My First Dive in Australia: Julian Rocks

Remember how I was in Byron Bay a month ago and I was supposed to dive, and then it was cancelled? But I wasn't too disappointed because I knew I was going to dive it again? Well that was what happened, and this weekend was that dive! I went back to Byron Bay for a dive at Julian Rocks (above). This was my first dive in Australia and my first open ocean dive (I was certified in a quarry), and while I've snorkeled in the ocean a ton I haven't dived there. Because of this I was a bit nervous, but I needn't have worried. The dive went off without a hitch, the hardest part was waking up at 4a to get to Byron Bay by 7a. We prepared our gear on shore and then took a smallish boat out to Julian Rocks. It took us about 15 minutes to get out there. Our first dive was 18m, or 60ft. It was the deepest I've gone, but I had no issues equalizing (clearing my ear ways). The second we got down to the bottom we saw a Zebra Shark (Leopard Shark here) (below top). It was a great way to start off the dive! we made our way along the rocks, and saw tons of different kinds of fish. We spotted 2 eels, a manta ray, a hawksbill sea turtle, and multiple woebegone sharks! We even got to swim through a swim through rock formation which was really cool! At the end of the dive we saw a gigantic Southern Sting Ray (below bottom) with no tail! It was huge, it's diameter was probably as big as I was! 

Another thing I discovered on this dive was that I use up my air quicker than average, so I had to cut about 15 minutes off of the dive. There was no issue I just had a less time below the surface, I felt bad because my hosuemates, who were my dive buddies had to cut theirs short as well. Now I know to take the big tank next time!

Photo credit to one of my housemates for the photos above

After an hour on the boat to decompress and grab a snack of pies (the savory Australian kind), fruit, and tea. We suited back up for our second dive. This one was a lot shallower, we only got down to 14m or 45ft, but we saw even more wildlife! We saw tons of pufferfish, my favorite :) (below right, can you spot him?). There were so many I lost count and all fairly big. We also swam along the bottom of this trench. As we went along, We found the huge stingray that had swam past before, it looked even bigger sitting on the bottom, as we swam over it I noticed a 5 ft woebegone sitting on the bottom, and as I came to terms marveling at that we turned a corner and saw about 7 wobegongs of various sizes piled on top of each other (some of which are below on the right)! It was amazing!!!!

We came up and I was so happy to have been able to see so much wildlife with such good viability. It was particularly cool for me because the sharks and rays were species that I had talked about at the Aquarium and it felt like I was swimming through the wild reef exhibit. It was such a great experience, so great that I signed up to dive again in 2 weeks. I can't wait to get back in the water. I'm going to go buy an Australian Reef Fish ID book because I like to know what kinds of fish I'm looking at on dives and snorkels and hopefully I'll have lots of opportunities to see them as I continue to dive Australia!

Photo credit to one of my housemates for the photos above

The City on the Edge of the Rainforest

This Friday was my first field trip for my Australia's Terrestrial Environment class. Now, this is one of my two favorite classes here so I was incredibly excited to go on the trip, even though it meant a day of missed classes and make up work to do. We bused up to Brisbane Forest Park, which actually is now called D'Aguilar National Park. It is immediately outside of the Brisbane suburb The Gap, so it was about a 30 minute drive from the University. The really cool thing about this park is that it is a mountainous mix of rainforest and sclerophyll forest that is literally edged by the city. So The western portion of Brisbane brushes against rainforest (you can see it above). This is really cool because it means you can get to wilderness really easily from the city. I can't imagine what it would be like to drive 20-30 minutes and be in a National Park at home, I would spend all my time there :) 

Anyway after our short drive, we headed into the Park. Our first stop was the Walk-About Creek Wildlife Center, a small zoo where they have lots of animals native to the park. When we first got there our Professor told us that to be aware that a Carpet Python (which was not supposed to be in the exhibit) had gotten into the Kangaroo enclosure, and was laying there digesting a possum. While a lot of people were super freaked out, I was actually really excited to see the snake because pythons non-venemous and I haven't seen a wild one yet. However, by the time we got to the kangaroos the python was gone. We did get to see a bunch of cool animals that were supposed to be at the Wildlife Center. 

