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Free Journal #1

Ka’iwi Beach is right next to Sandy’s Beach after taking about a 5 minute walk out to a small lagoon. The location is mostly rock varying from about one foot in height to about six feet in height, all from sea level, with many tide pools varying in size scattered numerously. Many of the smaller tide pools were close to being dried up, leaving just salt build up behind. These smaller tide pools were normally located towards the center or on top of the highest rocks, farthest from the water. The larger tide pools were located closest to the ocean, where waves frequently circulated the water in them. These tide pools contained the most life varying from plant life to animal life. They even had sand at the bottom of them. The “middle class” tide pools were in between the top and bottom of the rocks. They mostly contained some type of algae or salt build up but were just close enough to catch some new raw water from the crashing waves once in a while.

Significant abiotic factors are the rocks in which we walked on and the ocean. The rocks are what shaped the tide pools and the ocean is what the tide pools are made of. The sun is what created the salt build up in some of the tide pools. Because the tide pool is so far away from the ocean, it doesn’t get a chance to circulate or gain more water. It sits there in the sun until all the water evaporates, leaving just the salt behind.

This area would be a good place to study for the rest of the semester because it has a wide range of species residing in the area. These species vary from algae and other plant life, to small fish, to small crustaceans. There were also signs of larger crabs residing in the area, though maybe not in the most obvious tide pools. The only signs were shed shells resting on many of the rocks or parts of shells floating in the water. These crab shells were about five inches in length from leg tip to leg tip.

Another reason Ka’iwi beach would be a good location to study is because of the constant changing of the abiotic factors. The height of the tide depends on the time of day. It normally rises as it gets later in the day. It already rose by the time the observations were finished from the time they were started. The sun also is not always able to shine as brightly and as hot to its potential, which would help many of the tide pools stall in drying up, giving a greater number of species a chance to thrive in a home.

Assigned Journal #1

The purple sea urchin resides on the edge of the farthest rocks, right in the path of the crashing waves, out of reach for close observation unless carefully acquired. It was shaped as a half-sphere, covered with purple spikes, though not sharp. Underneath on its flat side, the covering was tender and easily “bled” from the lightest touch of the finger. It reminded me of an alligator, with its heavy protective armor on the back, but soft underbelly, vulnerable if exposed. I assume the home for this creature, which is the rough rocks, is perfect. The urchin does not seem to be very well equipped against predators, unless the predator is smaller than it. The spikes are not sharp, and the underbelly is very delicate. The waves are constantly crashing against the rigid rocks, which would make it hard for predators to come by without crashing themselves. I assume the urchin feeds on whatever algae grow on the rocks near it.

The small crab roams where there are many rocks to hide under. About an inch in diameter for its shell, it can easily fit in the cracks of the rigid rocks. I assume because of its size, it either feeds on small fish or the algae that grows nearby. In order to grow, they have to shed their shells. Though not very quick afoot, their shells and claws are like armor against enemies. The color of its body, a gray-ish beige, is similar to the rocks it hides under, allowing it camouflage. The small fish is about three-quarters of an inch in length with black coloring. It is quick and can easily escape at the sight of harm. It hides under low rocks. It probably also feeds on the algae that grows on the rocks because I didn’t see anything it could have possibly hunted. It also didn’t seen to have anything to protect itself in case it came into contact with a predator. Its only hope is probably its speed and dark color for camouflage. All the other animal life around is larger and some are more equipped for defense against predators.

The see snail lives both in and out of the water. Its shell is like a swirled cone, colors varying between beige and black. They come in clusters, many in one. Its size is very small, the largest maybe the size of the nail of a pinky finger. They don’t seem to favor hiding under any kind of shelter other than their own shells, as they settle on the open rocks. They were found mostly on rocks farther away from the crashing waves. This is probably because of their minute size and they could easily be swept off the rocks or crushed against them. Also, though they have some sort of shelter, it obviously would not be useful against any predation and so their remote location keeps them isolated. They are slow moving, which would suggest they don’t hunt themselves and so probably feed on algae or any other plant life that grow in the tide pools. Their sluggish movement could also be why they live in large numbers. By being near so many, they won’t have to travel as far to mate.



