Clearwater Beach

Clearwater, Florida
Temperature: 84 degrees Fahrenheit
10% cloud coverage
Sunny with a strong breeze
September the 24th

The sky rats, present as always.

On an incredibly hot and sunny day, our field bio class trekked out onto the beach. One of the first sights we were treated to was a gopher tortoise, which was a lovely surprise since usually underground that time of day. We also spotted plenty of sea oats, ink berry, dollar weed, white and red mangrove seeds, as well as a crab, sponge, railroad vine, sea grape, cactus, and morning glory on our nature walk. For the other half of our beach adventure we attempted (emphasis on attempted) to measure the gradual decline of the sand as it went from the base of the dune, down to the berm, and into the sea.

We visited this location in order to explore and identify the threats being posed to this ecosystem, how it is attempting to cope, and how humans are trying to find a happy medium between what the earth needs and what society wants. An example of this lay in the dunes and wrack as described below.

The amazing sand dunes!

One of the issues posed is the development and destruction of sand dunes. For retail purposes, land near the beach is developed into homes and restaurants, frequently displacing or otherwise removing naturally occurring sand dunes. Removing the dunes takes away a wall of defense against storms and sand abrasion. Another case of human interference is with wrack. Wrack is a gathering of sea grass and organisms at the berm, where they rot and provide nutrients. Unfortunately, one by product of the organisms decomposing is an unsavory smell. Since Clearwater is a tourist destination, the city removes the wrack to make the beach more appealing, removing a naturally occurring process of the ecosystem.

 There's the berm, but where's that nice wrack?

Clearwater Beach was definitely a learning experience, from witnessing rizominous roots to discovering that the refractometer was broken. Hopefully next field trip our data collection will go a bit smoother!

Clearwater Beach!

September 24, 2015
84 degrees and feels like 2937823.
Sunny minimal clouds.

Came to explore the dunes and the beaches.
Salinity- should be 35 but our refractometer broke so we couldn't measure it!

We all met up around Palm Pavilion where we hiked what seemed like miles down the beach to were I have probably passed a million times but never even second looked at all the dunes and life before!

On our way we saw a turtle! Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of the little booger. We saw multiple holes for crabs but none of them where out yet. They mostly come out at night when its cooler and there are no predators waiting to take their lives.

I was in the first group where we first explored the dunes!

The primary dunes were the closest to the water. They were also the smallest which is normal. They have many many years before they grow into bigger dunes due to the people walking along the beach everyday!

There were many crab holes around these but they did not seem to be growing much plant life.

Then we saw the secondary dunes! In these we saw a much more diverse area of plant life! We saw dollar weed, and ink-berry and many other types of plants! I wish we saw more animals though! There were some yellow flowers, but I forgot what they were called!

We eventually moved to the second half of the field trip which was a little blurry. We eventually thought we figured it out! But turns out we didn't however I do understand what we did wrong! We were to measure from the primary dune all the way to 30 meters every 3 measuring the distance from the tape measure to the ground.

However, I will be doing a line graph on some data showing what I mean!

I love Clearwater beach and have never really been there to explore the dunes wildlife, and beaches like I have done today! I had a great time!

Clearwater Beach

On September 24th 2015 we took a trip to Clearwater Beach Florida. It is 89 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky is clear. As I walk out onto the beach I pass the rear dunes and notice that they have a decent amount of vegetation. We found s a Sea Grape plant with round leaves. We also found a plant that gives birth to live young. These baby plants can end up feeding off of the mother plant. The higher you go out on the beach the finer the sand is from wind.

As I walk across the wet beach I see small shells and note some of them are alive. On the dry beach I find a white Mangrove Street and some dead Turtle Grass. Closer to the rear dunes we found dollar weed this plant has furry leaves to help better protect them from Sunlight. A Sand Cricket walks by and it blends in very well with the sand. This was a good trip to the beach.

Clearwater Beach Florida

24/09/15

Weather: 84° F, sightly breezy, very sunny, little to no clouds in the sky

Observations: There are sandiness close to the parking area. They have rhizomes roots that extend to the outer dune so that they can provide nutrition to the inner plants, such as: the grasses, sea oats, and beach sun flowers. There are a few palm trees as well as powdery white sand. And let us not forget the plentiful amount of seagulls.

Why are we here? We are here to gather information to make a beach profile as well as observe the sand dunes and what their height is compared to the nearshore.

Our first task was to measure 30 m out from the first dune, and measure the height from the tape measure to the ground. Then we did the same all the way until we were about waist deep in the water, due to the fact that the tide was out. As we were measuring the height every 1m we were also analyzing the sand texture.

After we took down data for our beach profile, we then walked with our Professor around the dunes to observe different species and habitats. Some things we saw were crab holes, Morning Glory flowers, Ink Berry plants, Poor Man's Patch, a viviparous succulent plant, and Sea Grapes. On our way back we stopped in the wrack line and saw what kinds of items we were able to identify and found Red Mangrove seeds as well as White Mangrove seeds. Finally, we did a beach sweep and picked up trash on the way to our cars. It was ridiculous the amount of cigarette butts were left in the sand. 