The first animal was the White Spotted Quall (above top left). They are the only extant carnivorous marsupial on the mainland Australia. They are also super cute! The one they had at the center was a baby :) They are arboreal (live in trees) and eat small mammals and amphibians. Unfortunately, the most common death fro Qualls is the invasive Cane Toad, they try to eat these toads and are killed by toxins in the skin of the toad. Just another example why invasives are bad and wreak havoc in ecosystems. Another fun fact I learned here is that the hopping marsupials in Australia are classified in sizing groups. The biggest ones are what we call Kangaroos, the midsized ones are Wallabies, and the smallest ones are Pademelons (pronounced paddy-melon, It's such a silly name). Pademelons (above bottom pic) are found mostly in rain forests where their small size lets them move around a dense forest floor. As you can see above they are really well camouflaged. We also got to see Grey Kangaroos (above top right), and one of them really liked my tutor's (That's what they call TAs here) shoe. Last animal highlight at the center was the Australian Lungfish. I know a lot about these guys because there are a ton of them at the Shedd Aquarium where I used to work in High School. They have a primitive lung and are extremely long lived. My professor really like them and talked about them a lot at the center, and it made me feel nostalgic for the Shedd and Grandad (the Australian Lungfish who lives at the Shedd).

Our next stop was Jolly's Lookout. This was a gorgeous overview of the valley and the distant city. It was breathtaking. We watched clouds roll in over the mountains, and in minutes the view changed from the first picture above to the second and it started to pour rain. It was a crazy fast change. The past three days had been constant rain in Brisbane, so we were really sad, but eventually it cleared. According to the Aussies the supremely rainy conditions last week were normal for this time of year, in fact those rains were late, they should have happened at the beginning of February instead of the beginning of March. The rain actually broke a drought that the area was currently in, so while us American's were wondering where our sunny 80 degree weather had gone, the Aussies were really relived.

The rain stop us from learning about the geology in the area and how the local rocks were formed. Everyone else thought it was boring, but I was super excited (I know, I'm a nerd). We learned that a good portion of the rocks were igneous rocks from ancient volcanoes. There are no active volcanoes in Australia (only continent without them), but there were in the past. So there is a lot of basalt, gradient and diorite in the area. It was interesting to learn that were the different rock types were there were different ecosystems. I knew this from previous classes, but was really pleased to talk about it here because I've found that any geology has been sorely lacking from the ecosystem science I've been taught here so far. One of the advantages of being a double major in biology I now look at everything with a multidisciplinary perspective. When I look at an ecosystem I always think about the geology, and when I think about geology I always ask how it impacts the ecosystem around it. It was really refreshing to get this prespective from a professor here. 

After the talk we were treated to Damper and tea. Damper is traditional Aussie Bushbread that people took with them when they were out working in the bush (Aussie term for wilderness). It's basically dense bread. If you want to read more about it check out my cooking blog here: http://cooking-with-a-k.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/damper.html!

After our lunch, we headed to Boombana to do a bush walk. This was a walk through rainforest (bottom pictures above) and sclerophyll forest (top pictures above), and it was really cool to see one change into the other. We learned about the adaptations that different trees have to different environments. Australia is unique because Eucalypts dominates a lot of the forests here, we we learned about how they are specially adapted to drier conditions, and need fires to maintain their dominance. The walk was really interesting and they feed us macadamia nuts (which are native to Australia)! Unfortunately, it was on this walk that I encountered my first terrifying Australian creature: the Land Leech. LAND LEECHES, they have freakn' leeches that inch along the ground, or launch themselves from leaves unto you. While none of them stuck to me, and if they did they caused no permeant damage, they were still terrifying. I was perpetually hopping from foot to foot every time that we stopped to prevent them from crawling onto me. So no harm done, but still I DO NOT like land leeches :(

Besides the leeches the entire day was great. It was so nice to be able to get out of the city and see some nature, as well as learn about the local environment around Brisbane. We have 2 more day trips for this class as well as Fraser Island over mid-semester break. Really excited to go now!!!

Moreton Bay Marine Research Station

Several of my courses this semester have on site field trips. I've found that all but one of my courses here have some sort of hands-on field component. It's wonderful because it gives me a chance to get out into the Australian environment and familiarize myself with it! Previous places I've done this in have included Vancover Island, Bimini, the Mojave Desert, the Big Island in Hawai'i, and Kauai, and all of those places now hold a special place in my heart, so I am excited to various environs here to do the same. Another great thing about field trips, is that Wash U pays all field trip expenses so I get to go to some amazing places for free. Aka, Wash U is paying for me to go to Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef for Mid-semester Break (It's not Spring Break here because it is Autumn) :).

