Diario de landsb

On April 11th we went to Sullivans Island, it was very sunny and the high was around 80 degrees. There was a good breeze this day as well. Along the board walk we observed Poison Ivy, a Wax Myrtle, some Cattails, a Willow tree and a couple Spiderwort plants. We planned to search the dunes for Texas Horned Lizards but only found some of their waste, which was full of ants. In the dunes there were a lot of different types of vegetation. There was tons of Dune Marsh Edler, Beach Evening-Primrose and Sea Purslane. There were also tons of Sandburs which my feet were a victim to. Despite not finding any Texas Horned Lizards, we did find an Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad which was pretty neat.

On April 4th we waded to a small island at Grice that is only accessible at low tide. On April 4th it was partly cloudy with a high of 68 degrees. It was fairly windy out on the water. In the shallow water we used a seining net to observe the different organisms in the area. We didn't catch very much with the seining net but we did catch quite a bit of Atlantic Silverside fish, a few Swimming Crabs, a Sea Squirt, and a very small Planehead Filfish. Along the beach we saw many Eastern Mudsnails along with lots of Red Algae which kind of looked like hair washed up on the shore. We also a few Cannonball Jellies and one very cool Lion's Mane Jellies in a small pool of water. In the nets we also observed a few Plumed Worms which were pretty hard to distinguish, they blend in with the sand and seaweed. Besides the living organisms we found, we also found a lot of sharks teeth. I found around 20 just along the shore. I love sharks and looking for their teeth so this was easily my favorite part of this trip.

On March 15th we visited the Dixie Plantation again, it was partly cloudy that day but still particularly warm at a high of 68 and little to no breeze. We observed various species here from fungi to fish to plants. From the water we observed a couple small Eastern Mosquitofish, a couple crayfish, a Green Frog in the tadpole phase, a Redfin Pickerel and a couple Ray-finned fishes. We also observed a Marbled Salamander which was really neat and kind of cute, along with a fully developed Green Tree Frog. There were tons of the American Sweetgum seeds along with a couple of the trees. There were also a lot of Red Maple trees and their seeds that I used to play with as a kid. Of course we observed several pine trees and Dwarf Palmetto through the woodsy areas. We also spotted a Baldcypress tree which has visually pleasing leaves. Along the water we observed a Black Willow tree in bloom which is beautiful and quite rare to see, it was my favorite part. Also near the water were various types of fungi growing, one was Hooded Sunburst Lichen which had rusty orange color, White-Pored Chicken of the woods which kind of did resemble chicken, and another was Gilled Polypore which kind of reminded me of mushrooms and i'd like to know why they have the name Gilled. An interesting one we observed has still not be identified, it sort of looks like an egg that cracked on the log. Among these organisms we observed various plants like . yellow Creeping Woodsorrel, Heath Speedwell, Water Pennyworts, Downy Milkpea, and a Southern Dewberry. The most intriguing thing about a lot of these plants is their names, I'd love to know how they got them.

On April 18th we went on a boat in the Charleston harbor to observe the various coastal organisms in these waters. The weather was warm with a high of 78 and beautiful clear skies. It wasn't too humid, we had a nice breeze on the water. We lowered a net four times, pulling up various organisms to observe. In every net there were tons of white shrimp and Spot Croakers, which the laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans swarmed to try to snatch. We also pulled up some Colorful Sea Whip which was a bright yellow. There were a couple Weakfish in the net which I thought were pretty funny with their one snaggle tooth. There were tons of these little fish which looked kind of like dragons with fins that spread out like wings, I attempted to identify them as Searobins but I have not gotten another identification on that post, so I'm not 100% thats what I observed. We also pulled up quite a few Atlantic Blue Crab which had such bright blue colors, I didn't know they were that vibrant. Our nets were filled with Hogchoker every time which I thought were very interesting, the first one I saw I thought it was missing it's other half. We pulled up a couple True Jellies and a couple different crabs, called Lady Crab which had a mesmerizing pattern and an Armed Petrolisthes which was very tiny. We got lucky and pulled up both a female and male Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, they were most likely mating when we caught them. It was neat to see them side by side and observe the sexual dimorphism in the species. We were also very lucky to catch an octopus! This was one of my favorite observations, I had never seen one in person and did not even think they would be here in the Charleston harbor. My other favorite observations was the Northern Puffer and the Striped Burrfish, it was cool to be able to hold them and I thought they had funny faces. We also pulled up one small Atlantic Stingray, I thought it was neat how it looks like it's smiling and seeing the stinger was cool as well. We caught several short-bodied squids as well which were mesmerizing to watch swim. Overall, it was so interesting to see the diversity of organisms that live in the Charleston Harbor and I hope I get the opportunity to experience this again!