Daily Mud: Quiet but active on the Western Front

So what's been happening in the dirt of Bang Lang Da? There's been a lull in the MSc report writing process as a first draft has been submitted to the supervisor. While the comments are eagerly anticipated, the free time and good tides have been used carefully.

A sample of 15 plants from both the two test planting plots (green signs) have been labeled and measured. These are plots where propagules are dibbled into the existing pond floor, rather than on a hill, to allow growth comparisons.

Hill E's Ceriops tagal has burst into life and the Ceriops is leafing nicely. As has Hill L's Bruguiera cylindrica.But the main work has been a lot of digging to widen and deepen Channel 2, including 2C (blue signs). This is tricky work as working low down on the site near the sluice gate means that water is flowing over where the digging is being done the whole time. Digging underwater is difficult. It's heavier work and hard to gauge which bits of the channel bottom need further excavation. So it needs a low tide, when the pond has had time to drain, and no rain. Yesterday there was hard rain for a significant part of the afternoon, so the attention was focused on widening the whole of 2c.