Oceans

BY Alyce Ballard

When going to the beach or a wetland area, you begin to think everything is just water nothing interesting because all there is to see may be a smooth or ripply surface of water but there is so much more!

you can learn the most exciting facts about sea life.

And sea plants, maybe all you see is water but inside are amazing and lovely adventures.

Did you know sealife is a big part of the food chain? just stop to think if a bluecrab eats zooplankton and all the zooplankton die then the bluecrab die, striped bass who eat bluecrab will also die, well now you see that if one thing dies then another will to so always take care of our Oceans.

Natural Wonders of Camp Baldwin

By Krysta Denzer

On Thursday, March 17th, the first group of students arrived at Camp Baldwin for the Estuary Life program. What they experienced for the next day and a half were the natural wonders of Camp Baldwin, and of the Alabama Gulf Coast area in general. I would like to share with you some of what these students encountered.

Day One

Instructor Billy (right, yellow bandana) teaches students about animal tracks.

Raccoon prints and a human hand print.

Young leaves on a wild grape vine.

The small grapes make a tasty snack for raccoons.

Students struggle to align themselves according to their birth dates--without

touching the ground. Meanwhile, an unidentified bug crawls around nearby.

Mussels cling to roots at the water's edge. Many creatures enjoy

prying the shells loose, breaking them open, and eating the insides.

Camp Baldwin lies on Wolf Bay, at the tip of southern Alabama. The local environment is an estuary, a body of water partly enclosed, with at least one stream or river flowing into it, and with an open connection to the sea (or, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico). Basically, an estuary is where the freshwater rivers and streams meet the larger bodies of saltwater. Ideal habitats for young aquatic life, estuaries serve as the nurseries of the sea. The Wolf Bay ecosystem is rich in life, both under the water and on land.

Sunset at Camp Baldwin.

Day Two

The Cyrus King surrounded by morning fog, about 6:45 am.

Many types of flowers bloom on the Camp Baldwin grounds.

Signs of Spring

By Brianna B Signs of Spring 2011

Lovely Azaleas blooming and glowing a beautiful Pink

Mustard Seeds

By Krysta Denzer

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move." - Matthew 17:20, NIV

We've all heard about faith the size of a mustard seed. But just how small is a mustard seed? Well, take a look at the photo below. And the photos below that. The tiny green dots are the mustard seeds. The larger spirals were once part of the seed pods.

Plants in the mustard family have four-petaled flowers with six stamens, four tall and two short. The seed pods form a raceme, a growth pattern which resembles a spiral staircase wrapping around the plant's stem. Some of the plants can grow to the size of a shrub or small tree.

"He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.'" - Matthew 13:31-32, NIV

"And the Lord said, 'If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, 'Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea'; and it should obey you.'" - Luke 17:6, KJV

"Nothing will be impossible for you." - Matthew 17:20, NIV

Let us thank the Lord for His grace and mercy towards us.