Fishing and Lovell Island

So first of all, yes, I did hook the biggest fish of the day. That was me. Please, no applause - I'm much too humble for that. Of course, I didn't reel it in mind you; I have people for that.

Now for notes. I think they were better than my last batch, but could definitely use some work. I re-wrote some of them to organize them better (and because my little notebook got crushed in my bag), so hopefully they're readable.

This page describes our first task - which was to take the boat to the deepest and coolest waters in the harbor (the main shipping channel) and fish! Bruce mentioned that the water is cooler now than it was last year at this time, and that that would likely affect which species we encounter and what we'll find in their stomachs.

I attempted a few drawings of the sea worms we were using for bait as well.

Next I've got some notes on the fish we caught. The first was a black bass that was about 14". I noted that it had 4 fins behind it's head, two on the bottom and one on each side. It had a dorsal fin running from about 1/3 it's length back from it's head down to where the tail narrowed. It had a fin on the bottom just below where the tail narrowed (which i now know is an 'anal' fin), and then it's tail fin.

The first one we caught had a noticeable bump on the top and just behind it's head, which Bruce pointed out as a sign that it was in the process of changing from a female to a male. The eyes looked about 1/3" to me and it had two very small rows of teeth. It's scales were iridescent purple and blue in some areas and overall it had a black and white pattern.

 Here's a photo of the black bass:

 We caught 2 flounders as well one about 12" and the other 16". They were both right-sided meaning their bellies were positioned to the right

Here are my drawings of the bass and flounder:

When we got to the tide pools at Lovell island, the tide was still fairly low but was making it's way back in. I found my Asian shore crab, periwinkle, and some barnacles, and also picked up some slipper shells. Here are my notes and drawings of the slipper shells:

The periwinkle:

Two types of barnacle, that I believe are little greys (the small ones) and a northern rock (the larger one with ridges.

And finally here is my Asian shore crab:

And one more picture: this is Charlie, our boat captain cleaning the big striper we caught. when he cut open the belly there was nothing in there - I assume because the unusually cold water is affecting the population of whatever he would normally eat.

18 July 2014 Assignment 2 
Observations: Lovells Island

                                     

                                                    

                                                   Branded Tree Snail (Orthalicus Floridensis)

                                                    Caught: 18 July 2014    Time: 1345 PM

                                                    Location: Boston Harbor-Lovells Island

                                                    Tide:  Low-10:44 AM  -0.53 ft

                                                   

My sketches...

These are the sketches I drew of the striped bass, black bass, flounder, silver hake, periwinkle,  hermit crab and the other crab I can't identify with confidence, although I believe it was an Asian Crab. Tide was low when we left the Barking Crab, but continued waxing throughout the entire day. 

The first part of out day was deep sea fishing during low tide.

Using brown sea worms, we broke off into teams and fished off of the port side of the boat. There were two The bass was 38", the black bass was 14.5", the flounder was 12" and 9", and the hake was 7".  We did try to use the hake to catch larger bass, but we caught all of the fish with the sea worms. 

Our time on Lovells Island was spend in the tide pools exploring and sketching different animals. I found hermit crabs, slipper clams, and the schools of tiny fish almost immediately. The tide coming in gave ample time to sketch and explore the tide pool that was closer to the wrack line. We then looked for snails in the trees and someone actually found two! They had bright amazing shells and were gray when they came out of hiding. Their long bodies had two antennae on top and they were as slimy as one would assume snails would be. The periwinkles that we found are invasive creatures!!

The growing tide altered what we saw...and how we saw it. It was a true testimony to the power of the ocean!

My favorite parts of the day were listening to captain Charlie teach us and seeing the lobster boat with the BU student. Ok...to be fair...The after math was a load of fun as well!

Flounder:

flat fish found on bottom of ocean

use their color to camouflage themselves with the sea floor

 carnivorous and highly predatory

females release eggs into water as males release sperm

Striped Bass:

schooling species- smaller schools at younger ages

seven to eight narrow stripes lengthwise

historic name of: line-sider

can live up to 40 years and can grow up to 100 lbs

females grow significantly larger than males

Black Sea Bass:

found on the east coast

has dark patched with light spots- belly on slightly lighter than body

males have a fleshy dorsal hump

most adult males only weight 1.5 pounds, which is slightly larger than 12"

Change their depth with the season

Silver Hake:

also referred to as whiting

range from Newfoundland to South Carolina

aggregate in large numbers yet do not swim in schools

nocturnal - feed only at night

migrate with warmer waters

Periwinkle:

Invasive creature

dark shell

3/4"

dark body

Hermit Crab:

live inside snail shells

keeps head and several legs out of shell it takes over

have soft vulnerable abdomens

switches shells when it outgrows them

Asian Crab:

Invasive creature

banded legs, red spots

3" wide

Barnacle:

Northern Rock Barnacle

Invasive creature

most common intertidal barnacle

http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/species/sea_bass/species_pages/black_sea_bass.htm

http://thisfish.info/fishery/species/silver-hake/

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/weirdest-flounder

http://www.cptdave.com/striped-bass.html

http://thisfish.info/fishery/species/silver-hake/

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dmf/recreational-fishing/black-sea-bass.html

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/flounder/

Hitchhikers

http://www.hermit--crabs.com/types-of-hermit-crabs.html

Assignment Part 2 - The Mysterious Shells

When we discovered the colorful shells on a flat large rock, at first it was not quite so obvious what they were.  After some more exploring we learned that they were in fact either Brown Lipped Grove Snails (Cepaea nemoralis) and/or White Lipped Land Snails (Cepaea hortensis), which are close relatives of the Brown Lipped Grove Snails. 

