Hello!
Before we begin, don’t forget to check out the video blog from today linked at the bottom of this post!
The theme of today was… mangroves! We started off here at Ebiil with another 8 a.m. wake up. First up on the agenda today was a lovely talk with Ms. Ann about the importance of mangroves to the community. The plant serves as a critical part of indigenous Palauan culture. It has medicinal uses, provides building materials in local towns, and offers coastal protection during extreme weather events.
Once we had learned about the benefits of healthy mangroves in Palau, we set off to do some hands-on exploring. We paired up, hopped on some paddle boards, and travelled to the nearby mangroves. Upon arrival, we tied off our paddle boards, strapped on our snorkel gear, and split into two groups. With Omar leading one group and Aki leading the other, we swam on in. While there weren’t any sharks, crocodiles, or sting rays to be seen, we still saw some great species. Some top spots include a juvenile batfish, lots of crabs, baby barracudas, rabbitfish, and cardinalfish.
After getting to experience the mangroves during high tide, we hiked on out to a summerhouse to enjoy lunch, learn more about the ecology of mangroves, and wait for the tide to go out. Here, we met Rich and his team. Rich is a climate fellow for the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducting research here in Palau. Amazingly, he is the only climate fellow specializing in blue carbon! Blue carbon refers to all the carbon stored in the ocean and marine environments (mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes). Rich taught us some more about mangroves. Through him, we learned that mangrove forests store three-to-five times more carbon than other forest types and their canopy cover has increased by 5% in the last few years because of sediments washed down from wastelands like the bauxite mines.
Rich was then kind enough to let us join in on a day of surveying the mangroves! It was time to get messy: we trudged through thigh-high mud and sharp pneumatophores to the middle of the mangroves. Here, we set up a circle survey plot measuring 10 meters in diameter, then tagged and measured the DBH and species of each tree in the plot. The DBH measurements will help in estimating biomass of the mangroves. Additionally, we took soil core samples that will return to a lab and be analyzed for carbon content!
Once each tree had been tagged and measured and soil cores were collected, we hiked back to Ebiil. Ms. Cindy was waiting for us with a fun craft. Many of us joined her in weaving bowls made from palm fronds. We didn’t quite get to finish– hopefully tomorrow! We had a yummy dinner of napa cabbage/chicken soup, rice, kimchi, fruit salad, and tapioca. The last activity of the night was joining Omar in preparing hand reels and fishing lines for tomorrow’s adventure in the Ebiil Channel.
Finally, check out our vlog below! We had so much fun making it and hope that you all enjoy :^).
Big thanks to everyone involved in today’s adventures. This blog post was written by Katie Matsuoka and Iris Ford.