My first of many field trips was with my Mars2005 (Australia's Marine Environment) class. We went to Stradbroke Island. It's about an hour and a half from Brisbane. The city is up the Brisbane River, and if you drive to the coast and take a ferry to Stradbroke. UQ owns a research center there called the Moreton Bay Research Station, so we stayed there for three days and conducted experiments.

The first day was really fun! We did a Beach Seine, a survey with a net where you catch everything between a certain point and the shore, record it and throw it back. I did these in High School, so it brought back some memories. We caught a lot of predatory fish, as well as some squids! Later that day during low tide we went for a walk to check out the different intertidal habitats. The research station is near a huge tidal flat, where there is a gigantic difference between high and low tide (see above), so at low tide there are lots of unique environs exposed. And with those comes some really cool animals! In the exposed sea grass beds we found some Toadfish (below top left). They're little pufferfish, that change color. They would swim around wildly when disturbed and then try and burrow (unsuccessfully) in the sea grass, as my tutor put it 'Panic, panic, panic, hide.' We were able to pick them up and observe them, and then release them back unharmed. They're really pretty and puffers are some of my absolute favorite fish so it was great to see them here! In the sea grass we also found these gigantic sea cucumbers (below bottom left)! When you picked them up they expelled water at you, but they're really harmless. On the sandy bottom environment we found a ton of different kinds of crabs. Firstly we found a huge hermit crab (below top right) He wasn't as shy as usually and popped out of his shell to look at us. We also got to see these awesome crabs called solider crabs (below bottom right). They are blue in color and don't have pincers, they can also walk forward instead of sideways. They are called solider crabs because they move together in these huge groups called armies. They are really cool to watch, and when you get to close they corkscrew into the sand!

After a wonderful day of exploration we put our heads together to figure out an experiment for the next day. My group used some of the observations we made at low tide to come up with an experiment examining the effect of burrowing 'ecosystem engineer species' on bioturbation (life disturbing the sediment) of the sand by measuring the depth of the anoxic layer (no more oxygen in the sand). This experiment required us to be up at 5:50a to get out on the sand flat at low tide, so the next morning was an early one! We constructed our experiment by taking quadrats out on the sand flat. We counted the coverage of the burrows of 3 different species Stingrays (below top left), Soldier Crabs (below top right), and Sand Bubbler Crabs (below bottom right). Then we took 5 sand cores from each quadrat, and measured how far from the surface the anoxic layer was in the sand (below bottom left). This was easy to do because the sand is turns black so we were measuring to the change in color. I was initially taking the core samples, but I ended up bending 2 of our coring devices (my usual clumsiness coming through) so my group moved me to measuring the cores instead :P (I was much better at that)

We had 24 hours to construct, conduct, analyze and present this experiment. As science goes, that's way way to short of a time to get meaningful results, so not surprisingly we found no statistical relationship between the depth of the anoxic layer and the burrows in the sand. It was still a fun project to do though, and it was nice to get some field work experience.

The third day we drove to the oceanward side of Stradbroke Island and got to hike and swim. It was an amazingly relaxing way to end the trip. We hiked George's Trail, which goes along point look out and it had some spectacular views of the ocean and geology. The day was clear and the water was a brilliant turquoise blue (below top right, but the pictures don't do it justice). We watched the huge waves crash below us as we hiked the well maintained trail. There were rocky parts jutting out from the trail where I was able to get a great view of the coastline. And, me being me, also got to appreciate some really great sandstone features. I unfortunately was the only one who was actually interested in the geology, but the geology on the island is really fascinating. North Stadbroke is the world's second largest sand island (Fraser Island, where I will be visiting later in the semester, being the biggest). This means that it was formed by the accumulation of sand, this sand eventually was compressed into sandstone, which formed the enormous cliffs at Point Lookout (Below bottom right). There were also these well worn flat top areas of sand stone (below bottom left) that we walked out along. The waves crashing on the shore were enormous (below top left), and I was glad that we ended up swimming on a much calmer beach.