After much consideration, which included ignoring the fact that it was in fact  and research I found out that the shells, which were broken when found on the rock, got there from one of their largest predators, the Song Thrush.  The Song Thrush will use a flat rock, also known as a Thrush Anvil, to smash the snails onto the rocks in order to break the shell and eat the snails.

I used a source from University of Michigan for my research. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Cepaea_nemoralis/

Assignment part 1 - Fish and tide pool creatures (notes are in pictues)

 

 

Lost (like the tv show, get it?)

Hey again guys! How are you? My leg is asleep so thats really comfortable and great for me. Thanks so much for asking!

As we were leaving the Beach Bruce made us stop and look at a concrete pile that fell off the path...there were shells in it..thats what we stopped for. And we totally understood what it was about and Bruce wasn't being cryptic about it at all. So we climbed up the hill of rocks which was just..really great. But we figured out that the shells weren't from periwinkles but they were garden snails! FROM LAND! So we were searching for I would say 100 years for a live one! Joann was the first to find one! It was a lil baybee snail <3 #baybee #snail #Joann #hunterhunted 

We had to figure out how they got on the beach and why they were cracked, delicate, and different colors. Bruce was ...really giving us so many hints...and totally helping us out #grateful.

I think (and by think I mean know, because I'm a god damn genius dammit) that the snails were picked up by birds and dropped/ cracked open so they could eat the snails...because we already learned that birds do that. Some of the shells were super hot and colorful, and some were kind of chalky colored, I figured that was because of the different calcium intakes of each snail, the more calcium, the stronger they are the less calcium, the more fragile.

You're welcome.

But after that we cut up the fish... and ate it and stuff 

Sonja is disgusting 

So is John Paul

This part was pretty much great.

So I also have a quick question. We all know these grow near water, and on beach towns and stuff...But I saw them growing in Belmont which isn't even on the river so...can these be transplanted or how far from the water do they spread? Think about it. You're welcome.

After we dropped Bruce off at his boat house Charlie got the party started. Anybody who is anybody knows what I'm saying.

After we got off the boat we all went and got some killer food and tequila shots. Because we are always together. 

After Chris dropped JP and myself at home (props to Chris) we all decided we were going to go out later that night...because we weren't with each other enough that day...

We went to this club that was really freaking hot, and made me sweat...and they served cheap tequila...the shitty kind that burns going down. And I hated that. But we all looked fine as hell and killed it on the dance floor.

#selfie

Love,

the light of your lives & kid who can jump rope really good,

Deanna

#THEEND

Assignments 1 & 2

Hi everyone how are you doing? I smell like BBQ potato chips...so thats great for me. Thanks so much for asking!

This week I think we kicked the shit out of everything even more than we did the week before..if thats even possible!

We got to start off the day on a freaking boat! Pretty much the best thing thats ever happened to any of us I bet. We got to hang out with Captain Charlie who's suuuuper OG.

We got to be professional fishermen! I mean you're only legit if you actually catch a fish...which I did...so I am...IN YOUR FACESSS! I caught a 12 inch Flounder, which swallowed the hook so it started gushing blood..I also have never seen a real flounder before, and I was pretty much shocked that it did not look like Flounder from the little mermaid.

Also I totally touched the sea worms...which were the most hideous things I've ever seen in my life. But obviously fish really like them, because we caught a whole bunch of them! I mean I think Dan pretty much kicked the shit out of all of us with that 38 in bass. That was pretty wicked.

I could have done that all day! 

I'm pretty much great at fishing now so...you're welcome.

So once we had to get off the boat we got to go to Lovells Island...where they have exactly zero people and two bathrooms. We walked to the beach which was so great...and um we found lots of cool stuff...that lived/died there.

 My notes are so beautiful. You're welcome. #blessed #grateful.

We had a scavenger hunt for four different life forms.

1. Asian Shore Crab
2. Barnacle
3. Periwinkle
4. Hermit Crab

so that was great for us. Also I had no idea that a slipper shell was actually an animal...looks like a snail. Pretty sweet. We were also supposed to find another living thing. We found some tadpoles! Which I was actually surprised were there because whenever I think of tadpoles I think of a gross little static pond.

So we got to crawl around in the water and that was pretty great...I got a sandal tan and burned my shoulders. But I look crispy now so don't worry about it!

Love,

the pride of boston & kid who can lift really heavy things, Deanna.

#THEEND

Assignment 2-Snail shells on the rock by the seahore

As we already found two same kind of snails alive on the way back to the boat,  we can affirm those shell found on the rock are land snails.  But why are they appeared on the rock by the seashore and by the side of roads?  Before answer the question,  I would like to share some findings during my vacation this week at Nantucket Islands beach.  While I walked along on the beach,  I noticed a lot of seagulls caught shellfishes

And then, they flew on top of a parking lot  by a beach restaurant to drop the shellfishes on the hard ground of the parking lot and I heard the sound of the shell cracked.

The process made the bird easier to open the shell and eat them.

The last thing I found was analogous to those we saw on the rock of Lovell's seashore.

Therefore, I assume the birds dropped the snails on the hard surfaces of  rock and road to help them eat the snails more easily.  I guess that's why those shells were there!

Photo of my notes-I think I could never be Picasso!

Sources:
1.www.fishwatch.gov
2Blackboard-Hitchhikers