From the ocean to tacos!

On Friday we had our last class, and we focused on the striped bass.  We learned about how science provides the facts regarding the necessary factors for survival (food, habitat, number of female fish able to reproduce), and policies come out of how humans decide to support the necessary factors.  Personally, I would agree with Bruce that it doesn't matter whether it's the commercial or the recreational fisherman that have less to fish- what matters is that there are enough fish left over to produce future generations of fish.  I think that outlawing commercial fishing completely would be unfair to the commercial fisherman, their families and employees, and also to the people who want to eat the fish but aren't able to or aren't willing to fish themselves.  I also think that it would be unfair to outlaw recreational fishing because it would be unfair to the fisherman enthusiasts out there.  I think a happy medium between the two would be fair restrictions for both groups.  How we get to what the fair restrictions are is something better left to people with more expertise than I.

To finish up this field research class, we were able to experience an anatomy lesson.  I grew up with uncles and cousins who fish, and I was taught how to clean the fish I caught.  Still, a refresher was nice as it's been years since I've gone fishing.

Blue striped bass in all it's glory (18.5 pounds!)

 The guts of the fish, including the stomach.  The greyish brown long tubular things to the bottom left are from the stomach, and are partially digested fish.

 Another picture of the innards.  The lifted part on the head is where the gills are located.

After class, our homework was to complete an experiment with part of the fish.  I very gladly accepted this homework, and went home to make fish tacos for dinner.  I marinated the fish with a mixture of chili powder, oregano, chopped cilantro, red pepper, and a smidgen of olive oil.  After about 30 minutes, I tossed the mixture into an electric skillet with a little bit of oil on high heat, and quickly grilled the meat.  

I added flour tortillas, avocado slices, sour cream, hot sauce, sliced cabbage, and some lime.  Pair with a light summer beer (though Corona would have been better), and my feast was complete!

This class has been interesting to say the least, and I am excited to know more about the islands in the harbor.  The ease of the ferry and the available activities planned by the park rangers was great to learn about, and I look forward to spending time on the islands with my boyfriend and his young daughter for years to come.

-Danielle

Snails and Lovells Island

Today we explored the tidal pools at Lovells Island.  We almost weren't able to due to a cancelled boat, but the wonderful crew of the Abigail helped us out in our time of need.  Thank you again!

On Lovells Island, the tide pools were teeming with life.  We found so much!  We had hermit crabs, sea lettuce, rockweeds, barnacles, green-grass like seaweed, blue mussels, asian shore crabs, tiny arthropods, periwinkes and tunicates galore!  The tidal pools had organisms from both environments.  The growth of the seaweed and organisms wasn't as dense as we found in the subtidal locations at the Barking Crab and Rowe's Wharf, but it was much more dense than the periwinkles and crabs found at Peddock's Island.  

 Life in the tidal pool

Personally, I was surprised by the amount and variation of tunicates we found.  We found orange sheath tunicates, blood tunicates, a colony of tunicates, and another lighter colored tunicate. 

 Blood tunicate

 Colony of tunicates

Orange sheath tunicates and another tunicate

We also saw several periwinkles.  Here's a picture of three different ones.

The orange shell is most likely a smooth perwinkle.  According to Peterson's Field Guide, the smooth periwinkle is small and round, and lives among the rockweeds.  The spire is low, and the whorls are smooth.  The color varies and includes orange.  I believe the other two are rough periwinkles.  The rough periwinkles vary in color including white and brown, have a longer and more oval-ish shape than the rounded common periwinkles and has the deeper groove pattern on the shell.  We also saw many common periwinkles.

We also saw some terrestrial snails.  On the beach there was a grouping of shells on the rocks, and then we found live snails on the trees.

Empty snail shells on the rock on the beach

Live terrestrial snail

As far as what type of snail it is, I would say this is a white lipped snail.  The coloring varies with the white lipped snail, but the lip is generally white or light colored as it is in this case.  The bands of color are common with the species, and the snails are able to withstand a wetter climate.  (http://www.arkive.org/white-lipped-banded-snail/cepaea-hortensis/#text=Description and http://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/white-lipped-snail)

As for how the shells got to the rock, I would say that seagulls brought them there.  There were wide holes in each of the shells that make it appear that they have been damaged, and I would venture a guess that a seagull brought them over to the rock and hit them with its beak until it was able to eat them.  Here's a video on how seagulls eat snails: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/birds-kids/seagull-eating-snails-kids/.

See you all tomorrow!

-Danielle

Drinking or Swimming? Does the answer depend on the question?

Is clean water important to me? Why or why not?

