Stellwagen Bank / Final Thoughts

Our whale watching trip was a great experience, since it allowed us to observe an entirely different marine ecosystem from the inter-tidal zones we have been exploring along the coast. Stellwagen bank is unique because of the upwelling current which brings extra plankton-like life into the waters, attracting whales, like the humpbacks, minkes, and fin whale we saw. I was really surprised by the abundance of these large mammals, relatively close to shore. The presence of the two mother and calf pairs was remarkable. By observing these whales so close to our boat, I realized how devastating the whaling industry must have been on these defenseless giants.

I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to a wonderful class. I’ve always been interested in the ocean, and the life within it, and this class only served to deepen my curiosity. Yet, most of all I am happy to have gotten to know the harbor and harbor islands, places which, up until now, I had not appreciated or taken advantage of. Having spent my whole life driving seventy miles down to Cape Cod to go to the beach, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there are pristine, clean, and not crowded beaches right in my backyard. Bruce’s passion is contagious, and the success story of the Boston Harbor cleanup is truly inspirational.

Spectacle Island / Stripers

Spectacle Island:

Although we discovered evidence of seashore creatures, such as moon snails, razor clams, oysters, and even a dead skate, the archaeological artifacts were by far the most interesting specimens to me. As a classics major, I’ve spent some time studying archaeology, although most of the artifacts are about two thousand years older than those on Spectacle. It is often the case that “dumps” like Spectacle result in treasure troves of archaeological evidence. In antiquity, Roman authorities would dispose of old amphorae on a small hill, which is today known as Monte Testaccio. It is still possible to visit the site and collect shards of broken amphorae, which are often inscribed with information about the quantity and contents of the amphorae. While examining the sea glass we were often able to figure out exactly where it came from (Coca Cola, Pond’s, Noxzema, etc). Although the artifacts themselves were interesting, I’m assuming the more important lesson was about data collection. The main point I took away from our two exercises (searching the beach for cool stuff, and then sorting the contents of the hula-hoop) was about two equally important ways of collecting data: examining the contents of a sample in order to gain perspective on what quantities of various objects are prevalent, and also searching for outliers which may end up being particularly interesting to examine.

As for the physical characteristics of the island, I would say it is fairly unique, largely due to its long history as a dumping ground. I would say that I saw evidence of the “brazil nut theory” on Spectacle, since many of the artifacts had accumulated at the top of the beach, and along the wrack lines.

Striper:

As a recreational fisherman in the state of Rhode Island, I would support the lifting of the ban on fishing in federal waters. Rhode Islanders rarely reach half of their quota of 93,000 pounds of striper, which makes me think recreational and commercial fishermen alike would want the opportunity to fish federal waters. When you look at a map you notice that much of Block Island Sound lies more than 3 miles off shore, including areas between the island itself and the mainland, it would only make sense for these areas to be fishable.

Personally, I tend to agree with this perspective, not necessarily because I love to fish, but because I know just how much revenue fishing and tourism can generate in coastal New England towns. As we discussed in class, the number of jobs created and the amount of revenue generated by recreational fishing is even greater than that of commercial fishing. Furthermore, it only makes sense that Rhode Islanders should have the opportunity to at least meet their small quota. (I also can't help but think of Billy Joel's song "Downeaster Alexa," which has made me forever sympathetic to the cause of local fishermen.)

As for the edible part of today’s class, I really enjoyed the sashimi, even if I took too much wasabi. Had I been heading straight home, I would have loved to take a piece of the fillet, which I probably would have blackened.

Looking forward to seeing some whales tomorrow!

Amir Farhadi

Lovell's Island

Hello All,

We were lucky to reach Lovell’s Island at low tide, which allowed us to explore a large portion of the inter-tidal zone. Several tide pools had been formed, including two large ones. The main difference between the Lovell’s location and the Barking Crab location is that the underside of the docks remain consistently underwater, and are therefore sub-tidal, however many of the areas we explored in and around the tide pools are often exposed for part of the day, thus making them inter-tidal. The water temperature varied greatly depending on the depth, and tide. The small pools which were close to shore and had been sitting in the sun were noticeably warmer than the large pools further out. The depths of pools varied from as little as 3-4 inches up to 3 feet. The water was quite clear compared to other areas we had visited. The shoreline was partly cobbled beach and partly sandy beach.

As for biodiversity: I saw evidence of a number of species, by collecting live samples, and also by finding shells of other species. The living species clearly inhabit the tidal zone, whereas the shells could have washed ashore from species that live in deeper waters.

I found some Blue Mussels, like at the Barking Crab, except these were scattered individually along the floor of the tide pool, whereas the mussels from Saturday were often in bunches and attached to the dock.

We all observed copious amounts of Periwinkles, an invasive species. It was difficult to coax them out of their shells, but after a little humming, I was able to observe two antennae on the head of the snail.

