Tis the season for MLML Open House

The vertebrate ecology lab’s recreation of the inside of a whale. (photo by The Moss Lander).

Tis the season for MLML Open House

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

The spring semester is buzzing with activity from classes, field trips, and preparing for Open House.

Have you ever walked inside the belly of a whale?  Want to know how long turtles live or what seastars eat?  This year’s Open House will answer these and so many more of your ocean questions.  Be there Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st from 9am to 5pm.  As a FREE EVENT we offer a marine adventure puppet show, education presentations by students and faculty, live touch tanks, a sea lion show, raffle and prizes, and so much more.  There is so much to see you will need to come back both days!

Entry Way to MLML. Dive into Open House! April 20th and 21st
Photo by: Scott Gabara

Chronicles of a Curious Beachcomber

by Angela Szesciorka, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

A few Sundays ago — Super Bowl Sunday, in fact — I took a three-hour walk along the beach at Fort Ord in Monterey, CA with Don Glasco, a systems engineer and former cartographer.

This wasn’t a leisurely pursuit, but my volunteer service to the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network’s (SIMoN) Coastal Ocean Mammal and Bird Education and Research Surveys, also known as Beach COMBERS.

I meet Don at Fort Ord Dunes State Park in Marina around 9 a.m. After downing the last of my coffee, we head out into the foggy morning.

Don Glasco referring to the almighty bird book to identify an unknown species by its toes.

Follow the R/V Point Sur on Her First Voyage to Antarctica

On Thursday, November 29 the R/V Point Sur, MLML’s largest research vessel and a member of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System fleet, set sail for Palmer Station, Antarctica.  The ship and her crew, accessed for class cruises and interdisciplinary and inter-organizational research projects, will be making several stops through Central and South America during her voyage over the next several months.  You can even track the trip here.

The R/V Point Sur leaving Moss Landing Harbor, en route to Palmer Station, Antarctica. (Photo: Andrea Launer)

Over the course of her 8,200 mile journey the crew will post updates about all aspects of the cruise.  While we will miss the Pt Sur during her first voyage to Antarctica, we can look forward to exciting updates on the Pt Sur blog.

Sunset from the Point Sur off the coast of Mexico. (Photo: India Grammatica)

Stay tuned for updates and stories from the crew!

That’s a Moray!

The exciting thing about science is we still have so much to learn about the natural world, new discoveries are being made all the time.  Rita Mehta at UCSC has been studying eels, specifically their pharyngeal jaws (see a video here), which are a second set of jaws that help the eels eat larger prey.  Recently MLML helped UCSC researcher Rita Mehta and others to determine how many California moray eels are in an area of Catalina Island, part of the channel islands archipelago.  Further, they are interested in growth of individuals and movement.  They had help from people at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with using Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, acoustic tags and acoustic receivers to address eel growth and movement.

UCSC researchers Ben Higgins and Leith Miller measure a California moray.

Using traps, eels would be raised to the boat then a series of body measurements and total weight were taken, they would be PIT tagged and released in the area of capture.  If they caught an individual again who had previously had a PIT tag, they could use the body measurements from before and compare them to the current measurements to learn  how much they grew in that time period.

Eels were caught and then brought to the boat for measurements using these traps.

To learn more about eel movement, a subset of eels had an acoustic tag surgically implanted into them.  Acoustic receivers were deployed at each cove which would detect the surgically implanted acoustic tags in the eels, if they were nearby.  They believe that moray eels may go out to feed during night but not much is known.  In two weeks, with over 300 unique eels measured and PIT tagged, you could imagine how dramatic and important an impact they have on the ecosystem!

Acoustic receivers were deployed in each cove to aid in understanding moray eel movement.

New Semester, New Students, New Stories

With classes underway, the lab is abuzz with new activities and learning.  This fall, the MLML community welcomes 22 new students to ten of our labs.  Ever find yourself wondering how graduate students at Moss Landing got their start in marine science?  Our new student backgrounds range from gray whale surveys off the Washington coast, to photographing white sharks in South Africa, to shipboard oceanography in Canada, and much more!  Learn about their paths to marine science and research interests by checking out their profiles on our Meet the Students page.

