How to do a Beach transect

line the tops of two poles with the horizon

Beach transects were the marine science fieldwork practical today.  Of course, a quick study of the tide tables showed that the new moon low tide (spring tides) was in the middle of the day.  At the equator, (TRACC is at 4 Deg N), the big tides each month are always high at dawn and dusk and low at midnight and midday.

Equipped with sunscreen and carefully marked survey poles the intrepid Marine Science A level class braved the short walk to our beautiful white sand beach.

The techniques is simple, from the low tide line the beach slope and elevation is measured at 20 cm intervals. The height of the water at the time of low tide is known from the tide tables. The longer survey pole is held at the low tide line and the shorter pole moved up the beach until looking across the top of both poles lines up with the horizon.  When the two pole tops and the horizon are aligned then the short pole is 20 cm higher up the beach than the long pole.  We measured the distance between the bottoms of the poles to give a measure of beach slope.

We repeated the process, by moving the big bottom pole to the position of the top pole and then repeating the leveling by moving the top pole another 20 cm vertically up the beach.














The beach slope was fairly constant at 1in 7 or approximately 12 degrees.  With a giant yellow protractor we checked this.angle.

 With a practiced technique we are now ready to tackle beaches with varying slopes, sediment types and biological communities.

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Conservation projects 2016

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marine biology fieldwork -jetty communities

Rocky shore Zonation practical for the Cambridge (CIE 9693) A level Marine science course.  TRACC teach this class once each year from January to April.  The first fieldwork practical of the course was a study of the zonation on the man made wooden jetty on Pom Pom Island, Sabah Malaysia.

The students marked the posts at 50 cm intervals relative to the tidal chart datum (lowest astronomical tide).  The location of the barnacle zone and the snail zone was measured in relation to this fixed chart datum.  The vertical position relative to the tide of all of the visible snails was measured for 7 jetty legs.   Observations were made that the snails were more abundant on the N side legs (shaded by the jetty above) and on the South side legs (not shaded from above) the snails were mostly on the side of the leg away from the sun.

The results showed clear concentration into discrete zones by both barnacles and snails.  The barnacles were concentrated into the zone from 50cm above cd to 90cm above cd with a few on the shady North legs at upto 110cm.
The snails were more abundant on the North legs (average 14 per leg) than on the South Legs (average 5 per leg).  The snails were also found higher up the Shady legs (average position of top snail was 1.7m (N legs) compared with 1.4m (S Legs).  The zonation of the snails is on the kite graph and the snails were most abundant at 1.4m above CD.

It is clear that the snails are actively choosing the shady jetty legs and if they are on the sunny side legs then they find the shadiest spot.  On the shady legs they can also rest between tides higher up the leg presumably because it is cooler.

These results lead to more questions about ecology and behaviour that the A level class will be answering in the near future.

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 Become a volunteer in 2016 here

Conservation projects 2016

For more information, please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org 

The main website is at tracc.org
Check out our social media posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
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Getting good grades at A level

TRACC only offers one A level, Cambridge Marine science 9693 and we get excellent results including in 2015 - the student with the highest marks in the world.
Our record for A grades is 75%.  That's a whole lot of UKAS points if you want to get into uni, or its a good step towards your first year at college.

shoreline transects are next to the classroom.

One of the reasons we get such good grades it that it's much easier to do your A-levels like this than it is in a 2-year school setting. At school you will be tested on something you studied 18 months earlier. In this course no information is more than 3 months old. Also, school might devote 6 hours a week to an A-level. We have people living and breathing science constantly. It goes in by osmosis almost. Plus, there's nothing else to study for.

Up close and personal with mangrove forests

You're only holding 1/3rd of your A-level information in your brain.

Finally, we spend the whole of revision week revising this one subject and doing past papers. It gets to the point where people say "Oh, this question was on yesterday's paper with different numbers". In practice tests our students start to count the marks they DIDN'T get, rather than the marks they did.

OH yes, having the ecosystems and biodiversity next to the jetty cannot hurt either.  A few days ago we interrupted class to go and watch Pilot whales and Dolphins.  Today, we watched giant frog fish and blue ring octopus in our lunch break!  We also have turtles nesting and amazing coral reefs around the island.

Study time after a diving practical

We can only offer the A level class once each year but our volunteers, gap year travelers who come for shorter periods also learn a lot about marine conservation, scientific diving, ecosystems and biodiversity.


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 Become a volunteer in 2016 here

Fish population growth     Video

Rescued sharks 
Conservation projects 2016

For more information, please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org 

The main website is at tracc.org
Check out our social media posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
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Beach study using profiles, transects
 and quadrats.

on google + tracc 
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Tides make so much more sense
 when the students watch them change each day.

Best Marine Science Student in the world

Tom making a close study
of the marine environment.

