My introduction to Marine Biology!.... by Hannah

How is it that half way through the Gibb River Road in WA that I got introduced to Marine Biology?  Well it all started at King Edward River on the Mitchell Plateau.

After setting up camp we headed down to the river, for a swim.  Dad, Mum and Ben left but I wanted to stay to watch the little fish swim around.  That's when I spotted them, a group of about 8 people in full gear (head to toe diving suits, flippers and snorkels!). I was getting very curious so I made up my mind to ask them what they were looking for when they got closer. When one of them was really close to the bank I shouted out to him "Um excuse me but what are you looking for?"  He said "turtles." I was amazed so he opened up his bag and showed me his turtles.  They were freshwater turtles, two species...the long necked and the short necked.  Some of them had pretty pink lines on them, and he let me hold them.  He explained that they were marine biologists,  and I told him that's what I want to be. I was so excited when he said I could come over and help him collect and record the data on the turtles. So later in the day Mum and I went over to help the Marine biologists.

They showed us how to tell if they were normal.  Here's how:  They had to have 5 shapes down the middle and 4 down the sides, also 25 around the edges.  My job was to measure the turtles and count the shapes to see if they were normal.  We also had to look for signs of crocodile attacks. The turtles were tagged and had individual code numbers.  I also had to do some decimal rounding up Miss Kelly! 

       Counting the the shapes on the shells

         Putting the turtle on the weighing machine               Using the digital measure
One of the girls told me all about what subjects she was studying in Marine Biology.  She said that her friend moved to QLD to go to the Uni there, and they send her out on field trips to the Great Barrier Reef. Wow all of this really makes me want to become a Marine Scientist so much more.  In the end it was an awesome experience.

      The King Edward River where they caught the turtles             Our campsite