On Sunday, July 24th, we embarked on a journey to George's and then Lovell's Island. George's Island is a historical site with a fort (Fort Warren) which takes up the majority of the land there. When we arrived at George's we got off the boat and Professor Berman introduced us to some history of Fort Warren. Reading the signs that were scattered throughout the place was very interesting. I had no idea that Boston Harbor had such a strong military defense not so long ago.

After a couple hours, we got on the boat that left for Lovell's and arrived there around noon. Just at low tide. The ranger gave us a quick briefing on what to expect as we traveled the island's trails to get to the tidal pools that we would examine later. Because the tide was just coming in, it was a perfect time to start our field research. Once we arrived at the tidal pools I immediately noticed the large amount of periwinkles scattered throughout the pools. I quickly understood Professor berman's choice name for the class. In addition to the periwinkles, I observed many other animal species in the tidal pools. Among them were a variety of crabs; Rock Crabs, Green Crabs, and Asian Shore crabs, which are an invasive species to North America. The Asian Shore Crabs, as we were forewarned, were very aggressive in nature despite their small stature. We also saw many hermit crabs along the sea floor during the low tide. Many of them seemed frightened by human interaction and were somewhat aggressive towards one another.

I also noticed an abundance of plant life in the tidal pools. There was tons of hair-like green algae looking plants covering the majority of the rocks in the cove. I also noticed the familiar rock weed that we had observed in the previous day at long wharf and under the Barking Crab. I assumed that this was a cleaner area because Prof. Berman had previously told us that rock weed does not live in highly "nutritional" water.

After spending a some time in the tidal pools at Lovell's (I could have been there for hours, it was a very interesting and picturesque place) we commenced our walk back to the ranger outpost and the boating area. While on the way back we noticed another type of "snail". Professor berman provided us with a brief story/lecture about how there are a species of moon snails on the island that can be easily mistaken for periwinkles. The major difference between them is the fact that moon snails live on land and in trees, while periwinkles of course live in the ocean. We picked up a moon snail and it had a much flakier and thinner shell with brighter colors. It also had 4 antennae instead of 2 as well as a much longer body when it came out.

Overall, the day on Lovell's turned out to be not only informative, but fun as well. I would love to go back there sometime for some camping and discover some of the bunnies that Bruce was talking about earlier. Anyway, see you all tomorrow.