Penang Hill BioBlitz Argonaut Update — Brittany Mason & Sharon Snider
Teacher Argonauts Brittany Mason and Sharon Snider are from Wetzel County Schools in West Virginia. They shared a journal entry from their day surveying the rainforest with the arthropod team.
After arriving at Base Camp today we learned that our expedition for the day was to join Dr. Lauren Esposito and Dr. Stephanie Loria, who study arthropods. So we eagerly grabbed our backpacks, our vials, crammed into a vehicle, and headed for Site 3.
Once there Stephanie showed us a technique that involves raking leaf litter into a shaker sack. Using a rake, leaves are gathered in and, when you’re ready to separate the organisms from the leaves, you hold the top handle steady while you shake the bottom handle like you’re making microwave popcorn. After about 30 seconds, dump out any leaf litter and repeat the process a few more times. Man is it a good arm workout! The collected material is eventually placed in a smaller sack to be used later for sampling.
Another technique we learned about involves a beater stick, beating sheet, and an aspirator, also known as a “pooter.” Basically you hold the beating sheet under some vegetation, whack the branches with a beating stick and then quickly observe what organisms fall on to the beating sheet. Then comes the fun part! Using the aspirator, you suck the organisms into a tube. Don’t forget the mesh between the two tubes or you may swallow an arthropod!
At that point Lauren joined us and our adventure began! We wandered around the top of Site 3 for approximately 20 minutes before an observer informed us where the trail that actually leads to Site 3 was located. It was soon apparent that the trail was too steep and narrow the size of our group. So we turned around and hiked to Site 2. We were excited to explore Site 2 because this is where a new scorpion species may have been discovered earlier in the week. So we eagerly began flipping logs, raking leaf litter and shaking branches hoping that we, too, could make such an important discovery. We continued further down the trail, crossing over water, sliding down embankments and working our leg muscles trying to climb up other embankments.
Along the route we saw scientists from other BioBlitz survey teams setting traps, investigating set traps, and searching for specimens. Throughout the course of the morning we collected several of our own specimens and encountered an enormous cicada and a very large millipede. We soon realized that it was getting late and began the journey back. Dirty boots and all we hopped into the truck, took a selfie and headed back to Base Camp for a well deserved lunch.
Each morning as we hiked to Base Camp we would pause to check the progress of the new habitat canopy walkway. Each day, like children begging for sweets, we begged for the chance to explore it. Today our wishes came true! We had the opportunity to enjoy the canopy walkway months before it will officially open! All geared up in harnesses we ventured across the walkway slowly, savoring the breathtaking views that surrounded us. What an amazing experience that we will never forget!
This is Brittany and Sharon signing off for now. Time for us to rest and prepare for tomorrow’s adventures in science! Keep following the Penang Hill BioBlitz for more adventures of the JASON Argonaut team!
