The Rocky Reefs vs. Sandy Bottoms of Catalina
The trip to Howland's Landing,Catalina taught us countless life skills, as well as about the Four Principles (that everything runs on energy, biodiversity is good, there is no waste in nature,and everything is connected). On our trip we snorkeled and kayaked in the waters of Howland's Landing, on the northern coast of the island. What really stood out, was the notion that certain animals live in the rocky reef and other animals live on the sandy bottom around Catalina . So what makes certain animals choose these places? We are putting facts together to see patterns, which may explain what makes sea life live in these two places.
To Investigate this question, we used many methods to collect our data. While snorkeling, we took what is called a Roving Diver Fish Count, which was essential in our protect. As well as having a blast on the kayaks, we took GPS waypoints of kelp beds. This helped us to know the approximate abundance of kelp, which is a key species in this underwater ecosystem. We also took all sorts of measurements on the kayaks, which we again, used to see patterns. In the rocky reefs, we found that, due to large abundances of kelp, animals such as sea urchin, lobster and many fish thrive there. Sophie and I discovered that in the sandy bottom, there was a small amount of kelp, which means that animals living in the sandy bottom must not depend on kelp as their source of food, shelter, or habitat.
If we were able to go back to Catalina and re evaluate our project it probably would have been helpful to know our topic that we were going to write about. We could have researched our topic in depth, while on the island.
If water were to become warmer in the rocky reef, like in an El Nino year, the kelp, which is a main source of life, would not be able to live because of the lack of nutrients in the warm water. If the kelp were depleted, all of it's dependant animals would not get their source of food or shelter. Warm water affects things in different ways. For example, warm water is good for humans and helps economics because of tourism. However, for the marine life in Catalina Island warm water has negative effects.
We now realize that just as Los Angelos and Catalina Island share the same night sky, the rocky reef and the sandy bottom share the same ocean waters. Everything is truly connected. On this trip to Catalina Island, we learned a mass of information about the biodiversity of the ocean and a lot about ourselves.
