Kailey - Getting Muddy with Olympia Oysters

Fidalgo Trestle

This past week was all about fieldwork at the trestle site in Fidalgo Bay.  Dr. Dinnel, community and Shannon Point volunteers, along with myself took nearly 600 quadrat samples (1/4 M^2) conducting a survey of live native oysters as well as substrate present.  We gathered data, including oyster measurements, around the original seeding sites as well as along portions of the trestle only accessible during this weeks very low tides.

Pilings that the trestle is built on are counted in sets from the shore out to 100 pilings from the shore, each piling set had 8 samples sites surveyed, one in the very center then at ten foot distances four samples to the north and three samples to the south.  Most sample sites were under water so oysters and substrate were gathered in a bucket and inventoried and recorded at drier ground.  The data gathered this week, along with additional data that we will collect at the next set of low tides, will show how far and densely the oysters have spread on their own and will allow comparison with previous years data.  This years sampling is the largest undertaking yet. 

The tools: pvc 10 foot pole for spacing samples, quadrat, and bucket for collection.

My first day at the site was quite the learning experience.  At one point I went deep into the mud on the north side of the trestle while counting and not paying attention, I got halfway turned around and couldn’t budge my boot nor could I pull it out of the mud balanced on one foot while digging and pulling.  I eventually called Dr. Dinnel over who first asked where the camera was but it was safely in my pocket and not available for embarrassing photos.  He then came over and dug my boot out, it was so stuck that after digging it ¾ of the way out both of us pulling wouldn’t free it.  I ended up balanced on one foot while he dug out my boot for me.  I learned my lesson and only got fairly muddy not completely muddy, pay attention to how far you are sinking in the mud and keep shifting if needed.  Apparently each intern gets one digging out and I was by far not the first who needed rescuing.

 I was surprised by the amount of oil still leaching from the creosote pilings which Dr. Dinnel said are about 100 years old.   It amazes me that people still clam under and near the trestle.  Not only is oil sheen present within rotting pilings but oil is also leaching into the surrounding soil so at times when you walk you release oil and sadly the tide carries it away.


The weather steadily improved throughout the week which was nice and encouraging.   Because the bay is shallow and large the water that remains at low tide is surprisingly warm, during bad weather the water was actually warmer than the ambient air.

Early in the week rain and wind, I'm not a hunchback my backpack is under my coat to stay dry.

Later in the week sun and mud!

An Olympia oyster that settled on an oyster drill.

Kailey - Native oysters and getting to know Shannon Point Marine Center.

My name is Kailey Gabrian-Voorhees and I am a returning college student in the midst of a career change. About three years ago I was working in law and felt very unfulfilled with my career so I decided to do something about it.  The marine world has fascinated me since childhood and after some research I decided to pursue a BS in Marine Biology from Western Washington University. In preparation I attended Whatcom Community College through Spring 2012 in preparation for applying  to WWU.  I was recently accepted into the marine biology program and will begin attending WWU in fall 2012. While at WCC I was lucky enough to have Dr. John Rousseau as a biology instructor who not only served as a great inspiration but also informed me about the COSEE-PRIME summer research internship opportunity.  I jumped at the prospect to get some hands-on experience in my chosen field and was lucky enough to be selected.

I get to spend this summer working with Dr. Paul Dinnel on the restoration of the native Olympia oyster in the Puget Sound and more specifically in Fidalgo Bay.  This project is a collaboration between WWU and the Skagit County Marine Resources Committee, it started some years ago with the goal of creating self-sustaining native oyster beds.  In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 native oyster seed was planted in Fidalgo Bay in several sites and the oysters at what is referred to as the “Trestle Site” have shown good survival and growth.  We will be spending the lowest tides along with volunteers investigating how far the oysters have spread from the original seeding site at the Trestle.


I also spent a few days counting and measuring juvenile oysters in what are known as shell bags (bags full of oyster shells) that were placed in various locations around Fidalgo Bay.  All of this data from Fidalgo Bay will be used to identify possible future sites that may become oyster beds as well as allowing the best possible use of the Trestle site.

