Week 8: The Final Countdown - Research Projects!

Week 8: The Final Countdown - Research Projects!

Monday 05/20

We are all feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed as we finally get to take all that we have learned
from this course and get going on our group projects. All nine of the groups got started on their
projects today, whether that meant going to the tide pools, mud flats, or setting up tanks in the lab.
Many groups are working with inverts for their projects which means the tanks are full of some pretty
crabby creatures. With teams testing different crab trap types, observing how Nucella feeds in the presence
of crabs, comparing which crabs live in which estuary habitats, and conducting crab competition
experiments there’s a lot of hope that we’ll get to feast on some crabs at the end of the week.
In addition to the crabs, we have tanks full of nudibranchs, anemones, pipefish, and mussels.
A feeding experiment is being conducted by Emily M., Charlotte, and Bri on the nudibranch
Hermissenda crassicornis and the anemone anthopleura elegantissima. Chelsey, Grace, and
Ashley have been working hard doing beach seines daily in order to collect enough pipefish to
observe their orientation in relation to eelgrass. An experiment on microplastics is being conducted
by Elise, Megan C., and Emily V. using Mytilus californianus and glitter. Renee, Alison, and Sarah K.
are using light bulbs, glow sticks, and no light to see what different organisms get drawn to their light traps.

A group dissecting mussels to study microplastics.

Tuesday 05/21

Students are putting in long hours at the lab making observations both in the tanks and through their
microscopes. Stephania, Laura, and Sarah H. have spent hours every day this week observing different
diatoms they have collected under their microscopes. It may only be day two of projects week but everyone
has put in so many hours of hard work that you can already see just how tired everyone is. Even though
everyone is tired you can still see the excitement on everyone's faces when you ask them how their
projects going and they get to tell you things are going well! During collection among the tide pools
for nudibranchs by Emily M., Charlotte, and Bri’s group, a very interesting nudibranch was found,
not yet seen or collected by our class. “It looks like a Pokemon”, said Charlotte. And indeed, this
cartoon-like gastropod was identified as Dirona albolineata. This species of nudibranch is mostly
translucent, and the color of its large cerata may vary from a white to a pinkish hue. D. albolineata
can even reach sizes up to 18 cm in length!

A group observing their collected diatoms under their microscopes!
D. alboineata, a nudibranch not previously collected by our class.

Wednesday 05/22

Another day of collecting data for projects! Every group is well on their way and chugging along as
we meet the halfway mark for working on projects. Chelsey, Grace, and Ashley’s group, which have
been monitoring their pipefish to observe their orientation in relation to eelgrass, have collected lots
of pipefish and have been spending many hours observing them in the lab. Some groups that are
sampling in the field are still heading out at their various intertidal locations of interest (some at
multiple times of the day). Allison, Renne, and Sarah’s group are examining phytoplankton, and
are often seen in the lab viewing their samples from the field in the laboratory. Many groups have
had meetings today with various instructors and TA’s to discuss how their projects are progressing
and to figure out what statistical tests may be best to run on their experiments. Additionally, people
are starting to think about the end of the term presentations and paper. Sources are being gathered,
and lots of ideas are getting bounced around!

A pipefish monitoring experiment underway.

A group getting ready to head out for project collections!

Even when it rains, there’s often a beautiful sunset at Hatfield that is arguably best viewed from the
estuary trail (just a minute’s walk from Hatfield itself). Whether you are a tired current student, a
future student thinking about taking the BI450 course, or are someone just visiting Newport,
don’t miss this trail on a beautiful evening.

Thursday 05/23

All downhill from here! Many of our groups are starting to see some patterns from their hard work
on the projects! Students are getting very excited as their ideas for their hypothesis are really
starting to mold. It was very common to come in at night and see some groups still working hard
on their data. One group was even counting crabs well past 10:00 pm on some nights! Charlie, Cori,
and Eric Cole are looking at crab counts in different parts of the Yaquina Bay. “We head out twice a
day around low tide to identify and measure the crabs in our 24 pitfall traps in the mudflats,” said Eric.
“It is somewhat tiring, especially at night, but then you stumble upon a big boy in the trap and everyone
gets excited.”

To conclude the week, we will be returning back to the classroom to spend the next week and tomorrow
discussing conservation and policy for our oceans. We will have a presentation and a little project the next
week to help us understand just the kind of process it is for conservation actions to be put into place.

