11.2.08+Journal+Entry

__Free Journal Entry:__ Why is there so much algae? I infer that there is so much algae because there is a lot of sunlight and micro organisms. The algae need the micro organisms to live and also the sunlight because of photosyntisis.

Why is there only two types of algae in the whole tide pool? Was there ever competition? I infer that because the mossy algae is only on the floor part and the bigger, more curly algae is on the sides of the rocks in the water there was no competition because they had different niches. Some similarities of the mossy looking algae is every where in the tide pool, also it grows on the sides of the rocks where there is none of the curly algae. My observation was that the curly algae grows on the rocks, but I also noticed that the curly algae is only on the side of the rock that gets the most sun. So the other mossy algae can grow on the ground and the other sides of the rock to avoid competition. Some differences between the two algae are their size, the mossy algae is much much smaller than the curly algae. Also their preditors are different, the sea cucumber is probubly eating the mossy algae since it is smaller and easier to eat than the curly algae. Both the algae are eating the same thing and its hard to believe that they are not in competition. They feed off the sunlight and the micro organisms, but at the same time they have different niches.

__Assigned Journal Entry__ The fish, over time, turn a different color or design because they need to blend in. They need to be able to hide from predators, and so natural selection makes them adapt to having predators. We also realized that the black fish are the faster swimmers in the tide pool, I’m not positively sure why they are the fastest. We also noticed that the majority of the population for the fish are silver, and they have a strip down their back that lets them blend into the ground. On the side of the same fish is silver, and we think that it is there for natural selection to attract mates and reproduce. We also saw that once in a while a big black fish would come out and eat a couple fish, or at least try to eat the fish. We infered that the black fish are the predators in our tide pool. The fish that are most fin in out tide pool would have to be the silver ones because they are the ones that populate most of the tide pool and the majority of the fish are the silver species therefore the silver fish must be the most fit. I think they are the most fit because they can blend in to get away from predators, attract mates more easily and because of that they can reproduce more and faster.