 

Above is a shell bag and my tools, below is a juvenile native Olympia Oyster approximately 5 mm.

Dr. Dinnel and myself also collected temperature and salinity sensors at several additional sites around Skagit County that are being considered for native oyster restoration projects.  If the data we retrieve is promising the sites could be seeded in the future as Fidalgo Bay was.

This first two weeks at Shannon Point could not have done more to strengthen my decision to enter the marine sciences.  I learn so much every day!  Along with the two COSEE-PRIME students here there are 9 REU undergraduate students from all over the US, a WWU undergrad, a marine sciences in the arts student from WWU documenting our projects, an AAUS diving intern as well as graduate students from WWU.  I do my best to learn about their projects as well and everyone seems very supportive and willing to help each other with fieldwork and to educate each other in general. 

The faculty and staff here have done an amazing job at making us feel welcome and of introducing us to what Shannon Point has to offer.  We have gotten out onto one of the research vessels twice so far, once we used the ROV to explore, and then we had a marine mammal day where the local orcas were kind enough to make an appearance!  Additionally every Friday we have lunch with faculty, informal meals where usually they tell us how they ended up in marine science, what they study and why followed by a Q&A. Last but not least Shannon Point itself is breathtaking, in addition to the beach we are surrounded by the local deer, rabbits, dragonflies and a pack of coyotes that had quite a few pups this year.  I get more excited to be here every day.

 An orca from J-Pod we were lucky enough to see.

Michaela- Weeks one and two

Hello! My name is Michaela and I am at Hatfield Marine Science Center for my internship with COSEE PRIME. I attend Oregon Coast Community College for my associates degree in Aquarium Science. I just moved to Newport for the Aquarium Science Program in September from Iowa. I learned that I am the first OCCC student to be a COSEE intern, which I thought was odd since the college is so close to HMSC. I found out about the internship by a former graduate of the Aquarium Science Program. I knew I was going to be in Newport for the summer so I applied for the internship.

I work with Leigh Tait on research about ocean acidification impacts on Corallina algae. So far we have done one experiment with two types of Corallina algae, Corallina vancouveriensis and Bossiella orbigniana. We put these algae under a metal halide light and then dark adapt them for a set amount of time so we could measure their recovery rate with a PAM Fluorometer. We determined that the species were similar in recovery rates after doing multiple tests with different times under direct lighting.  The algae also had some kelp, Saccharina spp., attached with their holdfasts on our samples of rocks with the coralline spp. The kelp relies on Corallina to be able to attach to rocks and it was important that we tested the kelp with the fluorometer to see if they were healthy after being placed in a lab for over a week. The results were showing that the kelp was healthy.

After this experiment was over we had to wait for more CO2 to start our next experiments. I went out with grad students from where Leigh works for, PISCO- Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, to do field surveys in Depoe Bay. After a few days working with them Leigh took me out collecting for new samples of Corallina algae. I look forwarded to starting more experiments this week and will update you on what the experiments are that we will be doing.

Tom - A Plethora of Parasites

So week two was spent analyzing more kidney samples in search of the elusive nanophyetus. Bag after bag I scan each specimen carefully. This week the highest count is over three thousand!  I find that I get annoyed when the fish is not infected, and when it is heavily infected I feel elated (even though this is not a good sign for the fish). I guess I'm rooting for the parasites. I wonder if all people studying parasites feel this way or am I getting too deep into this study? Only time will tell.

One of the perks of staying at HMSC is that as an intern we are invited to weekly science seminars. I enjoy these seminars and the discussion that follows. Sometimes issues are brought up that I have previously not considered. This week the seminar was titled “Role of Science in the Political Process”, it discussed some of the issues around how science is delivered to policy makers. One of the points was that as scientists we should record and deliver data but we should not report it as good or bad. The problem comes when someone is dong science with an agenda, or with the purpose of swaying the intended audience.

      I personally have a hard time with this concept because I think as humans we are not capable of not getting involved in our work. Furthermore I don’t necessarily think it is wrong to do so, as long as you are not altering data if it doesn’t fit your cause.

     The issues are much deeper than I care to get into in this blog but my point is that I feel, having these weekly seminars is extremely valuable to me and everyone else as well and we are grateful for the experience.

