Final Week! Presentations and Papers:

It is presentation and paper week, all of the research and field work from last week is coming together in one final day. Families, friends, scientists, and past professors are back to see what we have been able to see what we could accomplish on our own. For many groups this week has been a lot of data entry calculations and writing. Coming back from last week’s research, each student had to write a 5-page research paper on what study they conducted the previous week. As well as the paper, each group had to make a 15-minute presentation of the project with their group. With those two things being the only thing needed to be done during the week the week work for most of us was writing our paper with a rough draft due Wednesday. Then after rough drafts were in we would have Wednesday and Thursday to work on the presentation and any final changes for our paper. Then Friday was the accumulation of all of our work.  

Lucy, Kaylie, and Stephanie getting Friday started
with the first presentations

Here we can see the first presenters of the day Lucy, Kaylie, and Stephanie. They kicked off Friday with an awesome presentation about the work they have been doing about sea urchin feeding preference. There were three presentations the first half of the day. Then a little lunch break and then the final four presentations.

Here we can see Taylor help with
 the final lab clean up

Looking at the past 10 weeks I know that all of us have made many new lasting friendships and memories. There was so much that everyone has seen and experienced from living out at Hatfield. Having all of us living so close and spending every week together definitely created an atmosphere where of growth and more importantly fun with learning. Learning under some of the best instructors in their area of marine biology has been a blast. Not many students are lucky enough to have a such a caring and involved group of instructors and assistants. I can speak for everyone when I say thanks to all of our professors, grad students, and everyone else who made this term as amazing as it was. 

Corin and Ginger in the office.

It’s projects week – everyone has been working tirelessly in the lab, field and library to slowly expand our collective understanding of nature. We have all been focused on our final projects and we have no scheduled class to distract us. On our own or in small groups we are working on varied projects that include sea urchin and gastropod feeding experiments, trapping European green crab and investigating shell preference in hermit crabs.

Mussel beds at Yachats Beach, one of our study sites. Cormorants and
 other seabirds are visible further back.

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science."
-Edwin Powell Hubble

My group have spent many hours in the field this week to survey the invertebrate communities in tide pools. We want to know if mobility is an important factor in allowing species to live in the high intertidal zone where they will be subject to warmer water, lower dissolved oxygen concentrations, and reduced access to open water for releasing their sperm and eggs. We reasoned that mobile species might be able to jump ship and change tide pool if their home gets too warm or begins to dry out. Sessile organisms that are fixed to the rock do not have that luxury and so we expect to see fewer mussels, anemones and barnacles in tide pools in the high intertidal compared to lower tide pools that are submerged for longer each tide. Larger tide pools are presumably less stressful and so we think we will find that sessile organisms are more common in the larger tide pools that we surveyed. A few more hours of data preparation and analysis and we will know if our suspicions were correct. We are eager to see the results of our analysis and find out if our data do show the trends that we expect to find.

Grant and co. employing the transect-quadrat method
that we learnt from Prof Menge in the ecology section.

Grant's group noticed a pattern in the distribution of algae in the high intertidal - Pelvetiopsis and Fucus both inhabit the high intertidal, but Pelvetiopsis is consistently found higher up and their distributions don't appear to overlap. They went to Boiler Bay, Strawberry Hill, Seal Rock and Tokatee Klootchman to do community surveys and they ran small experiments in the lab to measure how gastropod feeding rates and water retention differ between the two species. It looks like Pelvetiopsis is more vulnerable to drying out than Fucus so their must be other factors that maintain their current distribution.

Gastropod feeding experiments with limpets and snails.

Students in our class have seen whales, brown pelicans, harbour seals, sea lions and a pod of orcas in the field this week. Thankfully the weather has been excellent and so while everyone has been working hard this week has still been rather idyllic. 

Marine Conservation and Policy

Docks in Yaqunia Bay

The week began with a lecture from Sarah Henkel on the current state of fisheries, from there we packed in the vans and headed to the Bayfront. We met up with Laura Anderson, the owner of Local Ocean Seafoods, who took our class on a dock walk with one of her new servers. She explained how the restaurant selects sustainable seafood as well as talking to some l
ocal fisherman about the methods they utilize to catch crab, salmon, and shrimp. Afterwards we enjoyed our classmates company and a delicious lunch at Local Ocean. We returned to the classroom later that afternoon for two more lectures on new technology in fisheries and a brief overview of seabirds.

