Today, my dad and I went snorkeling in the mangroves at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo Florida. The whole purpose of Mission 31 is to look at the health of the reefs, but we went to see what the mangroves look like. A lot of mangroves have been cut down, and we went to see what the health of the remaining mangroves are.
From above, mangroves look like plain old trees growing in water (and plain trees are never as plain as they seem), but we take a look at what's beneath the surface and see that each root is covered in a mass of colorful life.
These are what the roots look like:
And these are of the wildlife (mostly fish) that live in the mangroves: (You may notice that most of the fish are pretty small. Mangroves are a great place for fish to hide while they are young, and the roots are the perfect spot for fish to lay their eggs, so the mangroves are sort of like fish nurseries! This is part of what makes them so important to the environment.)
So glad you got to go sweetpea! Did you see any Acetabularia? (they're also called "mermaid's wine glasses") Each one is a single cell! They were the organism that was used to determine that DNA is is found in the nucleus. Love you!
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Aunt Lynda
6/21/2014 08:11:41 am
OMG! What an experience Morgan! You are not only a great reporter, but an awesome teacher. I'm learning so much about a world I know very little of. And I'm enjoying your stories that are backed up by fantastic pictures. Thank you for sharing with us. I look forward to more coming.
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Morgan Helmuth
6/21/2014 08:17:29 am
Thanks! For the next posts, I'm hoping to focus even more on the mission!
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Wendy Crotwell
6/21/2014 09:46:27 am
Wow, great pictures! Also your writing is fantastic! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! I will continue to read your blog.
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Morgan Helmuth
6/21/2014 10:41:13 am
Yay! Thanks!
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My name is Morgan Helmuth. My dad is Brian Helmuth, and he is part of the team on Mission 31. I will be working as an embedded teen reporter during the mission, and will post about my experiences on this site! :D