Next week is the great fish cutting party, where we take a break from the microscope for a few days and join forces to extract samples from fish that have been caught and frozen. This may not sound like fun to some but since I have been processing many of these samples I have an interest in having a hand in another step in the process of gathering data. The sun is shining down on Newport, time to get outside and enjoy it.

Misti - Into The Great Grey Yonder

     It's 3:30 am on June 29th 2012 and I blearily step into the cold, grey dawn. The air smells of brine and is inundated with the night-time noises I generally sleep through. Strapped into my hip waders, rain gear and several shirts, I clamber into a small skiff owned by the USDA with my mentor, Brett Dumbauld and our team-member Jessica. My name is Misti Zerbin, we are in Ocean Park at Willapa Bay for a four day field excursion and it's week one as an intern at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

     The ocean splashes up against my glasses as we bump along the waves in our tiny boat toward our first sample collection site. Today and for the next four days we will be sampling bags of oyster shells that were placed in 25 separate locations to monitor the presence and length frequency of dungeness crabs.

     We are at our first site as the tides run out and our disembark zone is a relatively sandy (with a little mud) intertidal zone replete with oyster beds. The bag sites are entered into a GPS device and  after we have anchored the boat, we pull all our equipment out and start trudging across the tide flats to our first location. Among our equipment we have: two box sieves, two quadrats, two buckets, a small aquarium net, some Ziploc bags, labels, a pencil and some write in the rain paper. With three people carrying the load it is swift and painless and soon we reach our first site.

     The procedure is simple but time consuming. Each loose weave rope bag is full of oyster shells and has been left staked in the muddy sand to collect whatever organisms may use it as habitat. I fling the quadrat down onto the mud with the bag square in the center and proceed to pull up the metal rods that hold the bag in place. The sediment is cool and squishy, permeated strongly with the smell of brine and algae as I squelch to my knees, displacing the mud to each side of my thighs as if parting the red sea. Sitting on my haunches I work methodically, pulling the bag up from the sediment and plunking it into a box sieve. From here, the bag is either untied or slit open with Brett's cherry red pocket knife emblazoned with the red-cross symbol and the contents are dumped unceremoniously into the box. I swiftly dispatch the rope bag and move the box sieve to an area with at least a small amount of water so that I may rinse each shell and check it carefully for crabs.

     My first crab practically  jumps out of the bag as I dump the shells and I scoop it up to be deposited in a gallon sized ziploc baggy. Each crab is somewhere between 6 and 25 mm approximately so they could be easily missed if I am not careful. Once all of the shells have been rinsed and removed from the box sieve, I sift through the remaining sediment for any ninja crabs before returning to where my team-mate, Jessica is working. Whilst I have been diligently searching through shelled opalescence, Jess has been sorting through about 2mm of quadrat sediment that she scooped up bare handed and with her fishing net. She has also found some crabs though not as many--they seem to prefer the shell for their habitat-- and she deposits them into our first specimen sample.

     We move to our second site on the same tidal flat which is further from our now nearly moored boat as the tide continues to swiftly run away from it's resting place and begin the process again. By the end of the first tide we have collected a total of 8 samples and I am absolutely filthy. The next part of our day involves processing the crabs we have collected. We count them, measure their carapace with calipers, record the data and then release the crabs back onto the flats near our lab in Ocean Park. As we sift through the detritus and sediment, I realize that what I thought was just mud and eel grass, is full of organisms that have been accidentally caught up in our crab samples. Long, muddy brown fish known as gunnels with a black stripe down their eye flop erratically, polychaete worms with seemingly a zillion legs wriggle through the mud, tiny translucent shrimp barely visible, lie still in the corner of the sample tray, drills--predatory snails that drill through oyster shells and eat the soft organisms inside--with their tiny pink feet and even hermit crabs which immediately begin to scuttle away, have been captured along with our intended targets.

