Celp Link

Kelp Facts

Facts on Marine animals living in the kelp forest

Indian Rock

Bat Ray

Kayaking

Kelp Blade

Do fish lives in sandy regions, or just kelp beds??

For our eighth grade trip we went to one of the Channel Islands called Catalina Island. The Channel Islands are located off of the coast of California and on Catalina Island; our grade went to Howland’s landing. The reason why we went to Catalina Island is because it was a great time to bond with our friends, people we did not know and to study the marine life and collect data in the ocean. The camp at Howland’s Landing was called the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program (also known as CELP) and we stayed there for five days and four nights. During these days we went snorkeling, kayaking, and even went tide pooling.
Our particular question that we decided to investigate is, “What is the difference in the amount of fish in the rocky reefs as oppose to sandy bottoms in the ocean?” We also decided that we wanted to find out why there might be more fish in one area rather than the other. The reason why we came up with this is because during our observations we found out that some species of fish live in a kelp bed and others live in a rocky/sediment filled environment. In order to figure out the answer to our question we had to collect some data when we went snorkeling and completed the roving diver fish count. We floated around for about three to five minutes and just watched the fish that went by us and counted how many there were. For example, there was a list of sea creatures and we would put S-single (1), F-few (2 to 10), C-common (11-100) or M-many (over 100). Also, when we went kayaking we took data such as measurements of the ocean’s depth, the water’s clarity and then put this into a GPS unit in order to keep track of it. Then, we figured out what the water’s clarity was at different waypoints and what the depth was at those waypoints.
The trip to Catalina was amazing; the snorkeling, the learning. Even just being in place so out of our normal environment. It was an experience we’ll never forget, and hopefully with the information and data we collected , we can show others and teach them about the totally different world that exists under the waters.