Rebekah and Stefano participated on the HKU Tropical and Temperate Marine Ecology field course

Stefano and Rebekah have just returned from Australia after participating on the Tropical and Temperate Marine Ecology field course! The field course was introduced 3 years ago by Dr Stefano Cannicci and Dr Bayden Russell with the aim to immerse HKU students in the natural history by exploring the differences in temperate and tropical marine ecosystems. This year, Rebekah was lucky enough to be invited on the course as a demonstrator. The first week exposed 15 HKU students to the temperature rocky shores and mangroves of Sydney before traveling up to the tropical island of Orpheus. Throughout the course, students conducted ecological surveys as well as two independent group research projects! The course had many highlights, topped by snorkelling with whale song on the Great Barrier Reef.

High tide among the roots of Rhizophora apiculata, Pioneer Bay, Orpheus Island

A mangrove whipray, Urogymnus granulatus, hunting in the mangroves at high tide