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Today was our first full day on Guam. We began this morning
listening to Dr. Thomas Marler regarding his work on cycads throughout the
Indo-Pacific. It was an excellent talk, seeing that it stirred my interests
(someone who struggled to stay awake during their college Botany courses).
After a bit of paperwork for us UOG students, it was time to
hit the field! For my group, studying spider web characteristics between the
two islands, this translated into searching for good forest sites. For much of
the late morning, we drove throughout the northern part of Guam, determining
possible study sites. Towards the end of this, the weather began to change. It
drizzled and down poured for the next few hours. This made data collection
difficult for some of the groups.
However, the rain did ultimately clear out in the early
afternoon. For my group, this meant we were ready to head out and measure some
spider webs! The main difference between Saipan and Guam regarding spiders:
there are many more adults in Guam’s forests! Since we are looking at
juveniles, we disregard the large adults. The three of us still had to dip and
duck around the countless webs to get to our sites. Watching out for these
large webs were the least of our worries. Mosquitos waged war on our faces and
ankles as soon as we stepped out of our truck. Bug spray seemed to have little
effect on them. Despite the heat, I feel like we’ll be wearing pants and long
sleeves from here on out.
Tonight did end on a good note, though. Most of the class
went out to Chamorro Village. I, however, decided that after a day of spiders
and a million mosquito bites, nothing sounded better than the comforts of my
apartment. The other spider group-mates did attend the festivities and loved
it! Jimin said she chowed on some tasty traditional Chamorro grub while
enjoying the live music and dancing (even if it was crowded).
Overall, I’d say studies on Guam are going well and will certainly
improve with more bug spray!
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