Today was my second day exposed to collecting data in the mangroves, and it was fun. I'm definitely getting better at it, but it was still a bit of a learning curve. It wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. At first, I thought to myself when we were practicing on campus in the rec center pool, “The shallower the water, the easier taking surveys is going to be.” But I was proven wrong. The shallower the water, the easier it was to stir up the sediment and make it murky, making the pictures harder for processing later in CPCE. However, after my first few days combined with today, I started to get better at it not perfect, but I wasn't struggling as much to multitask as I was yesterday, figuring out my own methods for holding the camera. I still need to work on it, especially with the areas with stronger currents and tighter spaces, as it's very hard to stay still and not disturb the sediment when you're actively in less than four feet of water trying to swim against the current. When it comes to taking photos and surveying, I personally noticed that taking pictures first and focusing on just holding the camera, instead of having the clipboard out along with the camera and everything else, makes it so much more simple. Everyone has their own way of doing things, and even when we took a tour of the campus here in Puerto Rico, I saw some of the equipment here (a device used to collect the gametes of spawning corals) and related it to a lot of other scientific homemade equipment I've seen in labs back in Galveston. I’m starting to realize if it works, it works and if something works better for you while out in the field collecting data, you should do it if it gets better results. Overall, it was an amazing secondary day out in the field, and I can’t wait for many more days where I refine my skills and learn so much more. Also, I got to see a baby barracuda, sea hare, squirrelfish, and a huge pufferfish.
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