My trip to Carkeek Park was quite enjoyable and informing. I have never been to Carkeek Park and I was surprised because many people I have talked to have mentioned that they have visited this park many times, so when I had not heard of it I was eager to see what this place was all about. My experience at the park was not what I expected. I thought that we would narrow down and focus on smaller things like an organism or as specific plant, but I did enjoy learning about the area and some of the purposes it holds. I thought it was a great way to learn about Western Washington Ecology because instead of sitting in a classroom or lab reading and being lectured, we were actually out in nature exploring and getting to see what everything looks like first hand. I would have to say the most interesting thing that I saw was getting to hear about the Natives' culture even though it was not planned out for our day. It was interesting to hear how things work in their lives and the way they learn and get educated versus us. I did not know about the organisms going between the fresh water and salt water for their eggs, which was eyeopening. That changed my perspective about organisms because I did not think that was possible or even healthy for them. It is a huge environmental change, so that is why I was so shocked when I heard about this. A couple questions that I have after my visit to Carkeek Park are that do the organisms bodies go through any change to adapt to the salt or fresh water when going between them? Also, do any organisms who are living around trains have any potential harm towards them, besides the plants?
Hi Samar! It's awesome to learn something new ain't it? I can't remember the answer to your first question so I'll try to answer the second. In my opinion, yes organisms besides plants could harm the trains. Most wouldn't be able to because the train is a steel giant moving at the speed of sound from a small animal's perspective. A bear could possibly stop and/or damage the train itself too. Also, small animals could destroy the tracks the trains use. A large portion of the rocks holding up the tracks could be removed to make a shelter or other reasons by animals so it's possible for something dangerous to happen. Hope this satisfies your question!
ReplyDeleteYou're asking a lot of really good questions Samar, to answer the ones about organisms moving from salt water to freshwater and vice versa, mouths of creeks and rivers that meet the ocean have these areas called estuaries, where the two come together. Estuaries are a place where organisms can get acclimated to the new salinity of the water, or lack of salinity.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you liked the presentation by the First Nations speaker!
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