Bermuda Project

10/11/08-10/19/08
Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion Back to Homepage


Materials and Methods

I went to four locations over the course of three days to collect my plankton.  These were Walsingham Pond, John Smith's Bay, Tobacco Bay, and Whalebone Bay.  It took me about an hour and a half to get to each spot, collect the plankton and move to the next one.  Since here was a substantial amount of time between each collection, it meant the plankton would be at different levels, therefore effecting the amount collected at each location. Because of this, I randomized the order in which I went to each spot.  Additionally, I went to each spot at a different time of day: sunrise, midday, and sunset.



Enlargement of northern Bermuda
A: Whalebone Bay
B: Tobacco Bay
D: Walsingham Pond
1: John Smith's Bay

Once I had the plankton, I fixed them in alcohol to preserve them.  If this was not done, they would die and decompose before I had a chance to look at them (learned from experience).  

Methods for Fixation:

  1. Pour seawater into a 100 micron filter
  2. Pour sample into filter
  3. Rinse filter Petri dish using a graduated cylinder with 70% ethanol and 30% freshwater
  4. Pour solution back into filter
  5. Rinse filter back into Petri dish using just freshwater

After the plankton were fixed, I went through each sample and tallied what I saw.  However, because there was so much plankton, I had to narrow down my sample size.  I did this by taking 5 samples with a pipet.  In order to make sure I got a random select, I would first stir up the sample and take my smaller sample before anything had the chance to settle.