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!