Plant survey team at work

Today we did our first plant survey transect at the Cot. This involved a hike up the hill to a pre-determined point and then surveying a 100m transect directly into the forest (we use a tape measure). We are looking for invasive species 2.5m either side of the transect including Mango, Guava, Bamboo and others. We recorded a lot of bamboo.... You have to measure the point on the transect, distance from the transect, the height, the land area covered. Good fun to get out into the quiet of the forest.

We also came across some Jack Spaniard wasp nests under the huge philadendron leaves which are a constant hazard and the smallest Lesser Antillean Tree frog we have seen so far (about 2mm). On the way back we came across a huge passion fruit vine snaking around a large tree - passion fruit just lying on the ground for the taking :-) It's also getting into guava season.

The boat is out of the water after the engine broke down but we managed to start it this afternoon on the test stand - so we hope to get some more marine surveys completed once the weather improves.

Tonight was the last night for one of our US volunteers (Morgan) so we had enchiladas and a carribean take on a fruit crumble with passion fruit and coconut in the crumble topping. Very tasty. Finished off with a beer at Migher's bar up in Salem. Great day.