Oct.+14,+2008

Assigned Journal Entry: What I found at my Kaimuki tide pools was a really good predator and prey relationship between a crab which looks like a brownish white color that blends in with the sand, and also the prey which is a gray and brownish color which sort of matches the crab but instead matches the algae in the tide pool. This is crucial for their survival because either they are going to be eaten or in the crabs case going to be found by the prey. This is a perfect example of a predator and prey relationship because the fish in the tide pool gets it’s food from the algae that it is blending in with so it can survive. Then the crab who is stalking the fishes every move gets to eat the fish if it is fast enough to catch it. It not only needs fast reflexes but also good eyesight or sense because the fish are so camouflaged that if the crab doesn’t see them, then it will not get any food, and without any food it will die. As you can see from the October 12 photos there’s a crab and a fish that is in its predator and prey element. But then there are two types of crab a black one and a brownish and white crab that I am talking about now. But I think that as the crab gets to big for the tide pool and gets easier to find it moves on, onto the cliffs where the waves crashes against them. This is where the boys become men because their shells become a little bit rougher to with stand the constant pounding on their bodies and they get palm size so they can hunt bigger fish then just the smaller ones. They also develop a black and grayish color on their skin so they can best blend in with their background without being spotted by the fish in the near by water. They get their food by staying close to the water where the waves are most rough and they wait for the current to push the fish up against the cliff so they can reach out and snatch them. The crabs on the ledge if they aren’t success full there is a medium sized pool of where the fish gets pushed in by the strong tide. So most of the crabs hang around their to get their food.

Free Journal: Kaimuki tide pools by beach road will be a good place to study for the rest of my semester project because it has a variety amount of organisms and not a lot of people go through the place wear I am studying. This is also a good place to study for my semester project because it is classroom size. The type of organisms that live in this area are different type of fish, that live in the fish pond that have a brownish white color and the thing that eats the fish, also lives with a small crab that also has a brownish white floor to eat to blend in with the background that it is living in. There is also another crab that is bigger than the fish and crabs living in the fish ponds. This is crab is a grayish black color who doesn’t live their life in the fish ponds but they live right by the edge of the cliff, and the way they get their food is by fishes who get pushed in this little pond and once they are close enough they snatch it out of the water. Another thing that I can study from this place is I can go at different times like when the tide is low I can go and see if I can see other animals that only come at low tide and hunt certain times. Then I can come when it is high tide and see if the same animals that were there at low tide is still there if it is high tide. Then I can make observations then, and make comparisons, and differences that the tides affect. Also what makes a good place to study is that there more than just the tide pools there is also predator and prey relationships throughout the tide pools but also the fishes and predators around them and their behaviors might affect the tide pool animals behavior. Other predators that might affect the behavior inside the walls of the tide pool is the octopus that can eat the fish that travel in and out in the tide pools and also the eels that swim by for a quick snack of the crabs, and if the fish and crabs do not get eaten then they will get eaten or caught by us humans or the birds flying by above them, so that is why it is crucial for them to camouflage in their surroundings.

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