By Erica J. Burton ( 8 July 2016)

Being a MLML student during the post-earthquake 90s meant learning, working, studying, and maybe living (caretakers) in the Salinas trailers (Fig. 1). Sitting in the middle of agriculture fields may have made a student question their recent arrival and admission to the lab. However, the Salinas office staff (including Gail Johnston and Sandy Yarbrough) made students feel welcome and connected to their home campuses. The Librarians, Sheila Baldridge and Sandy O’Neill, took great interest in the students and their projects; and could always retrieve the most obscure, needed references. And the faculty had an energetic quality that inspired, united, and promoted the student body.

As a first-year student, you may have attended a core class (or two) in the triple-wide trailer on the island in Moss Landing (neighbors to the bait & tackle shop, and the original Phil’s Fish Market (Fig. 2); land now occupied by the MLML aquaculture facility).   Also on the island was (is) the MLML Small Boat and Diving Operations building (Fig. 3); a student’s gateway to small boat usage in Elkhorn Slough or SCUBA diving field work (Fig. 4).

Although the temporary MLML campuses were separated by ~16 miles, the MLML community was tight-knit, and chock-full of camaraderie and can-do attitudes. There was nothing we couldn’t do (or at least try). Close-quarters in the trailer labs may have aided our tight-knit community, as shown in the Ichthyology Lab (Fig. 5).

Class projects and thesis work brought students together. Students were always willing to lend a hand; near or far. It could have been an ecology class project collecting rocky intertidal fishes, manipulative experiments in Stillwater Cove, class cruises aboard the R/V Point Sur and R/V Ricketts (Figs. 6, 7), or convincing excuses to conduct field work in Baja California, Mexico (Fig. 8).

Graduate school kept us busy days, nights, weekdays, and weekends. But those who worked hard also found time to let off steam at house parties, local watering holes, extracurricular sports, poker games, bus rides to a SF baseball/football game, ski trips, etc. The Blue House (Fig. 9) was a good place to start or end an evening; and typically involved a crooked stroll to, and from, Ray’s (aka The Moss Landing Inn). House parties may have had a live band, and there was almost always dancing involved. Monterey hot spots included Doc Ricketts, Players, Planet Gemini, Blue Fin Billiards, karaoke at the Marriott, Mucky Duck, and $2-Tuesdays at the Dream Theater (Fig. 10). The annual Bowling Tournament among faculty, staff, and students was always a big hit (Figs. 11, 12). And occasionally, faculty would host a their own lab party (Fig. 13).

During the 90s, there was a constant effort to rebuild the lab; especially for the faculty and staff. But the students were involved, too. It was part of our psyche. There were awareness campaigns; Open House events to let the public know we were still part of the community and that we’d return to Moss Landing; visits to the Salinas courthouse for hearings; and finally celebratory events on the hill (Fig. 14).  The new lab opened in January 2000. Many of the students during the trailer years would never occupy the new lab. But, I think many would agree, the 90s weren’t about the lack of a permanent lab structure; they were about the MLML spirit, quality of education, and long-lasting friendships that were made during our Salinas years.

 

By Mark Carr, Todd Anderson, and Mickey Singer (30 June 2016)

By Ross Clark, Dan Reed, Bob Enea, Dave Schiel, Matt Edwards,  Mickey Singer, and Jasmine Ruvalcaba (26 June 2016)

Stillwater Cove of the 1970 and 1980s

Dan Reed: One of the things that I remember most about doing my thesis research at Stillwater Cove was the sense of feeling like a local at one of the most elite country clubs in the nation. After a while the guards at the gate knew who I was as did the manager at the Pebble Beach and Tennis Club.  I also became neighborly with some of the locals who hung out at the beach. The local who I interacted most with was an elderly Italian caddy at the golf course. He would show up early in the mornings to walk the beach looking for errant golf balls that he sold back to the pro shop and to hunt for mushrooms on the fairways which he would cook up for dinner.  We would discuss his day’s catch of balls and shrooms and talk a little sports and weather. He was a colorful guy who had a great outlook on life and was one of the people I always looked forward to seeing on my dive trips to SWC.

