MBFE - Weds 5/15 - A three hour tour, and three hour tour...

We had a full day including an outing on the research boat in the morning and looking at plankton we collected on the boat in the lab in the afternoon.

The only class field trip we had had left to do was to go out on the U Oregon research vessel RV Pluteus and collect plankton samples and do some bottom trawls to see what we might get there.
Today was that day!

Here we are at 8am, geared up and ready to depart.

Here's the team (L-R): Dr. Holyoak (on dock), Sam, Eric, Victoria, Michelle, Cale, Collin, Matt, Liv, Chey, Jenn, Maddie, Hunter, Emma, Anne, Ben.

This is the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology's main research vessel, the RV Pluteus.  Pluteus, by the way, is a larval stage of a sea urchin.  

Before departing, Captain Knute welcomed the group and gave some safety instructions.  And we were off!  We passed some of Charleston, Oregon's fishing fleet as we left the harbor.  Charleston is a commercial fishing port, and a fish processing plant is actually right across the street from the OIMB.

It was a gray, overcast but calm morning as we headed out onto the bay.  The wheelhouse on the boat is fairly small, so most of the time most of the students were out on deck (me too).  We did not need to leave Coos Bay to do what we needed to.  That was nice.  We were on relatively calm water and didn't have much wind either.

Here are (L-R) Ben (turned away, Jenn, Eric (background), and other mystery students hooded up.

Meanwhile on the foredeck, Hunter, Caleb, Matt and Anne took in the sights as we headed out.

As did Chey, who was also up there.

Once underway, Capt Knute had time to chat with our group.  Here he is with Ben.

Our first task was to deploy the plankton net and collect plankton to take back to the lab.  A plankton net, at least the one we used, was perhaps a meter in diameter.  After pulling it behind the boat for a little while we needed to haul it in and put the sample in jars.  We did two plankton tows.  

Michelle is pulling in the plankton net as Victoria looks on.

Shortly after we left shore, it started to sprinkle and then to rain.  Up went the hoods and people started to shelter under the aft overhang of the wheelhouse, but spirits and morale remained high.  Here are (L-R) Collin, Chey, Maddie, Emma and Michelle.

And toward the stern were (L-R) Matt, Jenn (facing away), Eric and Sam.

In this photo should note that the wire cable coming off of the winch is taut. This means that we were in the middle of a bottom trawl using an otter-trawl net.  

And the rain kept on coming down...

When it was time to retrieve the net, someone has to guide the cable back onto the spool so it goes side to side and doesn't wrap up too much in one place.  Liv volunteered to do that job of a deckhand during one of the retrievals.

We attempted two bottom trawls, but, alas, the net was fouled and we didn't get any samples either time.  So, sadly the efforts to bottom trawl were a bust.  By this time many in the group were wet and chilled so we headed back in.  By the time we docked we'd been been out for three hours...just like the crew and passengers of the SS Minnow (Gilligan's Island), except we made it back to shore a-okay!

Here were a couple of nice finds.  This first one is something that I'd know about for a long, long time, but I'd never seen a live one.  This is a planula larva of a cnidarian, possibly a sea anemone.  If successful, it will settle down someplace and metamorphose into a juvenile anemone or some other kind of cnidarian.

If you look carefully in the center of this photograph you'll see something that looks like it has clusters of needles sticking out of it.  It is a larval annelid worm of some kind.  It will eventually elongate and start adding segments.  It will then settle out of the water and become a juvenile worm.  Very cool stuff, right?

By the end of the afternoon we were all pretty well bushed, and ready to rest up for the next day.

This outing was the last of our scheduled marine biology class field experiences.  From now on we will still have daily lectures and the rest of each day will be devoted to student research.

MBFE - Day 21 - Out to sea

Days 19 and 20 were a Saturday and a Sunday, largely free time for members of the MBFE.  They did research that needed to be done and then enjoyed some down time.  We attended the Coos Bay Ward again and had a fun Home Evening.  Bri gave the thought.

Day 21 was full, full, full!

The morning of Day 21 each research team was back at it full steam.  Some members were working in the field, others in the lab.  I took time to touch base/check up on each group to make sure they were doing all right.

