DALYAN ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD TRIP
15-20 JUNE 2016
As a group of seven IB HL Biology students and two
members of staff, we had spent 6 wonderful days in
Dalyan working with student-teachers from Bilkent
University - Graduate School of Education. The
purpose of the trip was to observe Dalyan which is
an environmentally protected area, hosting rarely
found blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and sea turtles
(Caretta caretta). During the trip, students carried
out activities including water flow measurements and
calculations, water quality tests (phosphate, nitrate,
salinity, pH, temperature, turbidity), estimation of bluecrab
population by capture-mark-release-recapture
method and bird-watching in Dalyan River and Köyceğiz
Lake. Also we had an adventure by walking through the
Saklıkent Gorge, visiting the Turtle Sanctuary - viewing
turtles in the rehabilitation centre, turtle observations
at night while nesting and the turtles laying their eggs,
and visiting to Akropolis. On the last day of the trip, the
students conducted a survey on the impact of tourism
on the town of Dalyan with the people who live in the
area and the tourists and surprised with the answers.
By the holistic approach, they had a chance to interpret
Dalyan ecosystem by taking all the perspectives including
ecological and economical aspects into consideration.
The students worked very hard, putting in long hours but
gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience in
this beautiful surrounding by having fun.
BIOLOGY
DEPARTMENT
THE CLAPPER 2016 - 2017 65