After our hike we got some lunch. Fish n' Chips (an Aussie favorite) for everyone else and a veggie burger for me and the other vegetarians. We then had some gelato at a nearby shop :), I got banana and it tasted like actual bananas and was really refreshing on the hot day. Then we went swimming for two hours before heading back to Brisbane in the bus. I really enjoyed my time here and it was nice to get back to the ocean. I also really like learning about the marine environment specifically in Australia, it's wonderful to be able to apply what I've learned about other places to my home for the next couple of months. I can't wait for our next trip with this class, it's to Heron Island, which is on the Great Barrier Reef!!

Up, On, and Over the Ocean: My Trip to Byron Bay

This weekend I went traveling! Wash U pays for us to go on a free trip to Byron Bay, a beach town 3 hours south of Brisbane that is the Eastern most point of Australia. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore more of the country and also a great thing to do this weekend. We took a big coach bus from Brisbane to Byron. 

On our way the trip leader played Summer Heights High, an Australian comedy show. It really brought me back because I had watched it with a bunch of my friends back in high school. It's funny, but also horrible. And by horrible I mean NOT politically correct in any way. Actually, I'm learning that, um, people are less concerned about being politically correct here. I've had several interactions where this is the case, and they range from slightly uncomfortable to kinda appalling. I was told that this was a cultural difference to be aware of during orientation, but it was still shocking. I actually think that this is one of the hardest cultural changes that I've had to deal with since coming here. This reminds me that I'm a foreigner here living in another country, and although I really don't like this aspect of the culture, I need to be respectful. 

On a more positive note, Byron Bay was absolutely beautiful. When we got there we went swimming in the surf right away. The water was a crystal clear blue. We waded out a good ways, until we were past the break and could body surf a bit. The waves were the perfect size, and we swam for an hour. Then we laid on the beach for a bit before going on a long hike to the Byron Lighthouse and the Eastern most coast of Australia (below). We hiked up over the ocean and got an amazing view of the not-quite-sunset over the ocean and the many people surfing there (above). It was an amazing end to the first day.

The next day we all got up early and kayaked on the ocean. We were with a big group and they were launching the kayaks (not sea kayaking with a rudder, these were more like plastic top siting kayaks) out on and over the surf. So we had to make our way out over the crashing waves. My partner and I were the first ones to go, and thankfully we did not get knocked off by the huge swells. A lot of the other pairs did, and it took an hour to get everyone out. The waves were so big that the kayak was rocked back as we went over and then slid back down as they passed. We paddled around the bay to look for dolphins. Unfortunately, we didn't see any, but it was still so nice to be out on the water. I love any type of boating, with the wind in my hair and the smell of the ocean, I couldn't be happier! 

That afternoon we went surfing. This was the first time that I had ever tried to surf, and because I'm super clumsy I was expecting to suck at it. And well, I was kinda right. We learned how to position our boards, catch a wave, and stand up. I mastered the first two… but never really got up. I'm glad that I was able to try it (especially since Wash U was paying :P), but it wasn't my favorite thing to do. Especially since we had to wave through the surf to catch a wave, and it was super tiring after a morning of kayaking. 

That evening everyone was wiped. So even though we were taken to a bar with the group, most of us left early. Instead we got ice cream and sat on the beach, chatting and enjoying the sound of the ocean. This was perfect because I wan't planning on drinking that night because the next morning I was supposed to scuba dive at Julian Rocks (below). A reef, just off the shore of the bay. The site is right in the middle of the EAC (East Australia Current), so there are supposed to be a ton of sea turtles at the site (Think Finding Nemo!), as well as manta rays, and sharks. I was really excited to go, and it was going to be my first dive in Australia.

However, the conditions were too choppy the next day and the dive was cancelled. I found out today that there was a cyclone that landed in Cairns that was stirring up the water, and that's why we didn't go. t was sad, but I was already planning on diving the site with Unidive (uq's dive club, yes, they have a scuba club here!) later this month so I wasn't too devastated. Instead, I headed down to the beach. Most of my friends were still asleep and I was awake so I decided to have a bit of relaxing alone time. I brought my kindle and enjoyed a relaxing morning on the beach. It was wonderful to listen to the waves, smell the ocean, and lose myself in a good book. When I got back to the hostel I met up with some friends and we explored the little town of Byron. We window shopped, and had lunch before heading back to Brisbane in the bus that afternoon.