     Once our crabs have been processed and released, our day is over and we each turn in for a few hours of napping before dinner and then blessed sleep overcomes us before a new day begins. Each day is similar in method but oh so different in experience.  Some of our sites are more mud than sand and require extra time with each step as I drag myself one mud-sucking step at a time to the next bag location. The bouts of rest between each site aboard the sciff are welcome not only for my weary feet but also for the amazing opportunity to observe every ounce of movement in this cornucopia of natural wild-life.

     It is during one of these rest periods that I spot my first flock of Cormorants. Shiny and brownish black, I hear them before I see them. A soft whistling approaches behind me and then suddenly an immense flapping. I spin in my sopping wet swivel seat aboard the boat to witness a shimmering halo of birds. There must be 7 flocks of them. Swooping in two or three rows, they flap tirelessly above the water and are heading straight for me. I watch, fascinated as they lift up enough to fly nearly directly over me in their quest for the north. I find the direction odd and make a note to look into it later only to be surprised by a massive influx of even more Cormorants. I watch as an innumerable amount fly by, hardly deigning to notice one tiny human bobbing on the water. When it is done I realize that this experience alone has made the trip worth every ounce of mud-slogging.

     Cormorants are not the only organisms I am treated to observing over the four days in our small boat: Powerful bald eagles swoop to the surface of the water and fly off with their trophies of fish, blue-grey herons stalk the shallows gracefully only to swoop into the air with a harsh, nearly human scream when startled, harbour seals pop up from under the surface of the water and then seemingly teleport away just as swiftly, terns and gulls flit overhead, oysters spit water at passers-by, sea sponges, clams, fishes, algae, sea grasses, dead man's fingers; each organism holding me mesmerized by it's unique properties.

At the end of our trip, as we pack up to leave I am exhausted and grateful to be heading back toward Newport. I am already looking forward to my next excursion with anticipatory hopes of more observations to add to my internal research notes. I stare up at the pregnant grey-black clouds and through weary eyes find patterns and shapes resembling the organisms I've seen. With a smile, I lean back in the large white truck we are taking to Hatfield, raise my sand-ridden hand to wave goodbye to my first foray into the field and settle in for the long ride back into the great grey yonder.

Sean - Drogues and plankton tows!

Hey, my name is Sean Brown and I recently began attending Southwestern Oregon Community College with plans to become a marine observer.  The first week of my internship has already given me practice in data management, display, and taxonomic identification that will be very important skills as a marine observer.  The importance of coastal marine resources to humans throughout history and the relationship that we have with these resources today has inspired my interest in marine sciences, and I feel very lucky to be living in such close proximity to a diversity of marine habitats and in the presence of so many people who are enthusiastic about their studies or research. 

For my internship I will be working with Dr. Alan Shanks and PHD candidate Marley Jarvis, assisting in Marley’s research on the dispersal of larvae in the near shore and intertidal around Sunset Bay and the effects that local water currents and circulation may have on that dispersal.  Two local phenomena we will be working with specifically are ocean fronts and the processes of upwelling and downwelling.  An ocean front is defined as a “boundary between two distinct water masses”, where the movement of water on either sides of the boundary are in different directions, can be convergent or divergent, influence upwelling and downwelling, and can have differences in salinity, temperature, and density.  The complexity of fronts is fascinating, occurring on small and large scales, and on different time scales with some being short lived whiles others longer.

   To study the local fronts out of Sunset Bay we will be using a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) to measure those three characteristics of the body of water between the front and the coast and the waters outside the front.  The data collected from the CTD can then be displayed as a contour plot, providing a cross-sectional view of the characteristics of that body of water.   Here is an example out of Sunset Bay, with depth in meters and temperature in Celsius.
 

    We will also be using “drogues” and doing plankton tows.  The drogues are best described as underwater kites that can be placed at different depths and attached to a buoy to track the water currents at different depths.  The plankton tows will be done by towing a small net along the front formation and at different depths.  Depending upon the characteristics of a front, suspended material, including plankton, can congregate along the front and often allow them to be identified visually, where a congregation of debris or foam, etc forms a line across the surface, or even a congregation of birds that are there to feed on the plankton suspended along the front.  I’m excited  to learn more about these processes and will try to explain them more in upcoming posts.   There will be more photos to come so you can get a better idea of what this equipment looks like as well as the beautiful coastline I get to spend my days at work.