Visit #2

Free Journal

The path to the tide pools is surrounded by the naupaka plant, a lush, green bush full of small, fat leaves. A small purple flower grew on it. Though it is commonly found in beach areas, what exactly makes it grow? I normally see plants grow on rich soil and grass. How could the plants get nutrients from sand or salt water?

In the tide pools nearest the ocean, there was a type of seaweed that was of a grayish color. It looked almost like tubes and came in clusters. It was very soft and long. Those tide pools were abundant in this seaweed. In the tide pools towards the middle of the rocks, neither far no close to the ocean, orange seaweed grew in them. It was abundant and thick, it looked like hair, and you couldn't see anything if there was anything hiding in it. And then there was the generic green leafy seaweed that grew right on the edges of the rocks, in the ocean. But some tide pools had all types of seaweed. What I wonder is why some of the tide pools contain many different types of seaweed instead of them being separated and why some are of such unique color.

On some rocks, there was a type of orange algae. This algae was lighter colored if it was higher on a rock. If it was lower on the rock, nearer to the water or right on the water, it was a deep maroon color, almost black. It felt hard, almost like the fake cement you see used to create rocks in displays at a museum. But it was smooth and looked like it used to be a liquid that was poured on to the side of the rock. What I wonder is how the algae changes color as it ranges in height and why it is so hard. The color of it also was very similar to the orange seaweed. All in all, the orange "algae" confused me the most.

Assigned Journal

One possible predatory issue that is driving natural selection at the tide pools in Ka'iwi Beach is birds. During the visit, we came upon a bird standing near one of the bigger tide pools. It stayed there for quite a while observing its surroundings and the tide pool in front of it. It didn't mind the rising tide and the big, crashing waves close by so it must have been used to being in that environment. It could be feeding on the small fish and hermit crabs or other small creatures living in the tide pools.

One environmental issue that could possibly be affecting Natural Selection is the changing in seasons. It is about the middle of the fall season which means that the water is getting colder and it is getting windier. The wind could cause the water to become rougher, making it more dangerous. Though the temperature of the water probably wouldn't affect the animals that much unless it was drastic, the rougher waters would. It would make it harder for the creatures that live on rocks to stick on. For the animals that roam freely, like the fish, they would be in danger of being swept from their habitat into the open ocean where they would be exposed to predators or they could be swept on to land where they surely would not survive.

One organism in Ka'iwi that has heritable variations is the fish. The fish came in many shapes, sizes and colors. This was a little confusing though because most lived in the same habitat or tide pool unless the tide pool held within itself many different habitats. The fish ranged from slim and long in shape with black coloring to short and tall with colored stripes that really did not help it blend it anywhere within the tide pool. The black fish though, was very fit to live in that type of habitat as there were many rocks whose shadow the fish could blend in to. Other than the beige colored sand, most of the habitat within the pools were dark from the shadows of the many rocks and seaweed in them.

Another organism with heritable variation was the crab. The crabs ranged from black to beige with black speckles. The black crab roamed among the dark colored rocks, where it blended right in, naturally. These crabs were about four inches in length. The beige crab with black speckles hid underneath rocks on the sand inside of the tide pools. Here, they were perfectly camouflaged against the sand and were hidden within the shadows of the rocks.

A third organism with heritable variation was the sea snail. It too came in different colors though they are the same species. They came in black and beige. It didn't seem as if the color of their shell meant anything though, because they were scattered everywhere in their own groups of clusters, whether it be in the water or out, exposed on a rock. But their habitat seemed to be the rocks. I assume that because they are so exposed wherever they are, that they probably don't have very many predators preying on them. This could be because their shells are shaped in a point, and if they stay in clusters, it would be hard to pick out only one without being poked. A possible negative to the lone snails exposed on land is that they could be hunted by the birds roaming near by.



Visit #3

Free Journal

My observations are not very different from the last visit. There were virtually the same species occupying the different tide pools. So, there were only a couple of differences in this third visit.

One new discovery was two sea cucumbers that that were not necessarily in the tide pools, but in the ocean right off the rocks. They were colored scarlet with white speckles. For size, they were about 3 – 3 ½ inches wide and about 8 inches long. It stuck to the rocks at the bottom of the sand with quite a bit of strength and so it was hard to try to pick it off.