This question really made me stop and think.  A knee-jerk reaction was yes, of course.  On the surface level, drinkable tap water is very important to me.  I can’t imagine living in a place where I can’t turn on the tap and drink the water.  My aunt was a missionary in Honduras for seven years, and came back shortly after I was born.  In my childhood and teenage years, she made sure to point out to me the simple luxuries I had that others didn’t.  I was even able to observe the difference in quality of tap water.  At her house, she lived in a town with an iron-rich well system that turned all the clear drinking glasses yellow.  In my own hometown, the capital of Ohio, we didn’t have this problem.  I toured a sewer plant in middle school, and the process of clean water was very clear to me.  Still, no matter where I stayed, tap water was drinkable. 

However, this class isn’t about the water we drink in our homes.  It’s about the water in our harbor.  Again, my knee-jerk reaction was yes, of course I want clean water.  As I began to think about it though, I realized that I couldn’t easily clarify why.  I enjoy visiting the water, but I don’t enjoy swimming in the ocean often or visiting beaches.  I dislike staying in the sun for extended periods of time, so I don’t often visit the waterfront.  In my nearly three years in Boston, this was my first visit to the Boston waterfront, although I have had multiple visits to the beaches on the South Shore.  Why then do I care if we have clean water to swim in?  For me, it is a mixture of nostalgia and the common good.  I grew up in the Midwest with the Great Lakes, and have fond memories of sailing on Lakes Erie and Huron.  I didn’t care much for swimming in any of the lakes, but still enjoyed other water activities.  I also watched my family members enjoy recreational fishing.   To me, the water has always been a resource that is meant to be shared.  As a member of the public, I should be able to safely enjoy what the waters have to offer, and leave the area the same or better than I found it.  I also believe that I should pay money to ensure the water is clean enough to enjoy.  In the end, it doesn’t matter if I visit the beaches often or not.  What matters is that I could if I wanted to, and that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy what the water has to offer.

-Danielle

Peddock Island Adventure

On Monday, we set out early for our adventure to Peddock Island via a connection at George's Island.  Upon arrival, we first toured the old government sites that have now been borded up.   After a short walk, we arrived at the beach.  The first section of the beach was a crescent shaped pebble beach, and we learned about the racks on the beach (the lines created by the tide).  This area of the beach had less moving life, though we did spot some seaweed that had blown in on rocks.  The live seaweed we found was small, white and curly, and then we found some darker rockweed as well.  On the beach, there was one or two deposits of dried green dried sea lettuce, but we learned that this type of seaweed was uncommon and very likely blown in from farther out on the coast.

The next section of the beach was the cobblestone beach.   This section had small crabs under many rocks.  I was able to hold a crab, and identified it as male.   We also discovered small writhing black arthropods under many rocks that had pools of water near the shore line.  We also found periwinkles, and learned that they were much more common on the cobblestone beach rather than the pebble beach.

In the afternoon, we stopped by the mud flats.  In the mud flats there was a surprising abundance of life.  In one small section I found several crabs, something hidden under a rock that was squirting water, and tiny little things flitting around that may have been larva of some sort or a really little fish.  A seagull was also in the water nearby.  

The salt marsh was pretty dried up, so we didn't visit there.  We weren't able to visit a good tide pool either, but did learn that the key thing about tide pools is that they never get dry.

My experience at Peddock's was great, and I plan to visit again with my family sometime before the end of summer.  The only downside is the horrible sunburn I now have!

-Danielle

Seaweeds, Tunicates, and Sea Squirts

Hi all!  My group found many specimens for today, but we couldn't identify them all!  Here's our best shot at twelve of the specimens.

 Found in both locations we stuck our hands into the water, these creatures are mussels.

 On top of one of the mussels, this mucous-y yellow residue is harder than it looks.  We believe it's a boring sponge.

 After many detailed readings, this brownish-when-wet, pokey yet rubbery specimen was determined to be graceful red weed.

 This creature was ovalish and originally looked to be covered in snot.  We peeled back this layer to reveal a darker brown, almost black covering.  We finally cut it in half and saw it's inner orange tubular shape.  We believe it to be an orange footed cucumber.

 This orange slimy thing is an orange tunicate. 

 This was snapped at the aquarium in the seals' habitat.  The pointy ball of spikes near the ground is a purple sea urchin.

 The creatures that squirted out the water are known as sea squirts.

 The skeleton shrimp were crawling all over this Bowerbank's Halichondria and mussel.

 This grass-like, stringy green mess was determined to be soft sour weed.

In the upper left, the small, crinkly, almost moss-like specimen is spongomorpha and the sea lettuce is the green lettuce-like specimen in the middle of the picture.

