27/02/19
This day was the most relaxed of the week. We spent it at the Florida Gulf Coast University.
We started off by having a tour from two students, who spoke about the different buildings and showed us round the campus. On our walk round we spotted a Southern Toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) but unfortunately it was dead in the water.
After this we went and had a talk by Taylor Hancock about Sawfish (in the family = Pristidae). There are about 5 species worldwide. The smalltooth species (Pristis pectinate) is what Taylor did his study on. They are critically endangered and don’t help themselves due to having a late onset maturity and not breeding every year. Also humans contribute to their status as commercial development has lead to a reduction in mangroves .
Theres a gap in feeding ecology with these fish. Many already tried and tested methods are invasive but molecular techniques would solve a lot of the issues. Taylor collected 16 samples over 5 years and extracted the DNA from the samples. Ultimately, by doing DNA sequencing, he was able to find out what sawfish ate.
After the talk we went and had an all-you-can-eat lunch in one of the universities accommodation and afterwards did some more swamp wading!
We ended up going down a clearly signposted “not a trail” route but got some great views of the cypress trees and got a real feel for their size.
We finished the day up by visiting a hunting shop. I personally didn’t stay very long inside as it’s not my type of hobby but it was fascinating to see the vastness of hunting goods and materials available to buy over the counter, including guns and crossbows.
Life of El 