Portugal Field Course 2015

Berlenga Grand Island is the largest of the Berlengas archipelago, nine miles off the coast of Peniche. In 2011 it was added to the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

We took the ferry across to the island and dropped our bags off at the island’s fort, our home for the night. Then we explored the island from tip to tip, finding many yellow footed gulls and lizards. We enjoyed local sea food at the island’s restaurant before braving the angry gulls and steep paths on the way back to the fort.

 

Peniche has a range of habitats, from the coastal waters to the inland lagoons and woodlands. The students explored the impact of invasive species on species richness of indigenous plants in a variety of places.

 

 

They found that as the density of the hottentot fig (an invasive species in Portugal) increases, then the number of other species decreases.

 

This part of the Portuguese coast is also very famous for its Jurassic fossils, Ross and Charles couldn’t resist some fossil hunting! They were rewarded with crynoids, ammonites and bivalves for their efforts.

 

We were joined by Sofia Silva from The School of Tourism, Marine Science and Technology of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, who made the first ever sound recordings of common dolphins in this area, and helped Ross collect plankton samples. After our mornings on the boat we spent our afternoons using the labs at the university to inspect the plankton samples and even dissect a Blue Shark.

 

     

Our first two days in Peniche were spent on a rigid inflatable boat looking for the common dolphin, and we had fantastic luck, finding a large group a few miles offshore.

 

The first day of the first every Portugal Field Course and Maddie, Jorge, Scarlett, Jade, Charlotte, Darcy, Ellen, Alice and Rebecca are ready!

 

So is Charles (Andre, Sam and Ross were camera shy).

Peniche is a peninsula in Portugal, known world-wide for surfing, but it is also a biodiversity hot spot on the Altantic coast.

After settling in to Peniche hostel, we took a hike around the peninsula and took in the sights.

 

Now it’s a lesson from Andre and Ross on plankton and dolphins before heading out on the boat tomorrow.