A mosquito fish…

one of the many small critters we learned to identify at Stone Labs...

We took several trips to various places collecting fish, aquatic insects, plants, and plankton. This little guy was caught in a net and put into one of our buckets. We all took turns catching things out of the buckets to put in vials, and put in alcohol (the preservative we used to keep our creature collections from decaying). At the end of the week we had a practical exam to identify the various things we had caught throughout the class.



As you can see by these pictures, the mosquito fish is very small, he fits easily between the lines of the notebook paper identifying him.

Bonfires

It’s also nice to have a bonfire while at stone labs… one evening we went out and collected brush and sticks and built a fire in one of the fire pits by the water. The fire drew in some college students who were there for a term class. This was pretty much the only incident where I met some of the term people, they were gone a fair amount, and when they were there they kept mostly to themselves (probably because they were older than most of us in the week course for Aquatic Biology – our class was about 2/3rds high school students and 1/3rd college students).

Water Works

Even if you don't like swimming, you'd love it at Stone Labs… There’s this awesome gravel beach where you walk straight into the waves, or jump off an overhanging rock that juts out over the water. There are cliffs all around, and larges rocks just off the shore. There is even one spot where the cliff has sort of a doorway affect; it’s like passing through a cave. Whenever my friends and I went swimming we always headed straight for the cave. One girl at camp continued past the cave, and went a third of the way around the island (very dangerous if you ask me, the waves are quite intimidating). One day my friends wanted to go swimming, but my swimsuit was still wet, so I just walked down to the swimming hole to watch my friends swim. When I got there, however, I decided I couldn’t just sit there, so I walked out with my friends… My hat got wet :-(

Here is a picture of a small rock, which I dub ‘Gibraltar Jr.’

Snorkeling off the coast of Gibraltar was one of the most liberating experiences I’ve ever had (and DEFINITELY the most exciting time I had at Stone Labs). Using flippers allows you to maneuver through the water with ease, even if you aren’t a great swimmer – which I’m totally not. The whole breathing under water thing makes you feel as free as a fish to swim forever. The goggles let you see everything that you can’t normally see from the surface – from little fish swimming out of your way to bizarre plants and algae-covered rocks. At one frightening moment I was actually engulfed by a giant plant that I swam into and when I fought my way back onto shore I immerged looking rather like the jolly green giant.

Fishin' for Gobies

I just got back from Stone Labs yesterday. Here are a few pictures (in the first two it shows the process of working the nets to gather specimens to identify and observe):
and below is a close-up of some gobies. They made the cutest specimens at Stone Labs. We adored them in spite of the fact that they are considered pests in Lake Erie. :-(

Time flies when you're learning

So far this week has turned out to be way more exciting than I expected... I knew I would learn a lot here, but I didn't realize I would get to see so much outside a classroom! The first and second full days here we went on mini-expeditions out on the lake to collect samples and learn about (and use!) equipment for limnology (the study of lakes). The third and fourth full days we went on full-fledged fieldtrips - yesterday's was to the Toledo Zoo/Aquarium, and today's was to Old Woman Creek (a fresh water estuary). The aquarium was pretty awesome - we got to see fish that most of us will probably never get to see again (short of returning to the Toledo Aquarium). Old Woman Creek has a fascinating story behind it's name. There is a legend that in that area a very Pocahontas-like romance unfolded, ending in the deaths of both an Indian princess and a white settler whome she loved. The princess' mother was so heart-broken that she threw herself into the creek and drowned, and the creek took her name for that reason, but her name was hard to pronounce, so out of laziness the white-folk just said that some 'Old Woman' died there, and it became Old Woman Creek. After hearing this story, we proceeded to take samples to observe under microscopes. So much of this class is hands-on that it makes the learning part very enjoyable.

Snakes in the Creepers!

Ok, here's ONE of the pictures I promised - it's a snake. BTW, these pictures take FOREVER and a half to upload, but I'll put more on here later 'cause... well, 'cause a picture's worth a thousand words! :-)

Cliffs and Stones

This is now my second day at Stone Labs, but before I start talking about everything I've done here, I want to tell you the lay of the lands... Gibralter Island is definitely the smallest island I've ever seen (about 6 acres, wow!). There are quite a few trees, which make it nice and shady in places, and it's not terribly muddy like I was expecting it to be.

I got up at 6:15 this morning and strolled the outskirts of Gibralter, where I was promptly screeched at by a small flock of Canada Geese, but thankfully they didn't chase me off, and when I ignored them they actually let me continue on my walk peacefully. The waves are gorgeous in the early morning before all the boaters come out, and everything seemed very calm, what with the rest of the camp still being asleep.

The herons are up early, too. :-)
There are some spots of the island where you can get down to the water, but there are also some steep cliffs where you can look 10 feet straight down at the waves crashing in.

Update:
See what I mean about the gorgeous morning view from the island?
...Above is a picture of the cliffs from the boat; and below is one of those picturesque cliffs, up close...

here is something useful...

for students going to stone lab this summer.
OSU Nature Gal's comprehensive list of "extra" useful things to take to Stone Lab (the list begins about halfway into the post). these items are in addition to the regular lists that you guys already received.

thanks Nature Gal!

i'm packing even as i post. :-) 'cuz tomorrow is the big day for me.

Just got back from Forestry Camp

I just got back from forestry camp yesterday... lots of fun! While we mostly studied trees there and didn't do a whole lot of aquatic biology, we did talk about watersheds!

Here I am at Forestry Camp, and see the lake behind me?

aquatic biology in the news

...spcifically that archaeologists found the missing link that connects all birds to water fowl

maybe someone will bring it up at one of our lectures. :-)

hey everybody!

i'm going to take an aquatic biology college class at stone labs this summer. i'll be posting from there soon.