually glad that they had braved the wind and cold rather than waiting until Thursday ... which is looking beautiful and warm by the way.

Tomorrow, I'll share some of the bird shots from our trip.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I was pooped out when I got home.