Dingle 9: what's bugging you?

 Thursday July 18 Riley Young - Bugs, Bugs, and More Bugs!

 Today was the last day of sampling here in the Dingle Peninsula. We left the hostel at 9 am to go to the Milltown River where we went to look at various species of bugs to see the species richness at separate locations on the river. Our first stop was as far upriver as we could go. This ended up being just before farm runoff to see if that played a factor in the species richness levels.
        We went for a short walk across a field and into the small river. The section that we walked to had a small waterfall that my group utilized to catch the bugs in nets to later classify. While letting water sift through the net, we also scrubbed rocks under the water and moved about the gravelly floor to help us collect more insects than the ones just swimming. We then collected the bugs in a basin and separated them into different sections on a tray making notes of the species with the help of Professor McCabe and iNaturalist. We did a few replications and each group ended up with about 120 insects recorded in total – That's a lot of bugs!!          
        One of the more common insects found were Caddisfly larvae. An interesting thing to see was a sort of “fight club” that they formed when placed in the trays. If any of the other larvae came too close then they would bite, pick up, and sort of throw their opponent to a different area. Granted they were not exactly thrown but rather placed in a different area, the fighting was entertaining to see nonetheless. Another surprising find, at least to me, was the freshwater shrimp in the river. Over in the United States, it is less common to find them in rivers, but rather found in lakes instead as described by Professor McCabe. 

        Besides collecting insect species, another objective of ours was to look at different bird species at the various locations that we went to on the Dingle Peninsula. We wanted to take a close look at these birds and see the variety of habitats that they can inhabit. Such as a European robin being found by an ocean cliffside and pastures. By keeping note of all species, whether that be plants, flying animals or even aquatic ones, we can make a stronger connection between species and ecology. It also allows for the data we collect to be utilized by potential researchers in Ireland in the Future.

Dingle 8: Surfing Inch Beach....and all chronological blog order has been abandoned

Sunday July 14 Rebecca Wallace-West

Today the class went to Inch Beach, a beautiful four-mile beach stretching into the Dingle Bay. We spent a majority of the time surfing. In the beginning when we arrived we were all predicting that most of our time would be spent getting in and out of our wet suits, because they were so tight. Thankfully that was not the case! 

 

 

        Most of the class has had some experience with a sport similar to surfing such as snowboarding or skateboarding; as for me I have been surfing many times on various family trips. A major factor in today’s success was that the waves were perfect for the people who have never been surfing as well as those who have been many times before. 

 

Our surfing class was made up of around 8 of us and included other small family groups. We started off the lesson with learning the area of the board as well as how to find the best position for balance. Some of us are “regular footed” and some of us are “goofy footed,” meaning that we ride with our left (regular) or right (goofy) foot forward.

 

Once in the water we first spent time catching some waves and riding them as far in as we could on our stomachs, and after about one third of the way through the lesson we went back to shore to learn the three ways of standing on the board when out on the water. When we all got back out on the water the waves started to increase in height by about six inches, so we had more time to ride the wave. 

 

While we were out in the water the second time we had the chance to spot some compass jellyfish. By the second and third wave we all were able to catch our first waves and ride them out. The most important part of this for me was that we all had fun and by the large amount of laughter and smiles we all were having a blast! 

 

As we all rode in our last wave we were all a bunch of happy and sandy surfers of Ireland. We all concluded that the best choice of action for dinner after a long surfing day was to have good old pancakes, bacon, and hash! But halfway through making dinner we realized the soccer finals game was on so we quickly finished dinner to join the locals in cheering on Spain for the victory!

 

Dingle 7: Three Fish Four Fish.....and a blog out of order in the fog

Monday July 15 Sarah Coloney
        Our fishing adventures are not over! Today we began our day at 8:30am when we went down to the classroom to grab our waders and walked to the shoreline. This is where we met up with Kevin Flannery, one of the founders of Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium. Today Kevin taught us how to do
quantitative collection via seine netting.
        Seine netting is essentially using a large net to create a wall that has the ability to scoop up fish, crustaceans, and other organisms. Instead of going out on a large charter boat, we used a smaller seine net where we went into the water with our waders on. We formed a semicircle with the net and then exited the water and pulled on the ropes on both sides of the net to drag the seine net to shore with our caught oceanic creatures (and of course, seaweed). We caught a variety of organisms including sticklebacks, snails, shrimp, blennies, wrasses, and crabs. This scale and method of seine netting is a prime example of how to collect data on the oceanic biodiversity of Dingle’s coastline (or any coastline!).
        But that wasn’t all Kevin had to share with us today. We then ventured to the harbor where we got a tour of one of the fishing boats named Rabelais Bayonne. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting but I can tell you it was so much more complex than expected.
        Next Kevin gave us a backroom tour of the aquarium. In this space we saw where they fostered several tanks to either support the health of various species or allow a safe habitat for the hatching of
eggs. We saw a variety of species including toads, octopi, lobsters, pollock, sea turtles, jellyfish, shark eggs, and sharks! And this is where our adventures with Kevin came to a close.
        After lunch and an inevitable power nap, we made a trek up Conor Pass (or tried to). The cloud coverage on the mountain was so thick that we could not see far in front of us and as we gained elevation, the wind started to pick up. Between the weather conditions and the rough condition our feet were in from our other Dingle adventures, we made the decision to turn around. While we did have to turn around, it was incredible being in the clouds of Ireland with the sheep.
        At the end of the day, we were very much ready for dinner. Since we didn’t have any dinner plans, we decided to go to the supermarket and craft an elaborate pasta dinner.