Many years after I had left Moss Landing I was talking to Dave Schiel about the good old days diving at SWC.   Dave had been a post doc of Mike Foster’s a year or two after I graduated from MLML and SWC was one of his study sites. Dave began telling me about a day at  SWC when he was wearing a MLML t-shirt that had a picture of the RV Ricketts and this guy who was at the beach collecting golf balls started talking to him about how he once went on a cruise with Doc Ricketts to the Sea of Cortez.  It turned out to be my old caddy friend Sparky Enea, who along with Tiny Colletto was a seaman on the Western Flyer during Steinbeck’s famous voyage with Doc Ricketts. Sparky and Tiny grew up together in Monterey and Steinbeck described them as “bad little boys who were very happy about it”. The two were involved in many of the adventures that Steinbeck wrote about in The Log from the Sea of Cortez and they also were featured in Cannery Row. Needless to say I was surprised to learn Sparky’s true identity from Dave.  I was (and continue to be) very jealous that Dave’s conversation with Sparky was about Sparky’s adventures with Ricketts and Steinbeck while my many conversations with him focused on golf balls and mushrooms.

 

Bob Enea: Yes that's right Sparky was my uncle, but there is a little more to the story of SWC.  My dad, Salvatore "Gan" Enea was Sparky's older brother, was the "harbormaster" at SWC for about 20 years after he retired from fishing. He was a good friend of Sam Morse, the founder of Pebble Beach.   He also collected golf balls and hunted for  mushrooms.

I remember seeing two big cardboard boxes in the trunk of his car filled with golf balls.  He sold them back the pro shop at Cypress Point. I guess those two had the monopoly on golf balls there. The mushrooms went into the spaghetti sauce we had every Sunday when they were in season. ( here is a family secret, the best place to find mushrooms was just across the road from the Crocker mansion near Cypress Point) Delicious!!!  Sparky always had a pat phrase when someone would ask him about the Sea of Cortez trip, quote:  "I have a thousand wacky tales I could tell you".  And he did!  He was quite a character.

Dave Schiel: I do remember never having seen giant kelp in abundance and stepping off into some wrack on the shore, just below the old pier, and virtually disappearing into muck. I remember some regally dressed duffers, obviously clothed straight from the pro shop, slicing shot after shot at us while we were trying to launch a boat. I remember seeing Dan's Pretygophora still happily occupying the gullies around his experiment, which he had set up by slicing off those plants two years previously. El Nino eventually took care of them, as well as the old pier, and as well as the boat that Don Canestro and I staked to the fairway because the wind came up so strongly we couldn't carry it uphill. The boat, half the fairway and the green joined the pier, somewhere in the cove.

I remember, like Dan, meeting some very nice folks in the car park. Neil Andrew and I once saw an exquisite elderly lady emerge from her chauffeur-driven car. She was decked out in a mink coat and greeted us cordially. The memorable thing was that her teeth were pretty much gold. Now that is opulence!

I left a lot of chum in that Cove, thanks to the donuts that Don used to bring for breakfast. And, of course, there was the episode of students leaving a spear in the Avon and deflating most of the hull while we were diving. And the young keen students from out east somewhere, who panicked diving on a no-viz day and dropped a hammer, quadrats and various heavy objects on my head.

But mostly I remember having a grand time diving with everyone. Mike Foster was in his heyday, and we all got out there as much as possible. I think I did over 200 dives there in the couple of years I spent.

Stillwater Cove research in the 1990s.

Ross Clark and Matt Edwards: When it came to kelp forest research the Mike Foster Phycology lab of the 1990s was a force to be reckoned with. The Dive Program at Moss Landing Marine Labs provided tanks, dive trucks, Zodiacs and 15 horsepower motors; the students provided the strong backs, the core body heat, and the sure will needed to get the research done. The subtidal ecology class introduced most of us to the art of field ecology and the science of diving and often to our beloved species of study for years to come. As we told our advisors many times, underwater ecology took longer than two years to complete.

