Field work in Cartagena and ECIM

Yesterday was my friend and collaborator Jessica's birthday. As a birthday present to her, the German student Hagen and I offered to go in the field for her.

Jessica is studying barnacle settlement at two points in the Bay of Cartagena to determine how large-scale physical processes, such as currents, affect larval settlement among sites separated by 30 km.

Las Cruces, where ECIM is located, and Cartagena are at opposite ends of the Bay of Cartagena.














To do this, she's installed settlement plates at opposite ends of the bay, in Cartagena and ECIM Sur, as well as temperature loggers. Every morning and evening she goes out to collect the plates and deploy new ones. She then brings the plates back to the lab to count how many larvae settled in the past 12 hours. I go out for her once a week or every two weeks because it's a collaborative project and a lot of work for one person. Hopefully, with our combined data we'll get an idea of what affects settlement patterns of barnacles on both large and small scales.

Below are some photos from both Cartagena and ECIM. Sometimes the field work gets pretty hairy! I usually act as a wave spotter and change the plates from a dry spot while Hagen does all the 'wet work'.

Hagen recovering the plates in Cartagena.

Changing the plates.

Hagen fixing something before reinstalling the plates while I spot waves.

Hanging on to the rock for dear life as a big wave approaches. That day he actually fell in the water after not getting out of the way in time.

Changing the plates at ECIM Sur yesterday.

The tide was high and the waves were really big!

Walking out to recover another set of plates at ECIM Sur.

Recovering the plates.

Bracing himself against an oncoming wave before trying to reinstall the plates.












In the next couple of days I hope to write a post about my field work, especially what it's like to take photos at my field site. Stay tuned!