Arriving to Fowler’s Bay and a surprise first night trip!

Day 1 of being a scientist all started by waking up at 5 AM for a flight out to Ceduna, on a tiny plane with propellor engines. Upon arrival, our team leaders Andrea and Hannah greeted myself and 4 other visitors, and drove us the next two hours to Fowler's Bay. I’ve never been here before, but it’s true - their sand dunes are massive and the beach is lovely. After pitching our single person tents at the camp ground, we begin to meet some of the cool scientists that we would be working with. From marine life and snakes to caves and plants, they really have a wealth of knowledge.

Although the expeditions don’t start officially until tomorrow, come dinner time I was asked by two of the marine biologists from Flinders University, Sabine and Orlando, if I wanted to join them for an impromptu beach survey to see if we could find any new species. I couldn’t say no to that! So I run back to my tent, quickly chucked on all my field gear, and within 5 minutes we were out on the beach taking core samples in the sunset. Tomorrow we will spend some time on the microscopes to see if we can find any new species in those samples. Fingers crossed!