MBFE - Day 14 - Research, marine mammals, and Star Wars Day

Day 14 - Monday May 4, 2015

It's a new week and with their plans made, students dove into their research projects.

Two groups went back with me to South Cove, Cape Arago, to collect research specimens and data.

It was a cloudy morning with a hint of coastal fog, but all in all it was a great outing.  The wind had been howling here for the past week or longer, but this morning the wind died down and temps were in the 50s - nice!

Here's the coast looking south from South Cove, Cape Arago, Oregon, USA.

Jessica, Arianne, and Kelly make their way across drift logs at the bottom of the trail on their way out to the rocky intertidal zone.  Shannon and Isaac were already headed onto the rocks.  We were joined later by Devon, Luke, and Joseph.

Here are those three teams working during low tide.

We spent three enjoyable hours working and poking around before the tide started coming in, ending our outing.

After that Rachel S, Skyler, and I went in search of the lab director to ask about access to a large outdoor tank so they could set up for their studies on small fish called the sand lance.  During that chat Dr. Young gave them some heart-stopping info - OIMB is not approved to carry out or hold any live vertebrate animals of any kind.  Doing so is a violation of state fish and wildlife regulations. Yikes!  Luckily during that same conversation they came up with an alternative plan for their project. Instead of doing a lab study, they plan to collect data on these fish in the field.  Emergency averted!

During the afternoon we spent a couple of hours on the topic of the day - non-fish marine vertebrates, i.e., mainly marine mammals with a little about sea turtles and sea snakes tossed in,  The class ate that up.

Then since this was May the Fourth, it was "Star Wars Day".  To commemorate that cultural icon, the crew was invited to a showing of "Star Wars IV: A New Hope".  About a dozen of them joined in. That was fun.

All right, back to research!

Day 1: Of gorgeous days and gathering forces...

Day 1: At 11pm last night, Daniel (my student assistant) and I finally arrived at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology after 16 long hours on the road.  It was all worth it, however, when we were awoken this morning by the sounds of gulls calling and sea lions barking.  Today was beyond gorgeous.  It’s the kind of day you can usually only dream about when you plan a trip to the Oregon Coast.  It was sunny, calm, and warm…in fact, my phone showed a high of 81o!  Wow!!!

I showed Daniel around some of the local shore habitats, and we then went back to OIMB and unloaded the van into our lab.  About then students started to trickle in.

Two students arrived before lunch and three more before dinner.  They couldn’t wait to get to the shore so I sent those who wanted to go with Daniel and off they went.  I stayed here to wait for other students to arrive. 

Everything reportedly went great with the walking trip to the shore, but then, just about when they were wrapping things up, the group had its first misadventure.  They were out at the end of the Charleston Harbor Jetty when one of the students slipped and fell into the water.  Happily she emerged safely and in good humor.  Sadly, she had her phone in her pocket.  Happily her worst injuries were a few small scrapes.  And, happily, she made a surprising discovery when she got back to the dorm…she had accidentally collected a few small intertidal isopods, Idotea wosnesenski, during her slip and splash.  The isopods were gripping tightly to her shirt.  Lastly, happily, she took them back and released them someplace where they will be fine.

Well, if you are going to have a misadventure there’s no reason to piddle around and wait any longer than the first day.

As for gathering forces...all of the students except one are here.  The last one will arrive on Monday after he finishes a required weekend training session with the National Guard.  

Lastly, I will wrap up this day by inviting the group to my cottage to celebrate “Star Wars Day” (May the Fourth).  Those who are interested can join me in watching Star Wars IV: A New Hope!  We jump to light speed in less than an hour.

The Fourth is strong with this one.  May the Fourth Be With You!