Sarah Henkel and Paul Engelmeyer at Cape Perpetua sharing

information with the class.

On Tuesday we went to the beautiful Cape Perpetua state park and met with Paul Engelmeyer, the Ten Mile Creek Sanctuary manager. He talked to us about the processes involved in Conservation policy from his vast experience working for the Audobon society. We talked a lot abut the connection between the land and sea and how conservation of the coastal lands can greatly benefit the ocean and the organisms in it. It was very interesting to see monitoring work carried out by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Salmon in the rivers. They are carrying out research on the salmon that are heading towards the ocean to check on how healthy their populations are, this salmon research plays an important role in fisheries management and this species are also important for the ecosystem. As well as talking and learning about practical conservation issues we also went for a lovely walk in the forest, through the old growth and had a picnic lunch by the creek in the sun.

Small fish caught in the fish trap in the stream

On Wednesday we had a day full of lecture, two of which were related how we can utilize the ocean, such as offshore aquaculture and renewable energy. We had a class discussion about science, policy and ethics, there were a wide variety of topics covered. This was an interesting discussion since many opinions were brought to the table for instance how scientists can communicate research to the public. The rest of the day was dedicated to work time on our group project on conservation and management.

Thursday consisted of presenting the conservation and management projects. Each group discussed the background and possible solutions for their topic for instance the Arctic Ocean, invasive species, and whaling.

Friday we met with Sarah Henkel, Sue Sponaugle, Sally Hacker, Vanessa Constant, and Chenchen Shen in order to discuss our final research projects and from this discussion we created our proposals.

We started Monday with the fiery glow of data tabulations and analyses in our eyes. After the fire burnt out we enjoyed a special guest lecture by Sarah Gravem, Bruce's semi-new but super awesome post-doc. Her lecture detailed the interactions between two predatory sea stars, Leptasterias hexactis and Pisaster ochraceus, interacting with Tegula funebralis (black turban snail).

Following Sarah's presentation Bruce gave an insightful lecture on diversity and stability in marine communities. During which, we learned about Bruce's "buns model," a combination of two intermediate hypothesis, disturbance and predation. This model shows the general trend that when disturbance is low predation is important in determining community structure. When disturbance is high it determines the structure. After this final community ecology lecture we rekindled the flames of data analysis till the nudibranchs came home.

On Tuesday, energy was at an all time low, every group was working diligently on their presentations and data reports for the entire day. Exciting!

Wednesday began with putting the finishing touches on our presentations. The first group, mid-high community structure examined upwelling along the coast combined with bathymetry may have led to bottom-up controls effecting the primary cover of sessile organisms at Strawberry Hill and Boiler Bay. The second group, low zone community structure looked at the richness and distribution between exposed and protected areas of the two sites. The next group focused on sea star wasting disease (SSWD). They concentrated on symptoms of SSWD and how SSWD has affected this years cohort, including the abundant recruits. Last but not least, group four fixated on the size of feeding whelks and compared the proportion of whelks feeding between zones (low, mid, high). 

After a refreshing two hours of sleep we were ready to continue our cramming sessions for our 2pm exam. Did we emerge victorious? I'll let you decide from this picture.

Our TA Chenchen Shen and the "infamous" Bruce Menge.

Following our relaxing 12 hour break between Community Ecology and the beginning of Marine Conservation and Policies on Friday, we enjoyed delving into Sarah Henkel's world. At first, Sarah's world seemed like a place where the oceans will never recover and hell has frozen over. We learned progress has been made towards protecting the oceans that provide so many ecosystem services to humanity. There's even been some really cool work done in Oregon to protect a 0.5 km squared speck of ocean near Otter Rock. At the end of lecture we paired up and took on conservation topics we were interested in.

Let the fun commence: Community Ecology

Monday morning was a late start, as we all enjoyed a beautiful day off.

Learning how to do the transect
quadrat method at Yaquina Bay.

