Belcarra Beach
We went to Belcarra Beach on October 4th, 2024, around noon, when the weather was on and off rainy and temperatures were around 13c. We were split into two main groups. One group went to the docks to look for crabs, and the other went to the forest to learn about plants. I was part of the first group that went to the docks.
We saw many things here including lots of starfish on the support beams underneath, all different sizes and colours. Our teacher set a goal to take as many crabs from the lake and bring them back to the school for display. However, there were criteria for the crabs that we could take back. The crabs must be male, which ensures female crabs can continue to reproduce under the water because small amounts of crabs actually make it out of the hatching and baby stages of their life. The other thing we had to take into consideration was their size, making sure we weren’t taking anything less than 40cm so we knew they weren’t still growing. Ms. Lauder, a former marine biologist and our current science teacher, set two crab traps under the water with bait in them. The first trap she pulled out contained two crabs, neither of which we were able to take back to the school. The second trap contained around 30 of them, each a different size and shape. We were each given a crab to place back into the water after identifying what type of crab it was, based on their teeth and shell shape. We were also taught a certain technique to hold the crabs ensuring they didn’t pinch us. After we were done identifying the crabs we couldn’t take back, we only discovered two promising crabs which later we found out neither could be taken back. Before we left we set the traps up for the group after us, measuring the distance from the sea floor, the water temperature, and the murkiness.
Once we were finished crabbing, my group travelled back to the undercover area where we washed out hands and ate lunch. While we were here the other group told us about their naturing experience and the uncommon plants they discovered. When we were finished lunch we were each given a card with a plant on it. My plant was called the plantain, a relatively common one. We paired up with students with matching cards and were sent into the small forest to look for our matching plant. Me and my partner found it relatively quickly. Plantain have green leaves, yellow seeds, and typically grow out of the ground. Some other plants we got to see were some invasive vines that originated from other parts of the world.