Not even the sun can stop Charlie D. from collecting Hemigrapsus oregonensis from his pitfall traps

Friday 05/24

It’s halftime on the projects folks. Due to the tides this year we are putting our projects on pause for
a week. So for the next week and today, we will be reviewing articles and discussing different aspects
of conservation and policy. Today we talked about the state of our oceans in relation to the changing
climate. A large piece of today’s lecture was about the increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
Dr. Henkel discussed how our planet has reached over 410 parts per million of CO2 in all of April!
After a lengthy discussion on what is being done to address certain issues about the changing
climate and marine pollution, we shifted focus on marine reserves versus marine protected areas.
We learned that some marine species benefit from reserves while other species populations do better
in a protected area. We ended the long day with a talk about how Oregon chose its marine reserves
along the Pacific Coast and the lengthy, layered process that it takes to make these decisions.

This week has been long and fun for many of us. We are excited to have Dr. Henkel back as she steers
our class vessel into Week 9! We are looking forward to our three day weekend and honoring those who
gave the greatest sacrifice of all for our safety and freedom. To our Veterans, we say thank you and
never forget.

Eric Cole with a Carcinus maenas posing for its close up

Week 3: Ample Amounts of Algae!

Monday:

Monday was a fresh start after a well-rested weekend to push us into our next topic: algae! We met our professor Sarah Henkel and our teaching assistant Miram before diving straight into the realm of greens, reds, and browns, oh my!

The section started with 2 introductory lectures before going to the lab and practicing identification. We had 17 algae and classified them by phylum, thallus, branching, holdfast, and reproduction (if we could see the difference!). We took a short lunch break before returning to learn about the history and evolution of algae through primary and secondary endosymbiosis and how these led to the formation of red algae (Rhodophytes), brown algae (Ochrophytes), and green algae (Chlorophytes). Sometimes, red alga look extremely similar to green algae, but it can always be differentiated by pouring boiling water on the algae which reveals its true color. The different colors each algae produces is specific to its phyla and the different accessory pigments located within the cells of the algae.

After this lecture, the class was divided into 9 different groups and assigned different phyla with varying characteristics. With these algae in mind, we ventured to Boiler Bay for our first algae field trip! We returned many of our beloved marine invertebrates to their rocky shore home and began learning about the different types of algae and how to identify them. We frantically took notes on the different varieties of algae and collected the majority of the genera we were assigned to find before heading back to the lab to clean-up and rest for the following days activities.


Sarah and Laura showing off the cool new algae we're learning about at Boiler Bay!


Annette teaching us how to identify algae species in the field.

Tuesday:

To start off the day, we had two lectures featuring the topics of the life history and reproduction types of algae and green algae (Chlorophyta). Since we were unable to collect a large number of green algae from our field trip to Boiler Bay Monday night, we had our lab on the brown algae (Ochrophyta) and worked on determining the species in front of us. A dichotomous key, glossary, book on algae, and algae guide were given to us. In the evening, we geared up for our field trip to Seal Rock. Luckily, the path to the site was paved saving us the scrapes and bruises going down the cliff face.  Once at the site, we learned the different rock names, such as Elephant Rock, and determined which ones were the oldest vs. youngest. Half the groups went with Annette and half with Sarah to learn about the various algae species at Seal Rock. Everyone had fun climbing on the rocks surrounding the tide pools and finding our species. It was amazing to see harbor seals and sea lions swimming in the water. Also, a few sea lions slept on a rock with the water level being around 5 feet below the top. 

A sea anemone eating market squid eggs (Doryteuthis opalescens) in a patch of Neorhodomela larix at Seal Rock.

Megan's group thought they found Gloiopeltis furcata, but it turned out to be a Fucus spp. in its diplontic reproductive stage!

Annette showing us how to identify algae at Seal Rock!

Wednesday:

Today we spent several hours in the lab learning to use dichotomous keys to identify different algae species!  Even though it was difficult at times, Miram and Sarah definitely helped steer us in the right direction.  We had to use both compound and dissecting scopes, so we were also developing those skills.  We also met with Sarah to go over our group project ideas for our treasure taxon before we collect our data on Friday.  Miram also showed us how to press algae, and we had a lot of fun arranging and pressing algae for our projects as well as pressing local flowers and leaves.  With our treasure taxon study proposal due at 9 pm, many groups met up in the library to wrap up that assignment. 

Thursday:

Thursday was the first day this week that the sun was not fully obscured by the clouds and it set a great precedent for today. We finished the last two labs for the section in the morning before attending two lectures. Lunch was two hours which allowed enough time for groups to finish any of their remaining labs and enjoy the sunshine outside. Everyone met back at the lab to review their lab demos for tomorrow’s early morning fieldtrip. Because of the 5:30 a.m. start, each group put together their materials bucket and headed home by 5:00 p.m. The rest of the night was filled with studying for the upcoming finals and the early day to come.

