Queensland Term Abroad

Lady Elliot Island

Lady Elliot IV — 29 September

Meanwhile back in the lagoon, there's abundant life for the students to observe during a low-tide stroll. Today's the day our research groups got serious about developing projects, on which they will work for the remainder of the week. As during our field trip to Stradbroke, students were divided into groups of four or five. After spending two days exploring the reef, groups developed a research question and began gathering data. Most of the data were collected in the field, but one group brought some snail relatives—sea hares—into the lab to see what they liked to eat. Some of the favorite organisms for study at Lady Elliot were the beautiful blue Linkia sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea hares, and the ubiquitous corals.