service learning day 2

On day 2 of our COAST service learning adventure, we collected research on our new species as a group.We each split up into separate groups and were assigned a topic of the spiny lobster to research and discuss. This took about 2 hours of typing and reading to find a substantial amount of information that was necessary for us to learn about our species and the traps needed to capture the lobsters. We learned about the kind of traps that we could use to enforce our data collection. It was very interesting to see what was needed and what was effective. Starting to think about traps and building them was an interesting experience. It was fun to look at what works and what does not. We then spent another 2 hours after that, making our traps. While we did not finish creating them, we did untangle a lot of twine that will make a much faster and easier process down the line for creating these traps. We plan on using the twine to mimic the sea grass on the ocean bed, in order more so draw the lobsters in. Lobsters, specifically young ones, are known to hide within this sea grass. The grass gives them the kind of protection they need when they are young and are unable to fend for themselves or even swim properly. Spiny lobsters are found in rocky areas often with plant communities dominated by giant kelp, feather boa kelp, coralline algae, and surfgrass. They are also associated with eelgrass which flourishes in sandy areas. Spiny lobsters play a key role as predators in the southern California kelp forest ecosystem. Lobster predation on mussels and urchins is an important factor in maintaining diverse communities in these habitats. When they reproduce, the female lobster carries from 120,000 to 680,000 fertilized eggs. The eggs hatch after 10 weeks. Larvae are known to  feed on plankton. They then settle to the sea floor after 7 months in the water column when the water is warmest. At the same time, complete metamorphosis into adult form. As known trap would be 110 tassels of synthetic fiber made from material used in the construction of defenses for shrimp trawling nets, attached to external surface of bucket using a rectangular piece of synthetic sack as a base, fibers are flat and measure 1 cm in width, shredded the tassels. The also mimics the flow of sea grass and is a safe way to monitor and trap lobsters. We as a group did not come across many challenges today. One thing that we could work on is communication in order to benefit our group as a community. We need to all work together to gain a common ground. Overall, it was a successful day.