Congratulations to Tom Gibson who was the best marine science student in the world in 2015.


We knew our Cambridge CIE Marine Science 9693 Students were an awesome bunch with great results but to have the highest scoring student in the world is still an honour.


Dedication, hard work and serious immersion in his subject pays off.

 Very well done Tom
.


For more information about the TRACC Marine Science A level please click here

I got A* in Marine Science

Why Do Marine Science A level with TRACC 

• Learning on location – first hand experience of the curriculum rather than reading from a book
• Experienced teaching staff
• Great opportunity to learn more about the marine environment whilst helping out on a conservation project
• Good fun – interactive and practical methods of learning makes learning easier
• Class in the morning and diving in the afternoon

 


This year I studied for my Cambridge International 9693 Marine Science A-level at TRACC. The experience of studying at TRACC was great. Firstly, TRACC’s location is perfect for the course – instead of staying in a stuffy classroom and reading from a book, many of the topics in the course were covered with practicals and first-hand experience.

 To learn about mangroves we spent the morning canoeing through the dense mangroves a short distance down the shore from camp, looking out for macaques and monitor lizards as we paddled. To learn about rocky shore zonation and unstable beach environments, we stepped out of our open air sea view classroom and straight onto the beach for an interactive lesson. We spent the morning learning about fish physiology and in the afternoon we went diving to see examples of what we had covered. Fish dissections and fish market surveys all helped consolidate what we learnt in the classroom. By having practical experience right on the classroom doorstep, it made studying much more interactive and interesting.

The experienced teaching staff at TRACC were great and knew how to explain complicated concepts and theories simply. They were always on hand to help and to make studying easier. Completing a 2 year course in 3 months may seem intimidating at first, but with TRACC’s staff full time support this was definitely doable and gave us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves whilst at it.

Studying fringing reefs from the top of a sinking volcano
makes the theory so much more understandable.

Marine science is an interdisciplinary science and this really shows in the curriculum. Topics range from plate tectonics to aquaculture to ecology and this keeps the course interesting and fresh from start to finish. The course goes hand-in-hand with diving and marine conservation - the amount I now know about the world around me while diving has increased dramatically. I’d recommend the course to all divers and volunteers who want to work with the ocean, gain an A level during a gap year or become more knowledgeable divers.

Of course the Marine Science A level also helps understand why TRACC is conserving coral reefs whilst learning more about the environment they are helping to conserve and want to increase their knowledge of the marine world in general. 

I got an A*

 

Tom Class of 2015

More info on the marine science a level at TRACC

Rocky shore studies

What was that called?

The cambridge marine science a level course taught by TRACC is very heavily based on fieldwork.  We like our students to know what an ecosystem, habitat or niche is because they have studied them closely. 

Update Overall results 2015 are awesome plus Tom Gibson was the best marine science student in the world.

These are a few photos of the rocky shore fieldwork practicals, over a couple of weeks, we looked at dessication, zonation, exposure, home range, habitat plusbiodiversity and adaptations.

Studying the tidal poll inhabitants

Other field trips studied Fisheries, Mangroves, Coasts, plus underwater biodiversity and ecology studies.

The 2016 Marine Science A-level will be running from 18th January - 2nd May (following the Cambridge exam timetable). 

For more information, please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org

Mark release recapture studies were used to learn
about Habitat preferences in intertidal organisms

Close study of microhabitats

Elevation is very important for species
living in the intertidal zone

Marine Science A Level at TRACC

Pom Pom Island is just magical

I have to start by saying it was with some trepidation that I decided to take part in the 2014 Marine science course at TRACC. Simply because it had been almost a decade since I had been at school studying. 

Within the first couple of weeks of classes, field trips and studying, my concerns had been replaced with excitement and curiosity. It is after all hard to be stressed on a beautiful remote tropical Island. I can’t think of a more suitable and amazing place to learn about marine science and the wonders of the marine world than the spectacular Pom Pom Island, surrounded by crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. Not to mention an array of sea creatures that are mind blowing.

Blue ring Octopus are common

Nudibranchs are my favourite

 Not only was the content of the course incredibly interesting and well structured, the field trips we were lucky enough to be a part of were amazing adventures.


These field trips included a hike up an extinct volcano to learn about atoll formation, a trek through a muddy mangrove to collect sediment samples and a trip to the local fish markets and docs to better understand fisheries management. Although, best of all was the awesome diving!!! Being able to observe for ourselves, symbiotic behaviour, biodiversity, food webs and much more at Pom Pom’s amazing dive sites, was just incredible.