Dingle 6: Epic Dinners

Tuesday July 16 Declan McCabe - the Dinner Blog; impressive student chefs!

        Meals on our trip have been mostly communal at the Rainbow Youth Hostel. We keep stocked up on breakfast cereal and bagels for rapid breakfasts before departure. Bread, PB&J, cheese and lunch meats have been our go-to staples for lunches at field sites. Denise at SuperValu has been graciously organizing deliveries directly to the hostel and we walk the empty crates back to town when we head in for activities.
        Dinners have been an interesting combination of things. When we fished, we filleted, prepped, and ate fish at the Dingle Cookery School which was a real treat. We have also had 2 scheduled sit-down dinners in local restaurants. But eating out every night is not an option for the entire trip and so we have had all sorts of meals cooked in the hostel.
        One evening we barbecued a selection of Irish meats along with burgers. Another evening the students took the lead and prepped a nice pasta dish with a sausage sauce and a salad. Last night was the Euro Soccer Final and many were anxious to get out to watch it in the pub. So we did a simple breakfast for dinner meal with pancakes and bacon. 
        We bought pancake mix in a bottle, filled to the line with milk, shook, and poured onto a hot griddle and students ate in shifts as the feast came off the pan. Honestly, it looked fairly basic next to the gourmet meal a French family was cooking up in the same kitchen.       
        But last night the students outdid themselves. We did a shopping run as a group and a small army of students hauled the various items back to our home-away-from-home. And then they took over the kitchen to cook up a delicious pasta meal with chicken and broccoli. Many wanted Alfredo sauce, which is not something that's available in a jar at SuperValu. But the students combined heavy cream, garlic, butter, and other ingredients to make a truly impressive sauce that Alfredo himself would have been proud to sample. Now it was our turn to be the envy of other diners in the hostel.        I have been truly impressed to see a dozen students pull together to prep, cook, and serve truly sumptuous meals. And those not so involved in the cooking have jumped in on the back end to wash dishes and leave the kitchen better than we found it.
        The original plan to issue students with debit cards did not come together as our hosts sliced and diced the costs to make the trip affordable. And so absent the debit cards we decided to provide as many communal meals as possible so that students did not need to spend a fortune eating out. Rest assured, no one will leave Dingle hungry and it has been a wonderful group building activity to come together and whip up meals as a group.

Dingle 5: "Pull Like a Dog": paddling hard for an amazing reward.

 Thursday July 11 Lydia Altman

Our activities today did not start until 10:30, for which we were all thankful. While I imagine this allowed some people a slow morning, most of us slept in as long as we could, rushing to get breakfast and out the door like we have every morning on this trip. The days packed with activities are so much fun, but I think I could sleep for days.

After our lie-in, we headed to the classroom to work on our report for the Maharees Conservation Association. For this report, we collected data in the dunes to look at the differences in biodiversity between sites with differing levels of restoration. While others worked on the introduction and methods, I recorded data into a table to analyze later. At noon, we broke up for lunch. Some people went out to buy something, while others returned to eat our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before we ventured off to sea kayaking.

Sea Kayaking consisted of two different things: exploring sea caves full of starfish and trekking to and
from these caves. As someone with little upper body strength, the waves and wind we encountered on the trek proved challenging to navigate. Ultimately, I would say the struggle was worth it for the amazing caves, but I would recommend stretching and bringing water for anyone planning on going in the future to have a more comfortable experience than I did.

For dinner, we originally planned to eat the fish we caught on Monday, but after the tiring adventure, we stopped at a Tex-Mex food truck. I was unsure how Irish Mexican food would be, but although unauthentic, it was quite delicious. But what is a good dinner without dessert? Naturally, we stopped to get ice cream from Kool Scoops on the walk back to our accommodation.

Back at the hostel, we found that the fish had spoiled, and some went out and fed it to the seagulls. Many of us were grateful for this since fish is a taste we have not acquired. Other activities of the night included playing cards, reading, napping, and calling home. These activities were accompanied by the sounds of many French teenagers running around the place and rummaging through the kitchen quite loudly. As they finally quiet down for the night, the dorm of girls from St. Mike’s is busy getting ready for bed after another great day of adventures.