Day 7

Day 7 the interns have been working on making a short animated video for our community with a message about what we have learned and what we would like people to know. We learned about the different techniques you can use to make a home-made movie/multimedia message such as 'Draw my life', 'Stop animation', 'Claymation' and different 'documentary' styles. Our video is a mixture of draw my life and stop animation. Getting the lighting and angles right has been half the battle, its not easy being a movie director!

One of our illustrator's at work making our video message

Today we also analysed plankton from our plankton tow under a microscope. We identified the main types of plankton using a key. The majority of the plankton were Calanus copepods which are easily identified as they have two long antenna. They are the main food for basking sharks. We also identified juvenile sea gooseberries (comb jellies), cladocera and mollusc larvae. Some zooplankton are permanently part of the plankton such as copepods but other zooplankton only spend part of their lives as plankton such as the juveniles of crabs, mollusks and fish.

Calanus copepod (NOAA Ocean Explorer)

The interns have been getting on really well over the course of the Shark Camp and we quickly realised that most of us were musical and either play instruments or sing. So we decided to have a well earned jam session at the end of the day....prize for the best marine themed band name!

'Banba and the Plankon Eaters' or 'Sonorous ceteceans'- it's all good!