Friday:

Today we woke up before the sun did!  We needed to get to our study sites at Seal Rock and Boiler Bay around low tide, which just so happened to be at 7 a.m.  Factoring in travel time and having enough time to gather data for our studies, we set out from the lab to our respective areas at 5:30 a.m.  We had a lot of fun, though!  Some groups measured pH, some measured the presence of certain invertebrates, and some measured the length of their treasure taxon.  After cleaning up and getting a bite to eat, we went to lecture.  We learned about the effects algae have on the environment and the other plants and critters within it.  Different algae species will be present in different areas depending on the biotic (i.e. herbivore presence) and abiotic factors (i.e. light) present.  Did you know that some sea urchins (like Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) eat algae?  After lecture, each team presented five of the species they collected for their algae type!  Some were long and slimy, some were iridescent, and some were bright, vivid colors!  Sarah and Miram also brought in some delicious snacks, so we celebrated the work of our friends and ourselves in addition to studying for our second batch of section finals.  In the upcoming days, we studied, finished up our treasure taxon projects, and slept in!

Charlie and Haley measuring the blade length of Mazzaella parksii at Seal Rock.

Eric, Emily, and Ashley measuring the invertebrates present near Callithamnion pikeanum groups at Seal Rock.

PRETENDING TO BE REAL MARINE BIOLOGISTS…

This week has been all about PROJECTS! There are a total of 12 groups working on a variety of research topics. Some groups get to play in the field all day, while others are more studious in the lab. Group research topics have shown how diverse the 2015 class is when it comes to areas of interest. Some chose to work with algae, and others found their passion lying with invertebrates or fishes. Groups are even tackling the complexity of multiple species and how they interact with one another.

Natalie and Amanda playing in the mud!

Melanie, Amanda, and Natalie really committed to their project by getting down and dirty in the mud. Their week consisted of early mornings and lots of coffee in order to complete multiple beach seining collections. While out in the field, they collected data on salinity and biodiversity. Their focus is on determining the effects of salinity on biodiversity at several locations along the Oregon Coast. However, struggles have arisen and huge fluctuations in salinity have brought complications for the group. But with such dedication to their projects, they have been able to move forward and will be able to present to the public in just a few weeks.

First crab caught by Chaleen, Kylee, and Ashley,
while Chaleen is in the back looking for
the missing traps.

Speaking of projects not going as planning, one group really was off to a rough start at the beginning of the week. Chaleen, Kylee, and Ashley were looking at the abundance and size distribution of red rock crabs (Cancer productus) at popular crabbing locations compared to non-crabbing locations. However, the first few days proved to be discouraging because they had no luck catching any crabs and couldn’t  find some traps after putting them too far down the shoreline. Luck quickly turned around though after they switch the bait being used from cat food to chicken. So to all of you crabbers out there, take it form them and don’t use cat food! Finally they had caught a crab and were beyond stoked, even if it was just one! The week progressed and so did the amount of crabs they caught. Yay for more data!

Crabbing is a huge sport along the Oregon Coast that people partake in recreationally and commercially. It is so popular that regulations are set in place for determining what size, sex, and species of crab can be taken. However, this in not the case for red rock crabs because any sex or size can be taken. With such open availability to take these crabs, it is important to see if there is an effect on their size and abundance; especially right now in the spring when Dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) are less abundant. Red rock crabs may be significantly impacted if they are the ones being mostly caught at this time.

Cat and Kat working on their experiment on pipefish!

Cat (left) and Kat (right) worked on a lab experiment, in which they created an aquarium to test habitat preference of the estuarine pipefish, Syngnathous leptorhynchus. One side of the aquarium had eelgrass with one of two types of epiphytic algae, while the other side had eelgrass without epiphytes. They collected 42 pipefish while seining in Yaquina Bay to use in their experiment. It will be interesting to hear the results during week 10!

Levi being scientific and cutting open Pollicipes.

Levi is shown in the picture cutting open a Pollicipes polymerus to look for signs of reproduction. Levi and his group-mates, Max and Julia, also participated in cutting open these barnacles, as well as wrapping them in foil and sticking them in an oven to dry-mass them afterwards. Sounds brutal!

Landon's Release Chamber O' Fish!

Here is a picture of the lab experiment that I (Landon) did this week. In this aquarium, one side consists of only bare rocks, whereas the other side consists of various types of algae. I (Landon) collected fishes of various colors from the field and placed them one at a time in a fancy release chamber, which I (Landon) invented. The fish could swim out of the Release Chamber O’ Fish (patent pending) and decide which habitat to choose. This experiment was done to determine if there is a difference in habitat preference among fishes of different colors. In regards to the natural history aspect of this particular project, tidepool fishes have been shown to prefer tidepools with certain sets characteristics. Rugosity, depth, size, intertidal height, and algal composition of a tidepool are some of the characteristics that may influence the distribution of tidepool fishes. This experiment along with a field study will hopefully provide insight into differences of habitat preference among fishes of different colors.