Goin' Muddin'

The Before shot, when we're still warm and dry.

Brian and Molly, hard at work.

We started the day off by hitting the mud flats of Yaquina Bay on a quest for the mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis) and ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) that we learned about yesterday from Dr. John Chapman. Struggling through the knee deep sludge, everyone worked diligently to find our query. A few mud-slinging episodes later, we headed back to the vans with our booty: a few specimens of each species of shrimp, butter clams (Saxidomas gigantea) , and cockels (Clinocardium spp). Back in the lab, we set our collections up in the tanks and lined up to hose off.

Post-brawl: The Creature(s) of the Black Lagoon Return

After some time to get clean and warm again, it was back to the classroom. The first of the day's lecture covered Phylum Mollusca, and the incredible diversity it includes. From the 8-plated chitons to the flashy nudibranchs to the quick-witted cephalopods, we learned it all. Then it was on to the Lophophorates: Phyla Bryazoa, Phoronida, and Brachiopoda.

Grimy, yet satisfied.

We ended the day with some relaxed time in the lab, with some students finishing up their invertebrate notebooks and others working to identify the species we've collected since beginning our term at Hatfield.