Stillwater diving during summer months was a five-day-a-week activity, with multiple Zodiacs full of students, their equipment such as transect tapes, rebar, PVC, Zspar and, and for those lucky ones with Meyers grants, stainless bolts for attaching, counting, moving, removing and strapping our creatures of interest into new and hopefully scientifically interesting densities, depths and distributions. It was a time of clear-it, cage-it, count-it ecology. Once our research was in place, the temporal changes became the commitment we sometimes found to regret. The summer comradery of divers dwindled as winter waves approached and the holidays loomed. While Stillwater was an aptly named place for research during the summer months, those of us who chose to take on seasonal studies found Stillwater in the winter to often be a misnomer. Diving on December 24^th was a reality for the few of us that needed our end of the year data before we traveled home for the holidays. Spring diving came with chilling upwelled waters that drained our bodies of the heat we had so lovingly added through Phil’s terrible coffee. More than once, Matt and I needed to push each other into the water to complete that last chilling dive of the day when involuntary self-preservation made it difficult otherwise. The George Leonard 24hr bat star roundups and Lawrence Honma midnight to 6 am limpet movement observations gave us daytime researchers a rare glimpse into Stillwater Cove after dark.

Other times, the Cove was a magical place where we found ourselves with extra tanks of air and the time to explore undersea caves, gaze up at schools of anchovies circling within our kelp clearings or be surprised by gray whales popping up through the kelp beside our Zodiac. With site names ranging from Neptune’s Doorstep to Satan’s Hallow, the Cove offered us a variety of habitats in which to do our work. Our dive days ended with the usual carrying of gear up the stairs from the beach to the dive truck and a quick round of the age-old children’s game “Not-It” to see who had to drive home and who got to nap. No matter who that was, navigating the route was never an issue. The truck - like a rented trail pony – seemed to know the way, which almost always involved a stop at the Marina Taco Bell where burritos were purchased as payment for dive assistance or for those who found the lost quadrat or dive knife. As the teacher assistant for the subtidal ecology class, I hosted an underwater midterm lab exam where divers searched in-situ for the species listed on their clipboards; the length of the exam determined by the air in their tank. While we may have left a bit more than bubbles in Stillwater Cove, the researchers that finished their Stillwater research have drafted numerous publications that have contributed greatly to the advancement of kelp forest ecology and made Stillwater one of the most studied kelp forests.

Research diving continues into the 2000s

Jasmine Ruvalcaba: My first experience with Stillwater Cove started with interning for Selena McMillan, a graduate student in the Phycology lab at MLML in 2006. I had recently completed the summer research diving course through MLML. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed about research diving. Selena’s project was working with giant kelp and snail grazers. Goals were to build copper frames and create an inclusion setting with different amounts of snails per plant. Little did I know this would be the start of years of research diving at Stillwater Cove for me while it’s been home to research for decades.

From hauling a zodiac, motor, and gear with the dive truck in the winter to suiting up in our wetsuits and swimming to the whaler that would be moored in Stillwater Cove during the summer months, we would regularly go out until the job was done. From 2009-2012 I teamed up with Mike Fox and Arley Muth to carry out a National Science Foundation grant for Dr. Michael Graham.  I fondly remember the days where Stillwater Cove lived up to its name, arriving in the morning to glassy waters. Other times we had to call the dive due to bad conditions and go to the Moss Landing Café for the best breakfast sandwich in town.

Every month for 3 years we were diving at Stillwater Cove and it became our second home. From the stands of stalked kelp plants that we would regularly monitor to the rocky outcrops and sand channels that were ingrained in our minds to use as navigational aids, we picked up a sixth sense for finding our study areas in the worst of visibility. A permanent mooring would serve as our home base during dives with the boat tied. Other sites we would visit were Foster’s site where previous research had been conducted years before. In addition to grant work, we would all have ongoing theses projects here. This gave us an incredible amount of time underwater with over 200 dives. Work with each other became so second nature that each of us would know the next step before being gestured by a buddy. There is an incredible relationship between dive buddies, essentially you trust each other with each other lives.

The post dive eatery has changed over the years where Marina’s Papa Chevo’s was the place to have a burrito after we dove. Then we would struggle to not fall into a burrito coma while rinsing gear back at small boats. The post dive appetite is quite impressive. Stillwater Cove’s legacy will continue to be a source of knowledge for research to come in future generations. MLML diving and small boats program is an incredible resource at the lab and provides invaluable experience in the field.

By Tara Pastuszek (9 June 2016)

During the Austral Summer of 2013, the R/V Point Sur sailed to Antarctica and spent two months supporting operations while based at Palmer Research Station. Participating in this historic voyage was a privilege and I feel I can speak for the entire crew in expressing the pride of getting to see her, the Sur, in one of the most majestic places on earth.