Just before lunch I crossed paths with "Captain Mike". OIMB's chief boat captain.  He told me that he could take our group out on the boat to do some bottom and plankton tows.  The weather was great. It was windy but sunny!  The MBFE crew's spirits were high as we boarded the RV (Research Vessel) Pluteus.  Pluteus is the name of sea urchin larvae.

Here's the group before we left the dock.

Here's the whole crew (L-R) Dr. H, Stephen, Wyatt, Katie (front), Janae (behind), Harrison, Courtney, Rob, Darby, Emily, Bri, Jay, Darren, Caitlin, Ashley.

Fifteen passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour...(sound familiar?)

We had a great outing.  It was fun being on the water and the class really enjoyed seeing this aspect of marine biology.  We did a couple of bottom dredges and a couple of plankton tows.  

Here are a few shots of the crew while we were out.

Students were able to all the deck work while we were out.  In this shot Wyatt is running the winch and Courtney was monitoring the dredge during the tow.  (L-R) Rob, Bri, Wyatt, Courtney, Darren,  

(L-R) Bri, Wyatt, Courtney (foreground), Darren, Ashley, Caitlin and Stephen.

Another shot of the working deck (L-R) Katie, Rob, Darby, Janae, Emily, Bri, Wyatt.

You aren't surprised when a bottom tow produces a haul of sand dollars, but this time it offered up other sea change...looks like a sand quarter, a couple of sand nickels and a sand dime (Emily).

Harrison (foreground) monitors the dredge during another bottom tow.  Others are (L-R) Katie, Emily, Janae, Darren, Wyatt, Rob, Captain Mike, and Ashley. 

Also on deck are (L-R) Rob, Captain Mike, Ashley, Courtney, Stephen (back) and Bri (front).

It was fun to see what was in the bottom drags.  It's like Forrest Gump's mother says, "Life's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get." (L-R) Stephen, Ashley, Caitlin (fore), Courtney (back), Harrison (on the cable), Jay, Katie, Emily, Rob.

Stephen and Emily look at a sample from the plankton tow.  

Though we'd already had a busy day we pulled out the microscopes as soon as we got back to the lab to see what we could see.  It was a fantastic sample!

This shot highlights a couple of arrow worms - sharks of the plankton.

This was a real score.  I hadn't seen one of these in real life before - it's an Appendicularian.  It's a tiny tadpole shaped animal that's actually a distant relative of ours, it's an invertebrate Chordate.  It usually lives in a mucous house that it secretes, but it bails out when disturbed.  A plankton tow definitely counts as a disturbance!

This is a larval fish.  Larval fishes are TINY!

This was a great, though tiring day.  Missions accomplished!  The students (and I) loved it.

MBFE - Day 10 - A three-hour tour near the mouth of Coos Bay

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..." (from the Ballad of Gilligan's Island)

The photo above is this year's official MBFE group photo.  L-R: Dr. Holyoak (on dock), Arianne, Rachel S., Eileen, Skyler, Isaac (back), Devon, Kelly, Jessica, Rachel M., Danielle, Courtney, Jennifer, Shannon, Luke, Joseph.

This is Captain Larry.  He always gives a safety briefing before departing.  He took good care of us, he's retired Coast Guard.

It's easy to see that the class enjoyed the outing. L-R: Arianne, Kelly, Shannon, Jessica

L-R: Isaac (back to camera), Joseph, Devon, Jessica, Kelly, and Luke

L-R: Courtney, Danielle, Rachel M, Isaac, Joseph, Devon, Arianne

L-R: Arianne, Eilen, Isaac, Luke (over Isaac's shoulder), Danielle (background), and Skyler.

Because Capt Larry was piloting the boat students worked the deck (under his direction).  In this photo Isaac is working the winch that lowers and raises the small trawl net we used to collect specimens.  L-R Courtney, Danielle, and Rachel M look on.

Here are L-R: Kelly, Jennifer, and Skyler retrieved a net full of shells, crabs, fish, and other things.

Later Jennifer tried her hand on the winch.  Yep, she's NOT having fun.

 Skyler and Arianne retrieved the net this time.

Skyler is a real "fish guy" so he was happy to make the acquaintance of this flatfish.  You can tell he's thrilled by the look on his face.