We found stacks of Common Slipper Shells, measuring between less than 1/3 of an inch to 1 ½ inches.

I found one other species of live mollusk, which I lost when my partner overturned my specimen container! It was small, less than a centimeter across, but I believe it may have been a Tortoiseshell Limpet, since it had a very distinctively colored shell. According to Peterson’s guide, this limpet can inhabit inter-tidal waters.

As for other species, I found several Asian Shore Crabs, which I described in my previous post. These ones were significantly larger, measuring about 2 inches across. It is interesting to note that they were all found very close to the shore, well within the inter-tidal zone, whereas the small one we caught near the Barking Crab was living under the dock in a sub-tidal zone. We found both males and females, differentiating between the “rocketships” and wide triangles.

We found two types of plant like animals distributed throughout the tide pools. One was an oblong sea squirt like creature, which was attached to a rock by a long stalk. I think this may have been some variety of a Stalked Sea Squirt. There was also an orange sponge like tunicate, which I was unable to identify to my satisfaction using Peterson’s guide. I then turned to hitchhiker’s guide, thinking it must have been an invasive species. My suspicions were confirmed when I found the Orange Sheathe Tunicate, which fit the description of what I saw, and is common to the shallow inter-tidal and sub-tidal zones.

As for the perfectly round holes we found in the shells of periwinkles and other mollusks. I suspect that these holes were caused by either a predator, or a parasite. According to Peterson’s guide, the Channeled Whelk, which is the largest sea snail in the area, feeds on other mollusks by “using their shells as hammers to chip away an opening.”(133).

As for our Grove Snails, which (thanks to Pearl) I learned are divided into two groups, the brown lipped and the white lipped. I am not entirely sure how these reached the edge of the beach and congregated on that one rock. One theory, that predatory birds dropped them there in order to crack them open and eat them, is very plausible. However, I didn’t notice that the shells were significantly damaged, which leads me to believe that they weren’t dropped there to break them open. Perhaps the snails traveled to the edge of the wrack line in order to obtain minerals and salt that a particularly high tide had left behind? As for differences between the land and sea snails, the most obvious to me was the thickness of the shells. The periwinkles, which are tossed by the tide and living in a somewhat harsher environment, would need a thicker shell than the grove snails.

Due to technical difficulties, I wont be able to upload my pictures until later in the week. More to follow!

Amir Farhadi

Day 1 Observations

Hi All,

It was great to get out on the water today! After our discussion this morning I felt better prepared to observe the shoreline and islands of the harbor/bay, than I would have been before. With the map of Boston harbor in my head, today’s class let me really gain a better perspective on the physical distances between a lot of points on that map. Having driven to Nantasket before, I was astounded when we arrived there after only a twenty-minute cruise. It was also nice to see parts of the South Shore as more than just exits off route 3. What I found most interesting was Prof. Berman’s explanation of the legal battle to clean up the harbor/bay. I had heard of the “out fall pipe” before, but never completely understood how it worked. I certainly understand why many environmentalists had concerns about dumping such massive amounts of fresh water into the bay. It seems to me that this would have a large effect on the salinity of the area, and therefore perhaps adversely affect the marine life; I am curious to learn more about the pipe as well as the water filtration process.

Amir Farhadi 

Introduction / Bathroom Observations

Hi All,

My name is Amir Farhadi, I'm going to be a senior at Tufts University, majoring in Classics and French Literature. I'm originally from Weston, a small town just west of Boston. I'm first generation Iranian on my father's side, and second generation Irish on my mother's side. I love to travel, and I spent my junior year abroad studying in Rome and Paris. I also love the ocean, which is why I decided to take this course. I spend my summers in the town of Dennis on Cape Cod. I also spent a summer living on Nantucket Island, and have traveled a lot (by boat) in the Mediterranean. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of searching through tide pools on the beach at the Cape, looking for sea creatures. I still love searching the beach for crabs at low tide.

As for our bathroom experiment, I made the following observations onsite: I could hardly see the sink from where I was standing, but even if I had been able to see it better, I don't think it would have been easy to tell which direction the water drained, owing to the small volume. As for the toilet, I was able to observe two flushes while in the ladies room, and I am fairly confident that the water drained clockwise. As for the question about toilets Down Under, I did some research online, and found a short and concise explanation of this phenomenon (or myth?) on the Library of Congress science reference website, of all places. In short, their answer to the question of whether toilets in Australia drain in a different direction than those in the Northern Hemisphere was: "probably not" which seems logical to me, since I would assume immediate factors like the volume of the liquid, diameter of drain, and of course the pressure and speed of the water and air, would have more of an effect on the direction of the water draining than the so called "Coriolis Effect" which is a result of the Earth's rotation. According to the website [http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coriolis.html] "The Coriolis force is simply too weak to affect such small bodies of water."