It was a wonderful weekend. It's so nice to be so close to so many amazing beaches along the coast. It made me want to travel on the weekends more!

First Week of Classes at UQ

 This was my first week of classes at the University of Queensland. After almost 2 weeks of getting settled in Brisbane, I was really ready to begin classes. It's interesting because in addition to learning about the content of my classes, I'm also learning about what it is like to be a uni student here in Australia.

The University of Queensland is part of something called the 'Sandstone Universities', they are the Australian Ivies and the best and oldest schools in the country. And as you can see (above), they are called that for a reason. The majority of the buildings on campus are a beautiful sanded sandstone. They have a main quadrangle called Great Court and it is a huge green area surrounded by Sandstone buildings, the campus is huge but gorgeous. Sandstone buildings, interspersed with tropical fauna.

There are a couple of really interesting differences about going to university here. Firstly, they do not call undergraduate education college, it's called university or 'uni' for short. Actually, here a college is a dorm, so if you say college instead of uni it gets confusing. Another difference is that a typical undergraduate degree takes 3 years here instead of 4, unless you are doing a double degree, then it can take 4 or 5. And if you go to grad school right after uni you can get your masters in a total of 5 years. They also don't use 'freshman', 'sophomore', 'junior', and 'senior' here. Instead it's first-year, second-year, and third-year. Though the first-years are called 'freshers'. So I'm a third year here.

However, the biggest difference for me has been how classes and scheduling work. Classes are not at the same time every day, nor at the same place. And some of them are taught by multiple professors. So you have to be extremely on top of your schedule. For example, my Australia's Marine Environment class is at 10a on Monday, 2p on Wednesday, and 9a on Thursday. And it is in 3 different buildings… It's really confusing and is going to take me awhile to figure it out. Also, here a typical course load is 3 or 4 classes. Wash U makes us take 5, which is the maximum possible here. So when I tell people I'm in 5 they look at me in shock. I'm a little ticked because I'm in class about 23 hours a week which is about 4 hours more than anyone else. But, it's basically the same amount of time I'm in class at Wash U. Also, I'm interested in all my classes, so it gives me the opportunity to take more interesting things!

As for class content. I'm in 2 classes that are specifically about Australia. Australia's Marine Environment Mars2005, and Australia's Terrestrial Environment Biol2001. I'm also in 2 upper level classes Biological Adaptations to Climate Change Biol3236 and Marine Geology and Paleoceanography Erth3110. My last course is Marine Science Mars2014. I've had them all, and so far I like most of them. Especially Biol2001 and Erth3110, both have awesome lecturers who make the material interesting and engaging. Something that I've found really ironic is that I'm basically learning the exact same thing in every class this week. Oceanography. I've reviewed parts of oceanography is every class (though more plate tectonics than oceanography in biol2001). Starting here I thought that I had a very poor background in oceanography. I only remembered learning specifically about the topic my freshman year in our general earth science class. But, I realized that I've actually done a lot of physical and chemical oceanography in my paleoenvironmental course, biogeochemistry course, and organic geochemistry course. So I have literally done nothing but review my last three years of ocean and earth science. And I realized I know a lot! Now, since this is the first week and just review, I'm certain that as the courses get off the ground I'll be learning a lot go new material, but it was reassuring to know that I'm prepared for the course that I'm enrolled in.

My favorite thing that I've learned about so far was the history of zoology in Australia and what the international reputation about Australian wildlife is. I learned about this in my Australia's Terrestrial Environment lecture. Our professor had us shout out what we think of when we think go Australian fauna. Some of the words that went up were Marsupials, Danger! (with an exclamation point), monotremes, endemics, and flightless birds. We then preceded to learn about the reactions of european zoologists to the fauna they found here, and how they saw it as bizarre. Also we learned about the origin of the term 'Down Under', apparently it is not only because Australia is in the southern hemisphere, but also because the europeans thought that this was literally a land of opposites. Crazily enough swans are actually the reason for this. Apparently, the first europeans to land here touched down near Perth and observed many black swans, and since there are only white swans in Europe assumed everything was an opposite. This was reinforced by the unique fauna here like kangaroos, and the platypus (which for years the scientists back in Europe thought was made up because it was too strange to their current paradigm!).

Anyway, those were just some of the interesting things that I learned in one class, on one day. I'm so excited to see what the rest of the semester has in store for me!