Catalina Field Study

Rudy ButtlarSt. Mary’s School

7 Pursuit Aliso Viejo CA

Table Of Contents•Flora and Fauna •Natural Phenomena•Science Attitudes•Summary•Works Cited

Living Organisms Shovel Nose Guitar Ray

This Shovel Nose Guitar Ray is a very interesting

Ray who lives in the Sandy Bottom Habitat from Emerald Bay’s

aquarium. Guitar Rays blend very easily and

camouflage themselves in the sand. He is a

Chondrichthyes marine creature which means he

has no bones, just cartilage.

Living OrganismsGaribaldi

Courtesy of Colin Ballantyne

This Garibaldi is a beautiful fish who lives all over California and in many aquariums. Garibaldis

are the California State fish and I saw many of them when I went snorkeling. These fish have blue

spots all over them when they are born and throughout their

juvenile years. Finally, Garibaldis are very territorial.

Living OrganismsCormorant

These Cormorants are elegant birds who live all over the

coasts of America. They can dive down to 180 feet deep.

Cormorants are in the swimmer category of Catalina

birds. It is possible to see Cormorants in flocks of

several hundred.

Courtesy of Blake Valum

Native FloraEucalyptus Tree

This Eucalyptus tree is new to Catalina, it was introduced to the island

from the mainland. Eucalyptus trees are

highly flammable. That means it is very dangerous

if its wood is used for building, and so on.

Native Flora Laurel Sumac

This Laurel Sumac tree is an amazing but harmful flora. They are related to

the Poison Oak family so if it touches our skin, it could cause a bit of harm. Laurel Sumac trees are Native to

Catalina island, which means they were found on the island and elsewhere.

Native Flora Toyon Tree

This Toyon tree is also astounding and also

deadly. They have toxic berries on them that could harm you if you ate them. These trees are mistaken

for the Holly trees because of their colors, red and green. They are very

common in California, that is why Hollywood got its name. Finally, the Toyon

tree is also Native to Catalina island.

Natural PhenomenaSunset This is one of the most

beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, I saw this right after dinner at

Emerald Bay. Sunsets are actually caused by dust in the air. A sunset is the disappearance of

the sun below the horizon as a result of earth’s rotation. Also

sunsets can have a special green flash

across the sky, at the moment when a sunset

is ending.

Natural PhenomenaWaves

This wave is crashing with full force onto the boat making an amazing splash. Waves are caused by wind

and weather. The stronger the wind and weather the

bigger waves you get. Waves can also be caused by tides which are caused

by the moon’s gravitational pull.

Courtesy of Jaquie Bourke

Natural PhenomenaMountains, Ocean, Erosion

The ocean here has caused erosion on the earth. Over a long period of time the

ocean will erode away the earth using its waves. The mountains in this picture

were formed from the convergent boundaries a

long time ago.

Science AttitudesPlankton Lab Investigation

This shows me investigating the marine plankton samples from

the ocean. There are many types of plankton

such as radiolarian, nolutica and zooplankton. Three main categories of

plankton are phytoplankton,

dinaphlatules and zooplankton.

Courtesy of Mrs. Bratcher

Science AttitudesFish Lab CollaborationThis shows

collaboration with my teammates and instructor while learning about

different types of fish in the sea. Three fish

we learned about were the Garibaldi, the

Senorita and finally the Sheephead. These

fish all live in different habitats such

as the rocky reef, sandy bottom, kelp forest and inter tide

habitats.Courtesy of Mrs. Bratcher

Science Attitudes Squid Investigation

Courtesy of Katrina Adams

The squid dissection was one of the most interesting investigations we did. We

investigated his/her insides to learn about marine life anatomy. It took a lot of risk taking skill to touch the squishy squid guts.

Squids are marine animals that have beaks. Their

brain is in between their eyes and their heart is

right next to their ink sack. The ink sack is used to

store ink to spray at predators.

SummaryRecently, I went to Emerald Bay on Catalina Island for our sixth grade field study. I learned many things on Catalina Island under the topic of marine life. Such as the kelp in the sea, the fish in the sea, marine birds and much more. I even learned how to be a great scientist and investigator. The most important thing I learned was how to be a good steward to our land. Over all of the time spent at Catalina I took many pictures, these pictures have been organized to the science Criterion C and Criterion F. The trip to Catalina Island has been a magnificent experience and I hope I can visit it again.

Works Cited

Ryan. “Fact: thee colors of a sunset are caused by dust.”

www.lsned.com. Word Press. n.d. Web. 26 March 2012 http://lsned.com/facts/sunset-dust/.

“Sunrise, Sunset.” www.absoluteastronomy.com. N.p. 2011. Web. 26 March 2011

http://absoluteastronomy.com/topics/sunset

Otter. Vertebrate Invertebrate Lab. 20 March 2012

Seahawk. Fish Lab. 19 March 2012

Star, Sea. Bird Lab. 20 March 2012

Turtle. Flora Lab. 22 March 2012

Sunny. Squid Lab. 19 March 2012