Jackie surveying whales off the Washington coast

Kristin freediving in South Africa

Heather performing field research in Canada

Stay tuned for their stories and more from your MLML blog team.

Fish Feeding Frenzy

In the southern California bight, the channel islands archipeligo sits in warm subtropical waters brought north along the coast from Mexico to the islands.  Toward the east, Santa Catalina Island supports many different fishes living in these warm waters.  On a recent thesis sampling trip, frenzied fish behavior was observed.  Similar to people gathering at a popular eatery, small orange cigar shaped fish called Senorita, and speckled kelp bass, schooled near disturbances created by divers.  You may see the small grayish crab in the photo just underneath the fish’s mouth (see below).  These fish would say that algae mats provide a home for many tasty invertebrates!

Ask a Shark Researcher

By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

In the spirit of sharing exciting new student research during Shark Week, we caught up with MLML and Pacific Shark Research Center graduate student Paul Clerkin.  During the spring semester of his first year at MLML he took a two-month cruise aboard a commercial fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean for his thesis research.   During that time, Paul collected sharks that came in as bycatch of the planned fishing activities – sharks that would otherwise have been thrown back overboard because they are not among the targeted species of commercial value.  Clerkin explains that the sharks that he collected were all DOA, that very few survive under the weight of fifty tons of fish.   As part of his bycatch-only collection practices, any sharks that were still alive when the fish and sharks were sorted were promptly sent back overboard to increase their chances of survival.  Below are highlights from our interview with Paul on his latest fieldwork expedition.

Paul identifying sharks from a haul in the factory of the ship.

How long was the cruise?

I spent two months at sea, and then five weeks at Mauritius.  During that time I processed and prepared samples to ship back to MLML. Overall I spent about 100 days out of the US. I remember because I had to get my visa renewed while I was there.

How many specimens did you bring back?

We brought in around 400 to the island, and around 350 made the trip back to MLML. It was just about a ton. On top of that I have hundreds of vertebrae and spines and around 800 tissue samples.

When you collected, was it usually a consistent number per day or catch, or did the numbers vary with time and location?

The catch amounts varied greatly, some mornings I’d wake up and have no sharks to work with, during which time I’d work on data processing, and other days I’d wake up and have 16+ hours of work sitting for me on the deck.  Using bottom roller gear brought in many more sharks.

What will you do with the specimens?  Are they all to be used on your thesis project, or are some saved for other projects?

The specimens will be used both for my thesis research and will be available for future research projects. We’re looking to get a lot of use out of the data. The list of possible projects and papers is pretty long.

Paul working on deck with a false catshark. Paul comments on the critter: “This species isn’t new but it is considered to be rare. I was extremely excited the first time we found one. As we caught more false catsharks over the trip I started to suspect these sharks are not as rare as previously thought. I think they just live in remote locations relatively unexplored by science. Although it is not a new species I gathered data and information on this shark that was previously unknown and will increase our understanding of this strange animal.”

Was this your longest cruise to date?

Yes, my longest cruise before this was out of AK for 90 days, but halfway through we came back to land for one day, then went back out again. After the first two weeks all the days blend together anyway.

Faster, Higher, Smarter

2012 MLML Games a “Smashing Success”

By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Photos by Gabriela Navas and Catherine Drake, Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

With the world’s attention turned to London for the next two weeks, we think it’s high time to share our version of friendly “athletic” competition – the MLML Lab Olympics!

At the end of the spring semester, Moss Landing student body officers hosted the sixth annual event.  Highlights of this year’s Lab Olympics include a sprint relay, pie-eating contest, trivia, and Ultimate Marine Scientist Challenge relay complete with blindfolded dive slate assembly and a Macrocystis kelp slide.