R/V Point Sur was built in 1980, is 135 feet in length, beam of 32 feet, has a draft of 9 feet, displacement tonnage of 539 tons, was owned by the NSF and operated by MLML as part of the UNOLS academic fleet until 2015.

To make the trip a large amount of equipment was added (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, Marine Sanitation Device, Oily Water Separator, Thermal Imaging Camera, water purification system, ice gear), then much planning (risk management plan, surveys of the vessel, insurance, weather/ice forecasting, and foreign port and Palmer provisioning).

The transit south to Punta Arenas, Chile:

• Depart MLML on 28 November 2012
• 8,600 nautical miles
• 38 days
• 31,000 gallons of fuel used
• Two refueling stops
• 1 Christmas tree

Now you have to cross the infamous Drake Passage, considered one of the most dangerous patches of water in the world to get to Palmer Station, Antarctica.

 

Typical Drake Passage crossing:

 

The R/V Point Sur crossing (4 days):

 

The R/V Point Sur supported NSF-sponsored research regarding:

• Geology
• Marine mammals
• Krill and zooplankton
• Physical Oceanography
• Penguins
• Sub-tidal mooring recovery (Chile)
• Water sampling (Mexico)

 

Here are some Antarctica flashbacks from a cook’s perspective:

Though I cannot explain much about the krill density study that was conducted on the vessel, I can say that the soon-to-be-famous Creole krill cake was mighty tasty!

We throw the term ice water around so easily on land. When you spend day after day looking at ice and water combined with ever-changing light, the sheer beauty of it all eludes the camera.

Penguins are adorable.

Penguins really stink.

Taking a break in the middle of your work day to hang out near a penguin colony is so much fun it makes it easy to tolerate the smell.

I will probably always say that a minke whale is the most gorgeous and graceful creature I have ever witnessed in motion.

I will never forget what a whale’s breathe smells like. Thank you to Ari Friedlaender and the whole team for my boat ride and a whale-watching trip like no other! It was my first, and hopefully not my last, Cetacean Vacation!

The crew of the Point Sur made sure to leave a mark and a bit of Moss Landing at Palmer Station.

There are so many people who were involved with the planning, preparation and execution of this journey. The support of the MLML community was felt and appreciated by the whole crew and never let it be said that MLML does not throw a great welcome home party!

The logistics were daunting at times. Those of you who know Stewart Lamerdin know that he really needed this Chilean beer as he prepared to send the Sur to cross the Drake. Thank you, Stewart, for your tireless effort which made this whole journey a reality.

Thank you to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories for giving me the opportunity to play in your world. I was able to pursue my own passion and learn so much from the people around me, each and every day. This made my almost six years with you a truly rewarding and rich experience. Happy Anniversary.

Thank you to the crew (and relief crew!) I was privileged to sail with and for our safe return.

Closing with one more picture and the names that belong to those beaming faces.

Crew of the R/V Point Sur at Palmer Station:

Back row:

A/B, Scott Hansen

2^nd Mate, Leah Harman

Chief Engineer, Barrett Carpenter

Marine Technician, Stian Alesandrini

A/B, Alex Wick

Assistant Engineer, Jack Lavariega

 

Lower row:

Chief Mate/Ice Advisor, Capt. Diego Mello

Chief Steward/Chef, Tara Pastuszek

A/B, Amy Biddle

Captain Rick Verlini

 

Fun Facts:

• 19,906 total nautical miles sailed
• 81,212 gallons of diesel consumed
• 2,274 pounds of meat cooked and eaten
• 59,346 gallons of freshwater used
• 6 foreign ports visited
• 2,120 eggs consumed
• 11 pilots sailed aboard the R/V Point Sur to assist with navigation
• 146 pounds of coffee brewed
• 45 scientists worked aboard the vessel
• Public outreach: Daisy Ingraham Elementary School (Westbrook CT), Leesburg Elementary School (Leesburg, FL), Toro Park Elementary School (Salinas, CA)
• 14,000 hits on the Point Sur blog site during the trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

50 years of the Sea Grant vision: science serving the coast

By Rick Starr (2 June 2016)

What is Sea Grant and what do you do at MLML?  That is the question I am most often asked when I tell people I am with California Sea Grant and MLML. If I am busy I usually utter something cryptic like “Sea Grant helps coastal communities” and then hurry away because it often takes me several rounds of my favorite beverage to fully explain Sea Grant. Looking back in time, I was in the job for a few years before I began to understand the entire scope of California Sea Grant.

