Final Project

For my final project in this class I decided to walk down to Indian Beach and sketch the environment and wildlife in the area. Indian is a really good place to go to just relax and be at peace. I have been trying to go down there as much as possible this semester to see the sunsets and to just sit back and not have to worry about anything. When I walked down there last week I happened to also spot of crane out in the water and thought that it would be the perfect time to sit and sketch the area and get some wildlife included in the piece.

Myakka State Park

Our class recently took a little field trip over to Myakka state park to get a look at the environment and wildlife in the area. I had never been there before so I didn’t really know what to expect, but it turned out to be a great experience! We walked along some of the nature trails and got to see a lot of cool sights. My favorite part of the trip was getting to go up to the top of one of the sight towers they had there. I am pretty afraid of heights but I decided to ignore it and just go up anyway, when I got to the top I was amazed! You could see the entire park and you also could see the amazing sunset that was just starting. We also got the chance to see a lot of alligators that were swimming in the river at the front of the park, that was really cool too. Overall, it was a very memorable experience and Im glad that we got the chance to go over to the park and get some fresh air!

The Cove

Unfortunately, I missed last class due to not feeling too well; so I wasn’t able to catch the movie. I have seen clips from it, though, and I also have a general knowledge of what it is about and the contents. This movie exposes a very serious subject that was new to a lot of people upon first viewing. It is sickening and at times hard to watch, but it reveals just how horrible some people can be. At the same time, we can also take a very positive thing from all of this. That positive aspect is that there are people out there making this known and making it relevant. There are people trying to make a difference instead of just sitting back and letting it happen, which is a great thing. Also, since the release of this documentary, more and more activists have visited Taiji to protest/film the dolphin hunts. I understand that this particular hunting has been done for centuries in their country, and they seem to take pride in what they are doing, but hopefully at some point down the road these people in Taiji will realize how horrible all of this really is.

Climate Change in the Midwest.

Climate change in the United States is getting to be a rather big deal. One area in particular is the Midwest. This area includes the cities of Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and St. Paul among others. Over the last few decades average annual temperatures have increased, causing an increase in the amount of heat waves in the area along with twice the amount of heavy downpours. These increases can affect the health of Americans living in the Midwest. Heat-related deaths, along with an increase in the risks of spreading certain diseases, and worse air quality will all be results of these dramatic changes in the climate. This will not only affect humans, but it will also affect water resources, agriculture, forests, and surrounding ecosystems. Throughout this year alone, precipitation in the Midwest is likely to become more intense, leading to increased flooding in the streets and cities, strained drainage systems, and reduced summer water availability. This could be dangerous for a number of reasons. Property damage will increase all over the Midwest, and the between the large heavy downpours there will more likely be large times periods of drought and water shortage. As for the affect on the agriculture, it could harm or help it. With heavy downpours there is efficient resources made available for farmers and agriculture. On the other hand though, Droughts and shortage of water can harm the agricultural systems in the midwest. Last but not least, the great lakes. The climate change is likely to disrupt the economy of the great lakes. Warmer temperatures may  have a positive impact on shipping, as ice-free seasons on waterways lengthen. These warmer temperatures could also have a negative impact, though. It could cause in increase in evaporation, lowering water levels causing too shallow of waters for large fully-loaded ships to cross. Overall this is an issue that needs to be addressed and no longer ignored.

South Lido Beach Exploration

Our Biodiversity class took a trip down to South Lido Beach Park last week to get a glimpse of the surrounding ecosystem. This was quite interesting and we got to see a to see a lot of different habitats as well as a lot of different wildlife. I was glad we were getting to do something like this because I am originally from Texas and things like this are not too common over there.

While walking up and down the beach I saw stingrays, lots of jellyfish, and a few other smaller fish swimming about. I also saw a wide variety of birds and insects. This was my first time to this beach in particular, so all of this was pretty new to me, especially the mangrove tunnels. As we came close to the end of our walk we got to see quite a bit of these tunnels and got to see some of the fish that lived within them.

One thing in particular that came to my mind while walking up and down the beach was the lack of shells. The one thing I like to do when I go to the beach is go shell hunting, so of course I was looking around a little bit, and there was actually not much at all. This was a big surprise to me, just because usually all the beaches in florida are covered in them. I wonder why this one was not, maybe it was the time of day, or maybe I just hadn’t looked hard enough. This is something possibly worth looking into.

Overall, the trip really opened my eyes. I got to see a lot of things that I don’t get to see everyday, and I got to experience some wildlife close up for the first time. I will definitely be going back to South Lido soon for some more exciting adventures.

Thoughts about Dogs.

I have never really been a dog person. My whole life I have owned cats and never really gotten the chance (or wanted) to take the time to educate myself on dogs/canines. The video we watched in class, The Science of Dogs, I actually found quite interesting though. It raised some questions And also answered some. A big concern I had throughout the video was this, with all the breeding and genetic tampering we do to these animals there must be some kind of negative side to this. I not quite sure what that negative thing is, but it just seems a little weird to me that we can just make any kind of dog we want and choose the features and overall ability. There must be a con to go with all of these pros. This is just something to think about.

A quite unusual deer.

Deer are usually thought of as cute and innocent. They may only pose a threat when they kick in fear before darting into the woods. Also, they rarely ever have giant teeth resembling vampires fangs hanging out of their mouth! The tufted deer might be a little out of the ordinary, but also quite fascinating. This deer is a small species located near central China and northeastern Myanmar, characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. I thought this was very interesting because I have actually never heard of anything like this before. You would never really think a deer would ever develop something like this, or at least I didn’t. The fangs on the males can get to be as big as 1 inch long, or longer in rare cases. These deer are usually timid, but are said to be very protective of their territory. They have even been known to eat dead animals, which is a very rare observation in the deer world. Im not quite sure if I would want to encounter one in the wild, but this is definitely a rare animal I wouldn’t mind getting a glimpse of one of these days.