In the picture of the dock from last year, there appears to be many more species than this year.  The overall width of specimens on the dock is much wider, and there are many more colors of species than I saw today. My first guess as to why this may be different is that Emily (the person who let us onto the docks at Rowe's Wharf) mentioned that parts of the dock had been recently scraped.  Perhaps last year they did not scrape the sections as often, or at all.

-Danielle

From Toilets to Pellets

My day on the water at Boston Harbor started at 1:21pm.  The temperature was a warm 83°F at the Long Warf Harbor.  The tide was definitely low as it was about 3-5 inches above the bottom of five ridges that lined the right side of the harbor.   I initially thought that the tide was rising as the water lapped upward, but my observations upon our return proved me incorrect (see pictures below).

 Tide at 1:21pm

Tide at 2:50pm

After getting on the water, I was surprised by how quickly we reached the islands.  I initially thought the islands were spread out even as I looked at the map, but we seemed to fly by them before I could really take them in!  Within ten minutes we were to Castle Island, and then passing by Spectacle Island and Thompson Island.  Professor Berman pointed out the egg-shaped digesters on Deer Island, and began to set the tone for the day.  It’s a good thing I already didn’t like orange juice, or I’d be abstaining from the juice for a while. 

At fifteen minutes into the trip, we were going under the Long Island Bridge and passing Long Island and Moon Island.  I was surprised to find out the information about shipping our homeless there each night- what an odd practice! I understand the reasoning behind it, but still…

 Just past the Long Island Bridge

At 1:46pm, we’d passed into the Quincy Bay.  Professor Berman pointed out Hangman’s Rock, and I was surprised by the realization that I can actually see in our own time an island that is going to disappear.  It reminded me of the reverse of the formation of Hawaii.  By 1:54pm, we were going into the river in Quincy, and starting to learn about Rachel Carson, DDT, a biologically dead harbor, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Big Dig.

 Beautiful day to sail

Four minutes later we were in the Wessagusett area.   The fact that million dollar homes have the view of public housing leaves me amused and amazed by the quick turnaround of the Boston Harbor clean up.

Public Housing View

At 2:03pm, we arrived in Quincy, and the temperature had risen to 86°F.  We saw the pellet plant, and the tale of the ‘Trail of Sewage’ started.  Having taken a tour of a sewage plant in the Midwest, it was interesting to learn the similarities and differences (we use the swimming pools of waste too, but don’t ship our waste to an island; also, we don’t dump the clean water into the ocean).  By 2:10pm we left Quincy, and headed to Logan Airport.  Along the way we learned not to drink the harbor water, more about the Big Dig and Rachel Carson, and the overwhelming positive economic benefits of cleaning up the harbor (in addition to the obvious positive environmental aspects!)

 Docked at Quincy

On our way to the Logan Airport we went past our old dump site (now the beautiful beaches of Spectacle Island) and then arrived at the Logan drop off.   Continuing on our journey, we arrived back at the harbor at 2:50pm.  It was a beautiful day on the water, and I’m looking forward to seeing more tomorrow!

Spectacle Island Beaches

-Danielle

Introduction and Water Experiment Thoughts

Hi everyone. My name is Danielle, and I work at BU as an administrator. I'm taking this class as I slowly work towards a bachelor's degree in English. I've taken a marine science class before (twice actually) where I went to Cozumel, Mexico. I learned to scuba dive and the history and life on and around the coral reefs. My second time around I did a research project on the effects of the hurricanes on Christmas tree worms in the coral reef. I moved to Boston in the last two years, and want to learn more about the harbor.

For the draining water experiment, my group observed water flowing clockwise down the drain. We filled up the sink three quarters of the way so we would be able to see a clear funnel shape form as the water drained. I believe that water in the southern hemisphere drains clockwise as well down ordinary sinks. I believe this because I remember reading an article on a website ages ago from somewhere not as reputable such as cracked.com. For this post, I researched some on the web and came across Alistair B. Fraser's website on the Coriolis effect (http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html). Fraser is a professor emeritus of meteorology at Penn St University (http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/cv/).

Basically, his website states that the Coriolis force is weak, and is only able to have an effect on large weather systems and other large bodies of water as the effect takes a significant amount of time to build up with any noticeable force. You can, however, replicate an experiment that will make the water spin in the opposite direction expected by introducing the rotation to the water that you wish it to drain. More information on the experiment can be found on his website under 'Do it yourself fakery'.  In the end, my conclusion is that water doesn't actually drain a particular way (clockwise versus counterclockwise), but is influenced by the rotation of the water when it was introduced and disturbed.

See you all in class!
Danielle