6 am: Not Just For Sleeping Anymore

Sunrise at Sunset Cliffs, San Diego

By Alex Neu, CSUMB/UROC research assistant

Like most kids growing up, I envisioned a scientist as someone sitting behind a microscope or  pouring colorful liquids into a flask to make some kind of potion. During my internship I have seen a variety of work researchers do every day and that stereotype certainly does not do them justice. An average day might include sitting behind a computer doing a literature review, taking water samples in the lab, extracting enzymes from specimens and going to a meeting based entirely on statistical analyses. These tasks have all been incredible learning experiences, but recently I got a taste of my new favorite activity in research: going into the field.

We weren’t the only ones in need of a pick-me-up for a 6 am collection

Our first day of collecting crustose coralline algae (CCA) began promptly at 6 am at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. Since CCA are common in the intertidal pools at Sunset Cliffs, we had to be sure to collect on a lower low tide, and it just so happens that this week those low tides were much earlier than would have been preferred. Caffeinated beverages in hand, our small team trekked to the shore and discussed distinctive features of the species we were looking for. Many species of CCA look similar and multiple species can inhabit the same small cobble. We split up and waded through the low tide, searching beds of sea grass and small rock crevices for any stones with a distinctive layer of calcified red algae. After about an hour we had found enough samples to run our experiment and we headed back to the lab to take a closer look at the CCA.

The following day found us out in the brisk morning air of Sunset Cliffs once again, this time searching for an articulated species of coralline algae .We found ourselves once again searching the warm water of the seagrass beds to collect healthy samples with a delicate touch. As the sun rose over the cliffs we started on our way back to the lab with the treasures of the day to begin our experiment. Being a part of an experiment from the very beginning and knowing exactly where each of your samples comes from makes a project just a little more special and is something you can be a little more proud of when it’s run its course.

Acidification and Summer Vacation

CSUMB/UROC student, Alex Neu, takes a pH reading

By Alex Neu, CSUMB/UROC research assistant

Not too many undergrads can say they have been fortunate enough to do research. Even fewer can say they’ve been a part of research going into their junior year. And just about one can say he’s been able to be a part of a collaborative research project between Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). My name’s Alex Neu and I’m that undergrad. I’m heading into my junior year this fall at California State University – Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and have just started a position as a student researcher with CSUMB’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC). This summer MLML graduate student Emily Donham and I are spending our summer researching the effects of climate change on temperate rocky reef communities here in La Jolla as part of a CA Seagrant project funded to co-PI’s Dr. Scott Hamilton (MLML) and Dr. Jennifer Smith (SIO).

Our project includes studying the differential effects of increased CO₂ on calcifying and fleshy algal species. Increased dissolved CO₂ leads to a decreased pH and is commonly referred to as ocean acidification. Currently we are working with 2 fleshy species that are found here locally. One species is native to southern California and the other is invasive, or has been introduced and is adversely impacting its new habitat. This week marks the half way point in our first round of experimentation and we are all excited to see what kind of results we’ll find at the end of the month. Will one species fair better than the other? What sort of implications could this have for an invasive species’ ability to outcompete a native in a changing ocean environment?

Individual algal specimens being treated in the wetlab of Dr. Jennifer Smith at SIO.

Our day-to-day activities here include monitoring pH levels in each of our samples, taking water samples from randomly chosen jars to monitor carbonate chemistry, and general upkeep of the wetlab and our electronic data recording systems. We have also done some collecting of crustose coralline algae (CCA) for identification and potential use in future experiments. I have even learned how to do herbarium presses, which are a way of preserving algal specimens by flattening and drying them (apparently Plocamium cartilagineum is everyone’s favorite algae to press).

Thanks to UROC, SIO, and MLML for making this research opportunity possible!

Enter the Year of the Dragon

This week marked the beginning of the semester at Moss Landing Marine Laboratory and also happened to be the start of a new year.  January 23rd, 2012 was celebrated throughout the world as Chinese New Year.  This year, the year of the dragon, is said to be the luckiest of the 12-year mathematical cycle of the Chinese Zodiac.  So to all our blog readers out there, good luck and Happy New Year!