Forrest - The Adventure Begins

Wow! Where does one begin to talk about their experiences at Shannon Point Marine Center?   Do you first talk about the research that's been done here and what my research entails or do I talk about the differences I observed between Western science and Native Environmental Science?  There are so many aspects to go over.

 For the first week I find myself observing the various researches going  here at Shannon Point.  The dedication to seeing the effects we are having on our planet with the pollution we are creating everyday in the form of CO₂.   Mainly the cause of ocean acidification and the changing of the pH in the ocean, this is not also including other bodies of water throughout the world.  Water being sacred to many indigenous cultures through the world is also the main element for the survival of life on this planet.  In reality we are experiencing many of the effects of carbon dioxide  we are making on our planet.  With the ever changing weather patterns throughout the globe, causing drought to effect some regions of the world and others like here in the Northwest having an abundance of rain fall but lacking warmer temperatures during the Summer months.

It is easy to see this happening just by observing our world and areas we come from but it is doing the research to prove that this is not just a pattern in the weather but that we are having a great impact on the survival of our planet.  By doing research we are able to predict what will happen in the coming years and give a possible solution to the problem but it is through scientific data we can change the minds of the few that see things in a different light.  It is removing the ignorance from the part of society that is only looking at things in a short sighted manner and not in a long range viewpoint.  From a Native American perspective we believe that our generation has to think ahead for the next seven generations.  What kind of world are we leaving for our children and future generations?

Being the first student from Northwest Indian College to have the honor to attend Shannon Point Marine Center is a huge honor in itself.  But it is the work that needs to done, starts here for me.  Being surrounded by the beauty of the landscapes and seascapes of the San Juan Islands is incredible but making sure that we can hold on to such a beautiful world to be shared for generations.

Keira - A whole lot of larvae (Week 1)

My name is Keira Roberts. I have been a student at Portland Community College for the last 2 years and will be starting at Lewis and Clark College in the fall. I am planning to pursue a course of study in chemistry and, eventually, a career in research. I applied for PRIME in order to learn more about the research options in the marine sciences. I’ve really enjoyed the research experience I’ve had in the past and have been looking forward to learning more about how research is perfumed in different fields. I am also excited about being able to do some fieldwork as a part of scientific research. This summer, I’ll be working with George von Dassow through the COSEE-PRIME internship program. In just the first week, I’ve learned how to perform a variety of tasks and use new equipment (like the camera- microscope that I used to take the pictures). Also, I already been out on a boat to dredge for sand dollars and gone to mudflats to gather Nemertean worms.

This week, I learned how to harvest sperm and eggs from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (purple sea urchin), Micura alaskensis (local ribbon worm), Patiria miniata (local sea star), and Dendraster excentricus (sand dollar). I have fertilized and raised the larva of each species mentioned here. These freshly fertilized zygotes grow from one cell into two, then four, then a blastula (hollow ball of cells), then further stages of larval development. After a few hours, the larvae have grown cilia and digestive systems. It is truly amazing to watch their rapid development and see firsthand the characteristics unique to each.

This photograph shows two Dendraster excentricus zygotes within a few minutes of fertilization. The darkish circle in the center is the oocyte, or egg. The clear circle surrounding it is the fertilization envelope, which prevents more than one sperm from fertilizing the oocyte. The pink dots surrounding each oocyte are pigment cells embedded in the oocyte’s jelly-like coating. 

My project for this summer will be to study the ability of Dendraster excentricus larva to repair wounds.  I’ll use a laser to shoot off one of their “arms,” pictured below. Then, I’ll study the rate at which the larvae are able to heal their limbs. The ability of larvae to self-repair is remarkable; they are able to repair major damages quickly and develop normally afterward. This study has the potential to further our understanding of wound healing in other eukaryotes; the process of cellular repair is remarkably similar in a variety of organisms. These larvae are useful to study because we can fertilize a great number of them with relative ease and because they heal and grow in a very short period of time. 

This photograph shows a Dendraster excentricus larva about 5 days after fertilization.

