Examining washed up corals at a sea cave on Sandy Point.
left to right: Crystal, Rose, and Alisia inspect the formation of the sea cave.
Sara examining a piece of brain coral.
We begin a hike through inland vegetation. The terrain was rough and, at times, made up of jagged carbonate rocks.
Yeah, we’ve been walking on that!
There were at least two caves on this hike. Here, Dr. Witt sits above an opening for scale.
Hans dives in while Jessica (right) suits up to follow.
Jessica on her way out. She reported that it went back approximately 200 feet.
Hans and Jessica, cave conquerors!
Audrey and Mark during our stop at Oyster Pond. This feature off the hiking trail allowed for swimming among Atlantic oysters, non-stinging jellyfish, and the mangroves (shrubs that grow out of saline waters).
The mangroves.
A little bit more of the mangroves.
Standing on dead corals, Dr. Wronk puts tape and a tarp over the ‘murder scene’ asking, “What killed the corals?”
Team captains use rock-paper-scissors to start choosing squads to solve the mystery.
Dead corals. Missouri S&T water bottle for scale.
Dead starlet coral in the foreground; investigating students in the background.
Dead brain coral.
Dead brain coral (cross-section).
The verdict is in: during a sea regression (sea level lowering), these corals no longer had access to water. In effect, they were smothered to death by sand.
More mysteries to solve in the coming days….