The long answer “What is Sea Grant?” goes back 50 years to the same year that MLML was born. Our country was in a period of time when there was an emphasis on science and asserting U.S. control over the natural resources of the Exclusive Economic Zone (the coastal ocean out to 200 miles off the coast); Congress wanted to make university research available to help communities utilize our nation’s coastal resources and started sending money to research institutions – see Director Harvey’s last blog: The OTHERS THAT TURNED 50 to learn about other marine labs that started in the 1960s.

In 1966, Congress and President Johnson established the National Sea Grant Program. Conceived as a Federal-State partnership, the National Sea Grant College program now has 33 partnership programs - one in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Each of the 33 Sea Grant programs receives an annual grant from NOAA to fund applied research, extension, and communication programs – the 3 legs of the national plan to “put science to work for America’s coastal communities”. California Sea Grant is headquartered in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

As an aside for all you PIs who’ve had funding from Sea Grant over the years, the original 1966 legislation requires the onerous 50% match for federal dollars!

Sea Grant and MLML have had a close relationship since they were created 50 years ago, primarily because both groups have the goal of conducting high quality applied research to help solve environmental problems. In the early years of Sea Grant, the emphasis was on improving ways to extract, process, and distribute resources (fishes, invertebrates, oil, gas, etc.) from the coastal zone, but by the 1990s it became apparent that people and businesses were really good at extracting resources and that Sea Grant research was needed to help prevent or minimize problems associated with overfishing, water pollution, invasive species, tsunamis, coastal erosion, coastal armoring, and wetland loss, among other things. Sea Grant research changes as societal needs change, so now the national focus is on providing information to maintain healthy coastal ecosystems, resilient communities and economies, ensure sustainable fisheries, increase aquaculture products, help communities adapt to climate change, and help improve environmental literacy and workforce development.

Sea Grant Funds Research and Students

As early as 1973 the collaboration between California Sea Grant and MLML was evident as James Jensen and Sara Tanner wrote a MLML – Sea Grant sponsored technical report that contained an annotated checklist of the marine algae of the Moss Landing Jetty. Soon afterwards, MLML researchers received Sea Grant funds to lead a large multi-disciplinary, multi-year research effort to understand the biology of market squid. MLML Director Jim Harvey (then a shaggy-haired grad student) and Professor Gregor Cailliet (then a hard working volleyball player disguised as a professor) played big roles in that project. In 1978, after three years of research, the group summarized and published the biological, oceanographic and acoustic aspects of the market squid in Cal Fish and Game Fish Bulletin 169. That work was an important contribution to the knowledge of one of the state’s biggest fisheries. Other work conducted in the 1970s by Drs. Cailliet and Nybakken included ecological investigations of the Sablefish trap fishery and studies of Elkhorn Slough ecology to improve wetland management.

For several years in the 1980s Sea Grant provided funds to Mike Foster to help support MLML Open Houses. Sea Grant also provided some support for new equipment when the old lab was remodeled in the 1980s (pre- earthquake).  Examples of a few grants that came to Greg Cailliet and MLML in the 80s include:

• Application of aging techniques to emerging elasmobranch fisheries: Some of the species the Ichthyology Lab studied back then included: Blue, Thresher, Mako, White, Leopard, and Angel Sharks
• Tag return analysis of California Sturgeon and Elasmobranchs
• Age determination of bank rockfish (with Loo Botsford of UC Davis)
• Description of the larval development of CA rockfish (with Val Loeb)

 

Also, in the mid-80s California Sea Grant published “Blue Water Diving Guidelines", edited by MLML Diving Officer John Heine, a book that set the standard for research diving. Kenneth Coale contributed a chapter to that book.

The Sea Grant – MLML connection goes beyond funding research. The California Sea Grant Extension Program has been active in the Monterey Bay region since the early 1970s. University academics with Extension positions in California are tasked with “extending” university research by helping coastal communities solve practical problems. The way California Sea Grant Extension does this is by using collaborative research as a tool. Extension people listen to user groups, identify issues that can be better addressed with more information, and engage other academics and communities in research projects.

