Each of us has a clipboard with examples of fish and flora we expect to spot along the river and data collection charts for the research. We are to write down our observations as we travel along the ox bow to the main channel. We are told to report our observations. From now on, if we see anything unusual, we are supposed to tell everyone else to look at it. That's what this is all about, I learn.
Cattle graze along the banks.
There is no plant obstruction in the water, but along the banks the plant growth in wild, irregular, with few trees. A huge mound, like a hill, borders the water on one side. On the mound there is grass, but little else. The mound is the bottom of the river, dredged years ago, now part of the landscape. Nichola moves us all to the center of the boat and uses a long pole to reach a weathered rope hanging from an ancient-looking piling.