Dragon moray eel, Enchelycore pardalis. photo: D. Merritt

Fishing in the Name of Science

F/V Huli Cat deckand Shannon O'Brien holds a vermilion rockfish, Sebastes miniatus, with MLML Ichthyology Lab student, Emily Donham

by Emily Donham, Ichthyology Lab

As a volunteer with the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP), I had the opportunity to get up close and personal with central California’s ichthyofauna (fish species).  CCFRP’s mission is to monitor the performance of central California’s marine protected areas (MPA) by collecting data on the abundance and distribution of fishes via collaboration with the local fishing community.

MLML FIsheries and Conservation Lab student and CCFRP researcher, Cheryl Barnes, prepares to size and tag fish aboard the F/V Huli Cat

Expert volunteer anglers use standardized hook and line gear to land as many fish as they can during a survey block.  Fish are then tagged, counted and sized by CCFRP researchers before being released back into the wild.  These data are provided to fisheries managers to aid in stock assessments of economically important species.  If you’d like to learn more about CCFRP or how you can become a volunteer angler please visit: http://seagrant.mlml.calstate.edu/research/ccfrp/ or like them on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/California-Collaborative-Fisheries-Research-Program-CCFRP/194987957217303

Let’s Get Physical!

photo: E Donham

by Emily Donham, Ichthyology Lab

During Physical Oceanography class (MS 142) Professor Dr. Erika McPhee-Shaw invited interested students to participate in a day cruise aboard the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories 135’ research vessel (R/V) Point Sur.  The cruise was part of a collaborative research project between scientists at the Naval Post Graduate School (NPS), the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the physical oceanography lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) (Dr. McPhee-Shaw is the lead PI).  The mission included the deployment of oceanographic instrument moorings and the collection of conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) measurements at stations along an isobath, or line of constant depth, in Monterey Bay.

photo: E Donham

I arrived at the ship at 0700 in order to make it aboard for the safety briefing before setting sail.  The morning was foggy which delayed our departure by a half hour.  At our first stop NPS researchers deployed an instrument mooring fitted with an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) which will take continuous water velocity measurements throughout the water column.  These water velocity measurements will help the scientists understand how water is flowing in the bay.

The NPS team readying their mooring before deployment (photo: E Donham)

Next we moved further offshore to deploy Erika’s instruments. 

A Cold Awakening

photo: E. Donham

Emily Donham

by Emily Donham, Ichthyology Lab

“What have I done!?”  This is my first thought as I plunge into the frigid waters at Stillwater Cove.  Having just moved to Moss Landing after spending the past eight years in tropical Hawaii, this is my first chance to dive in California’s temperate waters.  My dive computer reads a mere 54° F, but that can’t be right.  This water feels much closer to freezing.  Once I’m able to recover from the initial shock I realize that my arms just don’t bend the way they used to.  This is mostly due to the 10 mm of neoprene wrapped around my body to help keep me warm.  I used to be able to get away with just a 2mm top!  I slowly become acclimated to the temperature and limited mobility and descend to the depths for my first glimpse into the kelp forest ecosystem.

photo: E. Donham

Unfortunately, today isn’t the greatest of visibilities.  The water has a greenish hue and I’m not able to see beyond about 15-20 feet, but even so, there is still a lot to get excited about.  Coming from the tropics where reef-building hard corals are the main attraction, it’s hard to believe that macroalgae could ever be so breathtaking.  Some of the giant kelps at our dive site are over 60 feet tall, which makes it easy to see why people refer to their ecosystems as forests.  I look closer and see small groups of juvenile rockfish intermingled within the kelp, utilizing its blades for shelter.  The closer I look, the more I see, and I start to realize it’s going to take me awhile to learn what everything is, despite the lower species abundance and diversity compared to tropical coral reefs.  It certainly doesn’t help that the muted colors here make differentiating between species tricky.  We ascend to our safety stop and a sea lion swims in to check us out.

At the end of my dive day I look back and am once again reminded of why I decided to study marine science and I can’t wait to jump back in the water as soon as possible.  Luckily for me, as a student of the Ichthyology lab, my advisor has decided to make biweekly dives a part of our education.  Hopefully exploring California’s coastal waters will help in my search for a thesis topic.