Marine Biology class visits Galveston Bay Foundation
November 21, 2019
Thirty seniors and one junior visited the Galveston Bay Foundation on Nov. 19, ready to learn and take on the lessons and adventures about the local bay.
All enrolled in marine biology, the students participated in various activities including catching and releasing organisms, capturing an assortment of plankton to identify, and planting marsh grass.
As the students strapped up their rugged tennis shoes and squishy flounder boots, they waddled through the chilled water ready to identify organisms. Using a seine net, they collected species such as juvenile crabs, shrimp, and the infamous sea snot.
“It felt like a large chunk of slime,” said senior Hudson McLeroy
The next activity included catching zooplankton and phytoplankton. Here, students dispersed a net into the water that filtered the plankton into a tube. Too small to see with the human eye, the students used microscopes to identify and sketch the different organisms.
After many jokes and laughs at the different sketches, the students moved on to plant marsh grass. They partnered up and a student used a tool to create holes in the loose sand near the shore, while the other took on the task of burying the marsh grass beneath the water.
Senior Laine Woelfel saw these activities as important to our ecosystem.
“We’re only given one environment and we need to do everything we can to take care of it,” Woelfel said.