Tuesday was the first day of the community ecology section, with the infamous Dr. Bruce Menge. We were introdu

ced to the section and had our first lecture on community structure and dynamics. We also had our first fieldtrip to Yaquina Bay where we learned how to do the transect quadrat method. The evening concluded with a special guest lecture from Elizabeth Cerny-Chipman talking about keystone predator loss.

Wednesday started out with another lovely lecture discussing biotic interactions and community structure. We partook in the weekly adventure to donuts down the hall as a quick study break, then resumed with the learning of biotic modification in communities. This transitioned to a special lecture highlighting the symptoms and ecology of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) in the Pacific Northwest. The exact cause is still unknown, however we learned the possible causes of SSWD could be due to warming ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, hypoxia, and the densovirus. In t

his presentation we also learned of the six symptoms a sea star can experience if suffering from the wasting disease, as well as its severe impact on the sea star population within the last three years.

A juvenile Leptasterias found at Yachats Beach.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Thursday was a beautiful and dark morning, as it was the first of three mornings to begin at 5 a.m.! We split up into two groups, and set off into the foggy and dark intertidal. At Tokatee Klootchman and Yachats Beach, groups of two went around and put our skills to the test as we identified and measured species of sea stars using transect tape and quadrats. Two people at each site went around and surveyed as much of the intertidal as possible looking for signs and symptoms of SSWD. After three hours in the field those who were with Chenchen at Yachats Beach went to the Green Salmon for some delicious well deserved coffee and breakfast! Once back at Hatfield we had a leisurely long break with some data entry before returning to lecture to learn about complex community interactions. Later that day we had guest lecture from Alissa Rickborn who educated us about sponges and ocean acidification, which was pretty neat. We ended the night with some delicious Mexican food that was made with love by Ginger and Riley!

Early morning at Boiler Bay
doing the transect quadrat method.

Friday was another grueling and early start, but we still arrived and did it for science! This day we were at Boiler Bay and conducted quadrat transect data collection. We ventured out to the furthest exposed bench and worked quickly to beat the incoming tide. While we were working some pretty cute s

eals kept us company. We worked diligently for four hours and we saw a whale off in the distance, so our progress was slowed slightly in awe. Once we returned to Hatfield we had another stimulating lecture on recruitment patterns. We continued to work on data entry in preparation for the group projects. We ended the evening with Barbara Spiecker’s presentation on coral reef meta-ecosystems that was thoroughly enjoyed by the entire class.

Beautiful views over Boiler Bay on Thursday brightened
the students' spirits.

You would think that Saturday was a day to sleep in and wake up refreshed. But no! This was the final day of departure at 5 a.m. We explored Strawberry Hill and continued transect quadrat experiments. After three hours in the field we returned to enjoy a quick break before we had another lecture on variation in marine communities. The day continued with more entering and cleaning of data. As the long week came to end, all the students groaned as we realized there was only one day left to enjoy the weekend before Monday morning came around.

Foggy morning at Strawberry Hill with beautiful views again.

Monday morning’s 6:00am wake up call came early as we ventured to Boiler Bay to explore more marine algae, observe wave exposure and elevation gradients in the intertidal, and collect specimens for our group projects. Most of the field trip was spent walking around with Annette who pointed out common taxa of algae and patterns to take note of.

Back at Hatfield we had a couple lectures on brown and red algae and continued our species IDs with dichotomous keys in the lab. In the evening after lab, student groups met with Annette to discuss group field studies to be conducted the next day. We were asked to design an observational study on one of the assigned phyla/groups of algae: green algae, brown algae (not including kelps), coarsely branched reds, branched red blades, non-branched red blades, and filamentous/finely branched reds.

After group ‘tank talks’, we had a lovely guest speaker, Allie Barner, inform us more about the life history and reproduction of sea palm kelp.

Tuesday morning we put our plans into action at Boiler Bay working in independent groups studying algae species such as Cladophora columbiana for the green group and Phaeostrophion irregulare for the browns. Some groups set up transects, worked with quadrats, and some studied tide pools. A lecture on Rhodophyta and species IDs in the lab followed our field trip on Tuesday. We ended the day with an excellent guest lecture from Chris Langdon who let us taste dulse!