Words to live by: *Always leave a place cleaner than you found it!*

Clearwater Beach

9/24/15   

Weather : Very sunny.

Temperature : 88 F

 

 

 

 

The class and I met at North Clearwater beach at 2:15. The class and I, spent the first half of the field trip creating a beach profile. This was done by splitting up into groups and measuring the distance from the dune to the water, so see how much the beach drops.

 

After this, the class and I explored the dunes, and learned about the different organisms living in the dunes, and the importance of the dunes to the beach. After this, the class and I partook in a beach clean up. It's crazy how much trash, and cigarettes people leave behind!

 

 

 

 

Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach Dune Study

Clark Blackson

9/24/15    2:00PM

Atmosphere – Very Sunny, Near Zero Clouds

Temperature – 88 F

Humidity – 50%

Wind - 7 – 10 mph

This Thursday we went to Clearwater Beach to study the flora and fauna residing on the dunes, beach and shore line. We pretty much immediately saw a Tortoise right off the trail, but he quickly scurried off into a dune covered densely in Sea Sunflower as well as Sea Oats.

While roaming down the beach to our destination we ran into plenty of Seagulls and snowbirds alike.

Once we made it to our plot on the beach we were all split into groups of 4 and divided to perform different tasks in collecting data on the dunes and shore. First my group went higher up on the dunes and spotted some Dollarweed, Beach Morning Glory, Inkberry, and Poor Mans Patch.

After that our group began creating a beach profile. We did this by measuring how far the beach drops as you move from the Primary Dune towards the water. Using a huge roll of measuring tape and a meter stick we recorded the height and soil composition every 10 meters.

Dusty Swanson.
Clearwater Beach.
September 17th, 2015.

Temperature: 83 degrees F.
Wind: light wind to the SW.
Clouds: none above us but some far to the East.
Humidity: medium.
Water Temp: around 85-90.

Once everyone arrived at the parking lot, we headed out to the beach. On our way out we startled a Tortoise who quickly disappeared into the dunes. From here we were split into groups. Our group spent the first half of class creating a beach profile. A beach profile is recorded by measuring how far the beach drops as you move away from the Primary Dune and into the water. For ours we held up a line and had someone measure from the line to the ground every 10 meters. Whenever we measured a point we would check the soil composition. With this information we were able to make a semi accurate beach profile for our field notebooks.

For the second half of the class we followed our Professor north through the dunes. As we approached the primary dune we began to notice plants with rhizomatous root systems. 

These interconnected roots allow the plants to anchor themselves and spread through the ever shifting sand. As we moved past the primary dune there was a noticeable increase in woody plants. One such plant was the Inkberry.

The Inkberry leaves grow almost perpendicular to the ground. This limits the amount of sun hitting an individual leaf. On our way back we began to pickup trash that had been thrown throughout the dunes and the swash. Among the trash were some notable items such as a condom, a flipflop, a balloon, and a ton of mediocre beer. All in all, it was a great way to learn about one of the things most Floridians take for granted, the beach.

Clearwater Beach

weather: 82 degrees, very sunny

Our goal for this trip to Clearwater Beach was to explore beach dune systems and to construct a beach profile. This was a surprisingly fun trip. I'm not much of a beach goer but i enjoyed myself out there. The weather was surprisingly comfortable and the sun wasn't too bright.

It was very uplifting to see a gopher tortoise right at the beginning of our trip, which immediately put me in a great mood. Hopefully now everybody in class knows the difference between a tortoise and a turtle.

The exercise we did with the tape measure and meter sticks was pretty fun. I learned a lot about beach plant life. The plant that gives live birth really blew my mind.

Clearwater Beach ft. The Selfie Stick

It was a hot, hot, hot day on September 24th. Our class went to Clearwater Beach to learn more about sand dunes. The temperature was around 85° but it felt like in the 90's. First my group went on a short walk with Dr. G while the other groups started their beach profile. 

The fantastic four ready to learn about dunes.

 On our walk we first saw a small berm full of red mangrove seeds (sea pencils), turtle grass, and crabs! Second we saw a very small primary dune of sea oats and grass. Below is a selfie of sea oats!

Behind the primary dune we found the swale of sand. The swale had a bunch of sea shells and sand, there was also some evidence of little critters!

In the secondary dune we found a few rhizomes like dollar weed and railroad weed. We also found sunflowers, poor man's patch, cactus, and inkberry! 

Dr. G showing us the inkberry

After we were done exploring the dunes we were able to make our own beach profile. The Sarah's and I measured all of the data as Clarke recorded it. Although it was a very hot day and I almost had a heat stroke (lol) it was really interesting to explore the dunes I have always over looked.