Another new species was a small puffer fish. It was probably only about 1 centimeter in length. It was of a dark brown color, fading into a tan at the tip of its nose. It was also covered in white spots. It swam along the tube-like seaweed in the big tide pool closest to the ocean. It was the only one of its kind as far as we could observe, so it probably got washed into the tide pools and was trapped before it could escape and the high tide became low tide.

While walking from tide pool to tide pool, we discovered some purple urchins on the rocks, nowhere close to where they were supposed to be, which was on the sharp rocks in the ocean about 20 meters from the tide pool rock. They were in the middle of the tide pools rocks where we were walking. They were dried up and hard, and many of them seemed to be cracked open. The insides were empty, except for a couple of tubes that extended out from what was supposed to be the opening of the urchin. It seemed as if they were either washed up on the rocks during high tide or were picked off by humans and brought onto the rocks.

Other than that, the tide pool sizes were just a little smaller than they were on our second visit, not enough to really make a difference. The water was a little calmer, with the tide not high, not low, but enough to make sure that the water circulated in the tide pools at the bottom of the rocks. But overall, my observations were basically the same as the first two visits, just with two new species present. A positive view on this is that at least the observations were consistent.

With these consistent observations, I came up with three hypotheses. One was that if there are more plants in the tide pool, then there will be more animals in the tide pool also. My second hypothesis is that if the tide pool is closer to the ocean, then it will have a greater variety of plants in it. My third hypothesis is that if the tide pool is bigger and deeper, then it will have more plants in it.

Assigned Journal



Visit #4

Free Journal The tide was higher at this visit. The water came up a lot higher onto the sand and tide pools that were a little higher up on the rocks were bigger and deeper. There was much more animal life this time. At the last visit, we found two sea cucumbers, but they were just out of the rocks, but still in reach. This time, there were four sea cucumbers, all in one of the two main tide pools at the bottom of the rocks. They must have been swept in on high tide, as the rocks in the openings to the open water where the cucumber would have traveled were rigid. Even in the upper tide pools there were more species of fish, and the fish were larger. The hypothesis that I tested was that if the pool were bigger and deeper, then there would be more plant life in it. To test this, I separated the tide pools into two groups, pools near or in contact with the ocean, and pools on top of the rocks in no contact with the ocean. Then I divided those two groups into three sub-groups. These groups referred to the depth of the pool, going from shallow (less than a foot deep), to neutral (about 1-11/2 feet deep), to deep (knee height or deeper). I then counted the number of species of plants there were in each tide pool and observed how much of the tide pool it ranged.

      ||     **Near/In Contact with Ocean ** ||     **On Top of Rocks (No Contact with Open Ocean) ** ||     **Shallow (Less Than 1 Ft. Deep) ** ||     5 Different Species or More (Covering Entire Bottom of Pool)  ||     2 or Less Species (Covering About Half or Less of Bottom of Pool)  ||       **Middle (1-1 ½ Ft. Deep) ** || <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">    <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">5 Different Species or More (Covering Entire Bottom of Pool)  || <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">    <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">Only Algae or Nothing (Covering About Half or Less of Bottom of Pool)  || <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">    **<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">Deep (Knee Height or Deeper) ** || <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">    <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">5 Different Species or More (Covering Entire Bottom of Pool)  || <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">    <span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">Virtually No Plant Life  ||

<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: "Arial for Sunburst"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial for Sunburst";">Looking at the data collected, my hypothesis was wrong. The amount of plant life in the tide pools depended somewhat on the depth, but mostly on the location. For the tide pools that were near or in contact with the ocean, the size didn’t matter because they were all able to circulate the water or have new animal life washed in anyway, allowing each an equal chance for each pool to have life. The depth of the pool started to matter when we got to the pools at the top of the rocks, in no contact with the ocean. As the pools got deeper, there was less plant life in them. I assume that there is less plant life in the deeper pools because it is harder for the sunlight to reach the plants to perform photosynthesis and grow. Assigned Journal

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Holothuroidea Order: Apodida Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Tetraodontiformes Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Nudibranchiata
 * __ Sea cucumber __**
 * __Puffer fish__**
 * __Crab__**
 * __Hermit crab__**
 * __Sea snail__**