Assistant Dive Safety Officer and Phyckers team member Scott Gabara crushes the “Shark” Attack competition at dive slate assembly. The challenge tests competitors’ grace under pressure in blackout dive conditions. Competitors also learn to appreciate the merits of well-fitting attire.

Danger Zone team member Michelle exhibits good sportsmanship in support of fellow Danger Zoner Catherine during the shoot-n-slide leg of the relay.

Staff team competitor Rhett shows off his unique slide technique.

Competitors sprint to the finish in the anchor leg of the relay.

Life’s a Beach

MLML bloggers Michelle, Diane, and Catherine volunteer with Young Women In Science

By Catherine Drake and Michelle Marraffini, Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

Photos by: Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Summer is here on the Central Coast and MLML students as well as a few MBARI interns took some time off to play hooky for a cause.    We volunteered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Young Women in Science (YWS) program to help middle school girls in this summer camp monitor the beach for sand crabs and learn how to boogie board.    The camp’s aim is help empower young girls interested in science to be guardians of the ocean.   Many of these girls have never been swimming in the ocean before and fellow bloggers Diane, Catherine, and myself showed the girls the joys of splashing in the surf.

Lifeguards explaining some water safety ideas before we head into the water

Catherine catching a wave with the girls of YWS

We spent half of the day using the scientific method and sampling along a transect to look for sand crabs.  The campers were encouraged to form hypotheses about where the crabs were living and use results to think about larger food webs and ecosystem processes.   After lunch and a safety lesson on currents and waves from the lifeguards, girls rushed towards the ocean with boogie boards in tow ready to conquer this new frontier.  We ran in after them and helped them learn to catch a wave and dive under ones that were too big.   This was the first time being in the ocean for many of these young ladies, and they were so brave as they dominated the large waves.  When it was time to go, many of the girls had enjoyed their time in the water so much that they insisted on catching one final wave.  It was inspirational to see the girls having so much fun making observations about sand crabs and trying to catch every wave they could.  We had a great time volunteering for this essential program, and can’t wait to help out again!

Michelle riding a wave and showing the girls of YWS how much fun boogie boarding is

Never a dull day for a Marine Biologist in Monterey Bay, Catherine models some giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, while boogie boarding

 

Battle Under the Docks

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

With continued global expansion of humankind and climate change, how will native communities be affected by introduced species?  Recent state surveys identified at least 312 non-native species in California coastal waters, many of which are known to have strong negative impacts on shipping, recreational and commercial fishing, and native habitats and local species (CDFG, 2008).  Factors regulating the success of non-indigenous species are of interest to scientists and managers.

A view of boats that use Monterey Harbor and may unknowingly transport invertebrates from other marinas and harbors.

Artificial habitats like floating docks and pontoons act as ground zero for newly arrived non-indigenous species.  These species arrive though many mechanisms, such as ballast water and fouling on the bottom of boats; we heard all about ballast water from fellow MLML student Catherine Drake, The Ballast Water Balancing Act.  Species that settle in marinas and harbors can than travel along the open coast and into estuaries, where they may outcompete native species for resources and become dominant on human structures such as water pipes, sewer grates, and aquaculture cages.

Dockside view of my thesis installation with helpers Hannah and Heather. Photo by Scott Gabara

Under the floating docks of Monterey Harbor animals are battling for space. For my thesis at MLML, I am studying the role of native invertebrate species on invasion success.   I will look at the sessile invertebrates like tunicates (Phylum Chordata), mussels (Phylum Mullusca), bryozoans (Phylum Byrozoa), hydrozoans (Phylum Cnidaria), feather-duster worms (Phlyum Annelida) and anemones (Phylum Cnidaria).   By making experimental treatments that vary the number of species, the amount of native verse non-native species, and the amount of open space in artificial communities hopefully I can untangle part of the story about how non-native species become established.

Take a look under the dock as the battle is under way and stay tuned for the winner!

Diver, Heather Hawk helps steady treatment plots of native and non-native sessile invertebrates Photo by Scott Gabara