LMRT got another trip before the end of the year which was from the 7th – 10th of December. It was the last trip of 2017 that LMRT has. In this trip, we’re trying to do our first official survey including fishes, invertebrates, and substrates. I was on the team with another person to do substrate survey. In substrate survey, first of all, we lay the 100 meters line, there will be a person the one who drops the plump which we use to indicate the substrate and another person will note down what it is by looking at the hand sign that the dropper gives.
In the first day, we were just reviewing and practicing more on neutral our buoyancy. We swim through a hula hoop, do the swim pivot, and enjoy the dive!! On the day of the survey, there are 4 teams of two. The first team lay the 100 meters transect line, the second team is the fish survey team, the third team is the invertebrates survey team, and the last team is the substrate survey team. The fish survey is about counting fishes and mark it to its correct category, invertebrates are also about counting while swimming in S-pattern. Last but not least, substrates are about dropping a plump every 50 cm, wherever the plump lands on, we record that substrate. One person will drop the plump and another person will record it.
The last team didn’t get to finish their survey because it was too dark and we barely see what it is. We entered the water a bit too late like at 4-5 pm; therefore, by the time we exited the water, the sun already set. We almost finish the survey, but we have to stop anyway due to safety. Anyway, we made last dives of the year worth it. Everyone gets the feeling of doing the survey. All we have to do now is to wait for next year, 2018, to be the year where our official surveys start. That was a nice way to end school before Christmas break.
