Cudjoe Bay

For our first day of class we traveled to the Cudjoe Bay area which has become like a second home to me since I have spent so much time in this particular area. My perspective this year was different since I was no longer a student taking the course but beginning my graduate studies. I was traveling with the class to assist when needed and to do a preliminary sampling of polychaetes in the Lower Keys. I mentioned in one of my previous posts (this one) that it is important to have all your equipment with you when doing fieldwork. So this year, I bought an inexpensive floatation device which was tied with paracord and a carabiner to my wetsuit. This allowed me to remain hands-free while towing all of our necessary equipment. We even ended up attaching the dive flag to it too which stopped us from having to constantly move it as our location changed in the water.