In case you weren’t able to identify the one student that we almost lost in the mudflats, here he is getting stuck deeper and deeper in the mud…
And here is Chris unstuck (and bootless!)…
Below are a few images from a light microscope (100x magnification) of mud samples taken at the surface of the mudflat:
Note the benthic diatoms – a few were still alive and would have been living on the surface of the mudflat, but most are just the empty frustules (glass cases).
And samples from about 25 cm deep in the mudflat:
Similar sized particles but no diatoms to be seen in the deep samples.
Pearson College Marine Science 