I loved the field trip to Ding Darling. That was my first
time in Sanibel and I honestly fell in love with the community. On the bus ride
over, we got to see the polluted water of Sanibel which is something that has
been talked about in the media but also in our class. First, coming into the
welcome center I, thought it was fun that they had the interacting games but I really
enjoyed the informational show that we watched. Learning about Ding Darling,
the preserve, and the stamp-making contest, I was able to see the progression
from past and it working to sustain the future. I liked seeing and learning
about the mangroves. I thought it was funny how we were talking about the small
crabs on the mangroves and we would point them out one by one, then we started
noticing there were loads of them in the trees. I enjoyed looking at the
mullet, jumping out of the water while we started talking about the birds. Seeing
all the birds together reminded me of the scene of the notebook. Of course, seeing
the great white pelican and knowing that it was a rare spotting coming from Africa
was amazing. The fact that one of our classmates was on the news talking about
the historic event, was awesome. To end it off by seeing the alligator was
great experience. The only downfall would be the heat in the bus and not
bringing any lunch. I think I would visit another preserve in the future and
maybe go kayaking or canoeing. I thought it was very relaxing and a great way
to disconnect for a while. It relates back to our discussion on land ethics by
showing how places preserve their land, the animals that find homes in these
places, and the plants that flourish there. I thought it was so interesting that
the habitat was not even affected by the water contamination, they habitat was
its own little world.
