by Katrina Lohan

For the second oyster sampling excursion, we headed out to Bastimentos and Solarte to try to find another site where the same three oyster species co-occur. Unfortunately, Kristy was out of commission at the time due to illness (though I’m happy to report that she has made a full recovery).

Mark, Greg and I had scouted out a few potential locations the night before. While we had no trouble finding Isognomon sp. and Crassostrea sp. on the mangroves in multiple locations, we struggled to find a location where Ostrea sp. occurred with them. So, when we ventured out to collect in the morning, we decided to scout out a few more locations that might have all three species. At Solarte, we found just the right spot! Collecting all the oysters we needed didn’t take long at all, so I suggested that perhaps we do a little snorkeling while on our way back to the field station. Mark knew just where to go. We ended up snorkeling at a place called Hospital Point, where I saw a spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). Then we stopped at another snorkeling spot with huge sea stars, cute sandy gobies, sea cucumbers and beautiful coral!

The extra time spent in the water was just what I needed to motivate myself to get into the lab and process some oysters, as I knew that any data I helped generate would add to the ever-growing body of knowledge about the world beneath the waves!