Wednesday was dedicated finishing the ten species ID sheets and preparation for our team presentations in the lab Wednesday evening. The presentations included results from the field studies, specimens of 5 common species of each team’s phyla/group of algaes, pressed specimens, and species cards for that were intended to teach other students ways to identify the species based on characteristics visible in the field and/or in the lab. One person from each group remained at their team station while other group members, Annette and Miram cycled around the lab appreciating the demos.

            After the long night in the lab during group presentations, the students returned in the morning to the classroom for one final lecture on the ecological importance of marine algae. After the lecture, they went back to the lab to set up the stations again for another review session. They walked around from group to group asking additional questions and jotting down information they felt would be important for the upcoming exam. The students spent most of the morning on their own, reviewing lecture material and studying the algae species in the lab. The afternoon consisted of a group review session and then the rest of the day was independent study time. Little sleep was had that night as the students stayed up trying to memorize the names of all the important algae species and the other important information such as ecology and life history. Friday began with high stress levels and low energy. The students took their lecture exam in the morning, had a lunch break to cram final bits of information into their brains and then completed a lab practicum in the afternoon. The air was filled with relief as the students finished the algae section and welcomed a long 3-day weekend! Thanks to Annette and Miram for teaching us about the wonderfully diverse marine algae on the North Pacific coast!

All About Algae!

Week 4 began, and so did the studying.  The marine fishes section was coming to an end on Tuesday, so Monday was full of studying and the last couple of lectures.  One of these lectures was an interesting guest lecture by Marisa Litz on salmon ecology. We learned about the complexity of salmon’s life cycle as they go from the river to the sea and back.  Tuesday came about, and so did the test, which passed by without any hiccups.  The marine algae section began Thursday morning with Annette Olson.   We jumped right into algae section with multiple lectures and lab demos, allowing us to try our hands at dichotomous keys.  The most fun part of the day was learning to press algae.  They turned out beautifully and show various parts of the morphology.  

Lucy's seaweed pressing

 Friday started nice and early at 6:15 am with a mini lecture before our first algae field trip to Seal Rock.  Unfortunately, the weather was not the best, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves.  Annette showed us many species and how their distribution varies among micro-habitats.  Some algae are able to grow in more exposed areas, while others need a more protected area to grow.  Seal Rock is a dynamic habitat with micro-topography everywhere from the sand swept rocks to the beach. This allows for the algae to fill very complex and unique niches. We came back to class and learned all about green, brown, and red algae.  To teach us about brown kelp, Annette showed us various dried and pressed specimens.

Class listening to Annette

Brittney and Annette collecting algae

First set of students sorting their final catch on the boat.

The morning broke, and as the first brave set of greenhorns awoke and prepared for the next few hours ahead of them. As they looked outside to see what weather would await them, none were shocked to see the 15mph winds, short showers of rain and the mighty two foot swells of the bay. None the less all went bravely and upon the boat things did not go much better, unexpected items came up in the first trawl, and for the second things went a little smoother. After a much delayed return, they were greeted back to land with warm sun, blue sky’s and the faces of the next group of students. This next group crawled upon the 54ft aluminum boat and listed as the boats Captain, first mate and NOAA scientist told them about the safety rules of the boat and what they would be doing. The boat casted off the dock, the weather had cleared and everything seemed well for the time being. 

Stern of the boat, as it went from the first trawling site to
 the second for the last group of students.

As the students pulled up to their first trawling site, a CTD was released to record the salinity, temperature and depth of the water below. The trawling net went out after the return of the CTD and the weather took a turn for the worse, it started to poor rain and hail on the students awaiting the nets return and the wind started to blow. It didn’t let up as the net returned and as the students started to sort their catch and record the size of any English sole and Speckled sanddab they had caught. Soon after the catch was sorted the sun and blue sky reappeared, and two bald eagles flew overhead, the boat moved onward to their next trawling point and half way there they stopped to take another CTD sample. The boat turned sideways to the waves and as it rolled back and forth in the swells, the students held strong and once the data was retrieved they moved onward to their next trawl. The net lowered and raised in what seemed like seconds but was really six minutes and soon after sorting the students found a total of five different species. The boat docked soon after and the tired greenhorns left to rest but only after an hour all the students were back to lecture and lab. The end of the day came around 6, and sunny weather ended the day for the students. Light traps were set out that night by their teacher and TA and as the students lay in their beds, the ocean was cooking up a new set of mysteries for them to solve. 

