Author: sclougheed (Page 2 of 2)

Maleeka, Sean, Chey, Sierra

Experiential Learning Where the Land Meets the Sea

Today started early with a quick breakfast and pink sunrise at 5am, before heading down to a beachside marina in downtown Ubatuba. The swell was big in Ubatuba harbor, but our guides managed to shuttle all of us out to large anchored catamaran that was to be our travelling field station for the day. On our sail out of Ubatuba harbor, our guides talked about the infra-, meso-, and supralittoral zones (the zoning above, transitioning in, and below the water in intertidal zones respectively) in reference to the shores we cruised past. We observed mussel farms and learned about the threats of human-caused contaminants like petrol and risks of red tide in the area (due to high productivity). Our guides described the protective effects of the continental shelf reaching 200 miles off the Brazilian coast that buffers any big weather episodes, such as typhoons. As the trip went on, a brown booby (Sula leugastor) flew directly over our boat and our guide described its particularly adept diving abilities. Magnificent frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) circled over the harbor, looking for other seabirds from which to steal their catch. Flying fish skipped in near sight.

We spent much of the afternoon at Îsle des Couves (“Collard Green Island”), the beaches of which previously were open to the public but were restricted due to misuse by tourists and multitudinous visitors. The diminished human impact since then, (and since previous centuries of local habitation), have benefited the ecological and community composition of the locality. However, bottom trawlers, such as one we passed, continue to wreak havoc on the ocean floor and threaten the diversity of this archipelago, and are additionally a big source of mortality for sea turtles.

We anchored the catamaran, and while some of our guides prepared a magnificent spread of grilled soy meat, fresh octopus, and fresh fish (gotten from a nearby fishing boat), we explored the rocky bottom between the islands. The shelter from the open ocean gave rise to a magnificent diversity of corals, fish (such as mackerel and sergeant major), and urchins that we observed near the shore with scuba gear and a paddle board. Some of our group were even graced with the sight of a young sea turtle and stingray!

The second island we visited by was Îsle de Prumirin, where we quickly swam a lap between the catamaran and the sand. On the return to Ubatuba harbor, our guides and Rute broke out into song, Demonios da Garoa, a popular traditional Saõ Paulo song playing over the ships radio. It was delightful to see them come together over this cultural touchstone and provide us with a little sample of Brazilian music in the process. A royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) dove and resurfaced periodically in the distance. A little sunburnt and a lot more knowledgable, we returned to Núcleo Santa Virginia where the station cooks prepared soup and pumpkin dessert flavoured with clove.

By Allen Tian

Our flight ended at 10:15 PM on Monday, February 17th, 2020, at Guarulhos-Sao Paulo International Airport, crossing two time zones and 99 degrees of latitude, and after some of the heaviest turbulence I had ever experienced over the Atlantic Ocean.

Sao Paulo is one of the largest cities in the Americas, with a metropolitan population over 20 million. The capital of Sao Paulo state and situated on the Tropic of Cancer, Sao Paulo is city with the highest cost of living in Brazil, at 102 compared to Prague (the city with the median cost of living in the world). Our transit to Parque Estuadual da Serra do Mar was a 211 km drive, in two 15 person vans and a rented Fiat. A third of the way to our field station, we stopped at the city of Sao Jose dos Campos (population of 500 000), for Brazilian Reals, lunch and sim cards at the Vale Sul Shopping Mall. After a 3 hour stop (due to some difficulties obtaining sim cards), Professors Lougheed and Carvalho left us to get groceries for the next few days, and we departed for Nucleo Santa Virginia at approximately 3 PM with several thousand reals in our pockets.

The trip to Nucleo Santa Virginia was an astonishing transition from Sao Paulo suburbia, farmland, reclaimed farmland, and finally old growth coastal forest. Not only an ecological transition, we went the affluent regions of Sao Paulo to some of the poorest areas of Brazil, where workers can earn under 10 reals a day (approximately $3.5 CAD). The Nucleo Santa Virginia field station was just as Hayden imagined, with high, sloping roofs that have half hollow tubes in the roof in the cabins. The field station is situated 3 km from highway 383, on a rough road reminiscent of QUBS. Nucleo Santa Virginia is one of several conservation zones that stretch from south of Sao Paulo to past Rio de Janeiro in the north, covering over 17 500 hectares in the Vale do Paraiba. This includes the cities of Sao Luiz do Paraitinga, Natividade da Serra, Cunha, Ubatuba and Caraguatatuba. The rugged terrain here is home to fragments of the once mighty Atlantic Coastal Forest, low rising coastal mountains and lots of waterfalls, leading to heavy tourism. This was reflected in the heavy traffic in highway 383 and SP-125, despite their remoteness and distance from Sao Paulo). Interestingly, Brazilian highways have different speed limits for different vehicles. Interestingly, our road had a limit of 110 km/h for light vehicles and 90 km/h for heavy vehicles.

After arriving at the field station at approximately 6:30, we checked in. I conducted a drone flight after obtaining permission from the staff, and we settled in and explored our surroundings until our professors arrived with food after an arduous ride, at approximately 8:30. We then had dinner and ended our day with a debriefing.

We convened at Pearson at 4:00 pm and made our way through security and US customs – then to the dingy gate F99 whence these photos were taken.

We are en route to São Paulo via Washington DC Dulles airport.

Waiting for flight to Sao Paulo in Dulles International Airport.