Chris - Of Pilidia, Microscopes, and Crows

Welcome to my blog! My name is Chris Cohen, and I am a student at Mt. Hood Community College. I will be transferring to Oregon State University for Fall Term 2012.

I am interested in marine science because the ocean holds a staggering diversity of organisms, all with various sizes, shapes, colors, and behaviors. Moreover, an even greater array of species are likely to be discovered as scientists probe the vast, unexplored depths. I am greatly interested in learning from and participating in this endeavor as a research scientist. Consequently, I decided to apply for PRIME because I felt that this internship would be instrumental in providing me experience in scientific research, determining my career path, and funding my transfer to OSU. 

I will be residing and working at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), a marine research center associated with the University of Oregon (UO).  I will be interning with Dr. Svetlana Maslakova, an Associate Professor with the UO and an expert on Nemerteans (otherwise known as ribbon worms). I will be studying the development of the ciliary bands in pillidium larvae, particularly those of the heteronemertean species Micrura alaskensis. Pilidia are the larval form unique to the taxonomic group Heteronemertea. They are shaped somewhat like like hats with two ear-flaps. The ciliary band runs along the edge of these ear-flaps, and helps the larvae move and feed. 

In my first week, I've already learned how to extract the gametes from species like M. alaskensis and Dendraster excentricus (a local sand dollar). I've also learned how to fertilize these species,  raise their larvae, and feed them. In addition, I'm developing skills related to microphotography, fixation (=killing) of larvae, the application of fluorescent antibody labeling, and confocal microscopy.

In my spare time, I've been exploring some of the great beaches and parks Charleston has to offer. I've already seen a lot of beautiful scenery and fascinating animals, and I'm excited for what I'll discover in the coming weeks!

Cape Arago

                                                  

A juvenile American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Note the blue eyes and pink mouth lining.

Thomas - Parasites and More Fun!

Thomas Stinson here to give you a brief overview of who I am and what I am doing here at Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC). I am a current student at Rogue Community College (RCC). Having completed my two years of pre-requisites I am preparing to transfer to OSU in the fall in pursuit of a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science. After completing the biology series at RCC I applied to the COSEE PRIME internship program to work with Dr. Kym Jacobson on parasites and their effects on juvenile salmon in the Pacific Ocean. Much to my delight I was accepted!

The study that I am working on with Dr. Jacobson focuses on one particular parasite that goes by the name of Nanaphyetus salmincola. Infection by this parasite has been proven to have negative effects on the health of Salmon and some mammals. One of the interesting facts about this parasite is that it is drawn to the posterior end of the kidney in the salmon, which is where we are studying it in this case. My part in this study (so far) is to examine that section of kidney of the collected Salmon which were captured in the estuary using a purse seine.

The posterior half of the kidney from the captured fish is preserved by freezing in whirlpak bags for later analysis. I thaw the specimens and analyze them for infection.

This is done by placing the kidney between two plates of glass and examining them under a 100X dissecting microscope. Identifying the metacercariae (encysted worms) can be difficult to distinguish from bubbles and other contaminants at first but with practice and good instruction I am getting pretty good.  Some of the specimens have no metacercariae, some have one or two. To date the most I have found on a single specimen is 1526. The below is a picture taken through the eye piece of the microscope zoomed in on one square cm. Inside each of the spheres is one worm.

 That’s it for now; I have plenty of samples to analyze and hopefully more exciting parasite news to come. 

Welcome PRIME 2012!

Hello everyone,

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all of the 2012 PRIME interns and introduce the two interns at Western Washington University's Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC) in Anacortes, WA. Kailey Gabrian-Voorhees will be working with Dr. Paul Dinnel on native oyster restoration in Puget Sound. She comes to us from Whatcom Community College and will be attending Western Washington University in the fall.  Forrest Callaghan is working with Dr. Jude Apple (hey, that's me!) and will be investigating the effect of climate change and ocean acidification on plankton communities in the Salish Sea. Forrest is pursuing a degree in Native Environmental Science at Northwest Indian College. 

Our happy PRIME interns are pictured below.

I look forward to hearing from everyone and reading your posts over the course of the summer. Best of luck with your projects.

Jude