Link to 2016 trawl video: https://youtu.be/VLw5sKzILPo 

             A New Day 

Monster WORM!!

8:30 the next morning three of the brave students went out with their teacher and TA to go collect their traps from the night before. The first two came up with no fish larvae but instead lots of Amphipods, crab megalopa, and decapods. The next two showed the real monsters of the deep, four 25cm or larger polychaete worms. These monsters both creeped out everyone and intrigued them at the same time. There were four different types of fish larvae in them and as the students brought the traps back to lab, they couldn’t help but think about the long day in front of them. To start off the day, students heard a lecture about how fishes feed and about the different types of sensory equipment they have. After a quick thirty-minute break, a guest lecture on marine plankton ecology which was given by Dr. Luo and another guest lecture on animal behavior by a NOAA scientist. A half hour lunch break was had and students returned for a lab on the days earlier catch and after 45 minutes of looking at the fascinating life we had caught in our own back yard, a lecture on writing scientific papers was given and the students all took a sigh of relief as their day was finally over. A late night finished the day for the students who didn’t go home and a weekend of homework and studying was what they had to look forward to.

Something Fishy Has Begun

The first day of marine fishes has begun in the BI 450 class, a new teacher and TA have arrived for the class. After a quick introduction from the teacher and TA, we got started with a quick fishes’ lecture and prepared for our first field trip in this section. Tokatee Klootchman State Park was where we were going, and why you may as? For the collection of tide pool fishes of course. Cloudy weather was the greeting card to the students as they pulled up and after an adventurous quest for these monsters a total of two different families were found. A quick group picture, and then we were off to the lab. Students then found out how we were caring for these animals as we studied them and got a crash course in how to use a dichotomous key.

Class awaiting the return of the seine.

The second day students went out, after a good mornings lecture on fish habitats, to see what the seine dragged in as they got more than their toes we in the brisk bay water of Yaquina Bay. This large net needed two students to get in and to drag it along the bottom of the muddy bay, one needed to live on the edge as he or she had to get in a lot deeper than the other. Few dared, or were wearing the proper gear, to go this deep and to face the sea monsters that lay below but all were ready to help count, sort and record all the different fishes that got caught in the net. The cloudy weather held until the students returned with their catch of ambassadors from the fishy kingdom, one of each species, and after a second lecture it poured as the students sat warmly in their lab looking at what they had brought in and once again the students had lucked out with fantastic Oregon coast weather. The rain didn’t stop as the students had their third lecture for the day and they all had to return back to their houses to prepare for the next day ahead of them.

Corin admiring the lingcod above him.

              A more exciting day came upon the students as they had their first guest lecture from Bob Cowen about kelp and reef habitats for fishes, then a quick doughnut break and back for one more lecture on fish growth. The sun started to shine as the BI 450 students emerged from their quick lunch break and went off onto their next field trip. The Oregon Coast Aquarium was their destination, and for some of the students this was their first time to experience the excitement of this unique location. Corin, an international student from the UK, had a particularly enjoyable time as he looked on at the fishes swimming around the tunnels in the aquarium. He greatly enjoyed the diversity of the aquarium even though their lack of his favorite animal, sponges, had him slightly disappointed. The students were all allowed to play and roam around the aquarium as they pleased as long as they all picked two species to draw. Free fudge was eaten, fishes were drawn and merry times were upon all in the class but a black cloud loomed ahead as their next trip may not be as care free. They all met up after the aquarium to discuss some paper they had to read but more importantly they had to prepare for the trawling trip the following day. Three hypothesis were formed and gear was prepared for the trip. Foul weather was ahead; bay conditions were not looking good as the students went home to enjoy a calm before the storm.  

1 Down. 5 to Go.

Week Two flashed by almost as quickly as it arrived. Between finishing up lectures/field trips, and preparing for presentations and our final exams, we rarely had a free moment for anything other than invertebrates. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing ;).

Our week started out much as it had at the beginning of the section. Attending lectures and preparing for field trips! On Monday we learned all about Phylum Arthropoda. Then we talked about a cute relative of Phylum Arthropoda (and Dr. Hacker’s personal favorite): Phylum Tardigrada, or the “water bears”. After a short coffee break we came back to learn about the diverse Phylum Mollusca. We then spent a few hours in the lab working on our lab notebooks and teaching each other species names for our lab practicum that was coming up.