Midway through the trip Capt Larry took us close to a beach with around 100 harbor seals, here are a few of them. 

On the way back to port Eileen, our group's bird enthusiast, was treated to some nice sea birds

Here's a pelagic cormorant (it's actually got a small fish in its bill).

Here's a shot of a pelican during take-off.

And these gulls followed us for part of the outing...they love to do this, just in case there's a chance that some scraps or other things that they might be able to swoop down and scoop up.

About three hours later we were back in port with great experiences had, memories made, and friendships deepened.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

Day 26 - Time to go to sea...and report in...

The main even today was going out on the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology's research vessel, the R/V Pluteus.  FYI, a pluteus is a larval stage of sea urchins, sand dollars, and brittle stars.  Expectations and morale was high (OK, moral is always high) as we boarded.  The boat captain, Larry, was kind enough to take our class photo.  Click on the photo to see a larger image.

We didn't actually go to sea, though we did go on a "3-hour tour" in Coos Bay where we carried out bottom trawls and plankton tows.

Spring 2013 BYU-Idaho Marine Biology Field Experience Class Photo

R/V Pluteus of the OIMB

L-R: Dr. Holyoak (on dock), Tony, Daniel, Blake, Dallas, Kristin, Tyrel, Jessica, Bailey, Patrick, Elysa, Mackenzie, Lindsey

(c) 2013 Alan Holyoak

Before we left the dock Cap'n Larry gave us some important safety instructions.  Here are a few of his sage words of counsel and instruction.

First of all he reminded us that...

...you must be at least this tall to ride this ride.

Next he informed us that on The R/V Pluteus we always...

 ..."Put your left foot in, and put your left foot out..."

Seriously, Cap/n Larry was very good.  He's retired Coast Guard, and he took good care of us.

As soon as we left the dock, out came the cameras. And why not?  How many times do many of the MBFE students have to do this?  Not many.

L-R: Daniel, Tony, Blake, Dallas, Kristin, Bailey, Patrick

Once we reached out destination in the bay it was time to get to work. 

Cap'n Larry instructs Patrick and Blake on how to deploy the trawl net

They listened well, and Patrick and Blake deploy the net.

At the same time Tyrel runs the winch that lowers the net.  Note Ty's serious expression of concentration.

And the net came up.

Daniel and Patrick and...crabs

Kristin made a new friend...that she then released.

L-R: Daniel, Tyrel, Lindsey, Patrick and Dallas check out the haul.

We did more than one haul, so students took turns running the winch, deploying the net...

Bailey lowers the trawl net.

Jessica retrieves it...

Tony takes a turn on the winch too.

Partway through our "Three-hour tour" we hit a small squall...

...but spirits remained high on the main deck.

L-R: Elysa, Mackenzie, ???, Lindsey, Kristin

...and on the bow some of the guys pose for the camera...OK, Blake did.

L-R: Blake, Dallas, Daniel, Tony

The weather turned nicer again as we headed back to the harbor, and Daniel and Dallas take this rare opportunity and captive crowd to show off their newly acquired OIMB Dining Hall physiques.

I'm happy to report that from all indications new and potentially life-long friendships were made during the MBFE.  Here, for example, is "Team Slug" (Elysa and Mackenzie), two of the students heavily involved in following and describing the embryonic development of a number of sea slugs.

So that was what happened this morning.

This afternoon each research team presented results of their research.  This was the last official class activity of the MBFE.  I'm happy to report that everyone worked exceedingly well, and did good jobs on their presentations, though I still have to crunch some numbers before I know their oral presentation scores.

And last, but surely not least...the first group of MBFE students left for home.  Seeing Blake, Tyrel, and Patrick drive off when the group presentations were done was almost like seeing kids leaving home - it was the beginning of the end of the BYU-Idaho 2013 MBFE.

Though today ended up another great day, it started out on a sad note.  Somehow the water was either turned off or never got turned on in Roxanne's tank when she was put back in last night, and she was dead when I checked the lab this morning.  In order to avoid this being a total loss I preserved her and will take her back to BYU-Idaho to be added to our teaching collection.  Sigh.  This is sad, very sad.  I would personally prefer to have seen her taken back to the tide pool where she was collected.

Anyway, as President Clark would say, it's another great day in the MBFE.