Not only was the content of the course incredibly interesting and well structured, the field trips we were lucky enough to be a part of were amazing adventures. These field trips included a hike up an extinct volcano to learn about atoll formation, a trek through a muddy mangrove to collect sediment samples and a trip to the local fish markets and docs to better understand fisheries management. Although, best of all was the awesome diving!!! Being able to observe for ourselves, symbiotic behaviour, biodiversity, food webs and much more at Pom Pom’s amazing dive sights, was just incredible.

Fishmarkets

Rocky shore studies

The subject which affected me the most was human impacts on the marine environment. It really takes someone studying the topic to some degree to properly realise the enormity of the impacts we as people have on the marine environment. As shocking and frankly overwhelming as the module is, (covering topics such as; global warming, pollution and ocean acidification), being able to learn about them at a marine conservation centre from people who are actively making a difference, makes you understand how important education is in the fight for a sustainable future on earth.

Snorkel or dive with endangered turtles gives a new meaning to the study of conservation.

By exam time in Kota Kinabalu I was feeling as confident as a person can be before exam time! I may have even left a couple of the exams smiling 

 

All in all, I can honestly say not only was it an amazing experience but it ignited a passion in me and helped me gain confidence in my ability to return to studying even in my late 20’s after a long gap.

I GOT AN A ---  Wohoo

Flic - class of 2014

published on goabroad.com 

More about TRACC study abroad program

The sea is getting warm again

Cool yellow Nudi!

    The past few weeks were not exactly comfortable for diving due to the upwelling of cold seawater ( 24deg C), bad visibility due to the plankton blooms from the nutrients in the upwelling seawater and abundant clouds of zooplankton and strings of juvenile jelly fish. Thank goodness for stinger suits,  :-)  Fun dives were actually not so fun, work dives were typically torturous if we need to stay underwater for a long time (Work is work though, and it needs to be done). 

Giant Nudi!

So you can imagine how grateful we were when we realize the water has become warm this morning. The temperature was pleasurably cool at 27°C, and there was no stinging jelly fish anymore. Water is crystal clear now. On top of that, the sea seems more lively than usual: we saw fish spawning and many colourful nudibranch ^^

The upwelling is great for the Cambridge A level Marine science 9693 students, they have an on the door step example of how physical oceanography, changes the environment and the biology follows suit.  

We have watched offshore winds make the sea millpond calm but distinctly chilly, phyto plankton blooms turn the water green, then copepods eat the phytoplankton, and then clouds of small fish eat the copepods.  The whole food web process was happening in the sea in front of the classroom.   The best bits of course have been the whale sharks which came to eat the zooplankton and small fish.  As I write this there is a huge school of anchovies in the shallows trying to avoid being food for a larger fish by jumpig out of the wate in a shimmering wave.

More info about volunteering with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers 

The Cambridge Marine science A level class 9693 starts mid January each year for exams in May/June.  The course is approximately 12 weeks and leads to a full A level.  All students to 2016 have done really well with amazing grades including the BEST marine science student in the world for 2 yearsw running (2015 & 2016). This course is ideal if you want to boost your qualificatons during a gap year or learn something useful while you travel.  Email info@tracc-borneo.org to find out more or make a booking.

Brunei Road Trip for marine science A level

Fresh catch straight from the boats

This week the TRACC Cambridge Marine Science A-level study team headed South from Tip of Borneo Camp to Kota Kinabalu to Brunei to get some first-hand experience of marine science, fish markets, human impacts and coastal protetion before our upcoming may 2015 exams.

We looked at Fish markets, saw so many species that we could not identify but we now know so much about functional groups and marine ecology that we looked at mouths, teeth body shape and tail shape to determine where each species fits into a food web and how it catches its prey.  We studied human impact vs. marine conservation and saw lots of issues.  In Brunei the amazing coastal erosion protection engineering was all on the agenda. Heading back to camp now to get on with some serious revision. Bring on the books.

Marine science is tiring work...

More info about volunteering with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers

The Cambridge Marine science A level class 9693 starts mid January each year for exams in May/June
.  Email info@tracc-borneo.org to make a booking.



Impromptu coastal erosion and coastal succession lesson



Liz having the time of her life at the wheel 

...and Matteo found a stick. Happy days.

.

Marine Science A Level Fisheries Fieldwork

Parrot fish from coral reef fisheries

The Marine Science A level class had a lot of fun and learnt a lot by being in the environment during fieldtrips.  The students and staff from TRACC had lots of fun doing many practicals in mangroves, rocky shores and underwater on coral reefs. These are some of the images from the Fisheries fieldwork done by the 2015 Marine Science A level class.

UPDATE

One of our students was the Best #Marine #Science #student in the world. What an honour. Congratulations #TomGibson http://goo.gl/mTx4ge 

Huge diversity of fish species

Liz studying a guitarshark

Sorting a purse seine catch
from left - Liz, Gon, Tom, Matti, Kit and Sonny