Later that afternoon, we had an interesting lecture on the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas, from guest lecturer Dr. Sylvia Yamada. We then went out into the field to collect traps that she had put out the night before so that we could record the number, size, and weight of the C. maenas that we caught.

A number of us down at the low tide zone near HMSC helping Dr. Yamada collect crab traps.

And now, time for a little bit of local natural history! Amongst our samples was a female C. maenas that was VERY pregnant. That large, orange growth in the picture is actually thousands of eggs. After being fertilized by a male crab, the female carries these eggs for months, before releasing them into the ocean. Once they hatch, they develop into adorable planktonic larvae, called the zoea stage. After over 2 years of drifting and growing, they settle to the ocean floor to become adult crabs. It was a great night and we learned a lot about these pesky crustaceans. Thanks Dr. Yamada!

Tuesday began with the lophophorates. This group covers 3 different phyla with similar characteristics. Then Dr. John Chapman gave us a short lecture on biological invasions on the Oregon coast. We learned a lot from him about debris from the devastating tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 (particularly the dock that floated ashore in April of 2012, pictured to the left). Dr. Chapman does a lot of work with the Japanese marine species that have hitched rides on this debris and the potential for them invading our waters. He also spent some time talking about the invasive parasite that is devastating Yaquina Bay’s population of mud shrimp.

After lectures we all piled into the vans for one last invertebrate collection trip at the Newport Bayfront docks. All of us were desperately searching for some elusive ctenophores, but our efforts went unrewarded. We did manage to collect a few more species for our studies! Then it was back to the lab to work on identifications and off to write papers/prepare presentations.

Collecting samples from the docks at the Newport Bayfront

When Wednesday came around, I think we were all starting to feel the pressure of preparing for our exams. We had papers to write, presentations to prepare for, and species/lectures to study. We awoke that morning to our last lectures on invertebrates and immediately dispersed with our respective groups to work on presentations. That night we held the 11^th Annual Marine Invertebrate Presentation and Dessert Extravaganza. We all gave entertaining presentations about our favorite marine invertebrates and enjoyed way too many sweets (also not a bad thing). We started with a Family Feud-inspired game about Velella velella, followed by a cake-pops of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, a love story about Pisaster ochraceus, do-it-yourself nudibranchs, a couple of balloon versions of anemones, and a nemertean version of Jeopardy. For the last presentation, we learned about the scheming cuttlefish overlords from Wayne, and even made our own tin foil hats to protect ourselves from their surveillance (see the first photo of the post). It was a wonderful evening with plenty of laughs from all, and a great break from our intense exam studying. After the extravaganza most of us went back to go to sleep, but a few people hit the library for some late night (read: 3 in the morning) paper writing.

On Thursday we just had to turn in our invertebrate papers and then study for the exams. We spent a lot of time in the lab with Vanessa going over the scientific names of our little critters. I think that we owe a big thanks to the time that Vanessa spent with us helping us learn all these species names. Most of the evening was spent on individual studying of the lecture material for the exam. I don’t think any of us had seen the apartments so quiet before.

Friday, Exam Day, started out pretty fantastic. Most of us rolled out of bed early, and Ginger and her housemates made pancakes for a group study session before the actual exams. It’s always a good time when we all get together for study and/or food sessions! After that we hit the library for some last minute cramming before the dreaded exam finally arrived that afternoon. And then, just like that, the lecture exam and lab practicum were finished, and we were done. The week ended with an audible sigh of relief after exams were out of the way (for now), and a few sad “until next times” with Dr. Hacker and Vanessa. Thanks for a great section!

Even after the section ended, the week wasn’t over for most of us. This past Saturday, April 9^th, was Marine Science Day here at HMSC, and the few members of our group who didn’t leave town for the weekend helped out in our lab, showing off our work to the general public. It was really great being able to teach others, especially all the young children, about what we do and why it’s important. And, freaking them out with the annelids we had under the microscope wasn’t a bad time either.

All in all, we had a very fun week, and we’re all looking forward to what the next section will bring: Marine Fish.