Tommy Thompson was the original Sea Grant Extension Agent - had an office at the labs in the early 1970s and was the lab’s dive officer. He started the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project, which at the time was focused on rearing salmon smolts in marine waters to enhance the fishery. Later in the 70s Jim Waldvogel continued to help the Salmon and Trout Project before he moved to Crescent City.

In the early-1980s MLML welcomed California Sea Grant Extension Agent Ed Melvin to MLML. Ed worked on a variety of fishery issues, such as on-board handling of salmon and albacore, working with the new Vietnamese immigrant fishermen in the area, and was a mainstay of the Advisory Committee that guided the development of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. As the 1990s arrived, Ed Melvin and Greg Cailliet began to work on everyone’s favorite slime producer – the Pacific Hagfish.   Ed moved to Seattle in 1990 to work for Washington Sea Grant. For years now Ed has been a leader in the development of techniques to prevent seabird mortalities in longline fisheries. Also, MLML graduate Susan McBride (now Susan Schlosser) served as an Extension Specialist in Eureka from 1992 until she retired in 2012.

 

After a 2-year gap, I arrived in 1992 to continue the California Sea Grant – MLML connection. That was quite a transition for me. I came from a beautiful research facility in Oregon to a leaky shack (i.e. trailer) in the parking lot of the shore lab. When the wind blew hard in the summer time I had to cover my computer and leave the trailer because wind blew sand sideways across the “office”. That was better than the winter, however, because when it rained I had to cover my desk with a tarp and put buckets out to collect water as it gushed through the leaky roof. Ahh, but those were the Good Old Days, I was just a few steps away from the beach and the volleyball court.

The California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program here at MLML is an example of an Extension project. In the last 10 years, more than 30 MLML grad students have worked at sea with >800 volunteer anglers to catch, tag, and release fish inside and outside marine reserves. While we have been tagging fish, we’ve talked with fishermen and educated people about the life history and management of fishes, conservation needs and resource policy approaches (e.g., the values of reserves). Dean Wendt of Cal Poly SLO and I created CCFRP because we believe that management of resources is best accomplished if user groups are involved in data collection. This project typifies the premise of Sea Grant Extension work – that resource management solutions are more lasting if interested public parties are involved.

At that time I started in my leaky shack Gregor, Val Loeb, and Mary Yoklavich received Sea Grant funds to investigate the distribution, abundance, and recruitment of larval rockfish while in the trailers in Salinas. Also Kenneth Coale and Greg Cailliet, Allen Andrews, and Erica Burton worked with Sea Grant funding to develop techniques for using radioactive isotopes to validate ages of long-lived rockfishes. That work continued with Allen Andrews, who used bomb carbon signatures to age fishes. Next came Sea Grant funds to help survey shark and ray fisheries in the Gulf of California. In addition to providing excellent information about elasmobranchs in Baja, that project provided bundles of fun. Read Joe Bizzarro’s blog (Baja Adventures) for a sample of their (mis)adventures.

Sea Grant Funds Students

One of the best areas of intersection between MLML and Sea Grant is each institution’s commitment to training new scientists. MLML’s philosophy of having grad students play major roles in field research projects not only results in lost or ruined equipment (call that gaining experience!), but also provides amazing training. Sea Grant has been glad to help support this philosophy by providing funding for “Traineeships” on research grants. Approximately two MLML students receive education and full research funding from California Sea Grant each year, and many others have received partial funding and work opportunities. As an example, Dave Ebert recounts that one Sea Grant project he had (studies of demersal Chondrichthyans) supported Lewis Barnett and Chris Rinewalt as Trainees, and another 8 students for a total of 10 students! By the way, that one project resulted in ~20 peer-reviewed publications so far, with a few more still to come.  Similarly, funding I’ve received has partially or fully supported about 3-5 students per year in the last 20 years.

In addition to funding grad students, California Sea Grant offers post-graduate fellowships for students to get on-the-job training with State and Federal agencies.  Each year, California Sea Grant places 15-20 recent graduates in a year-long policy fellowship, so good students can get an inside look at how agencies develop resource policies. MLML recent graduate Sara Worden currently has a Sea Grant Fellowship with the California Ocean Protection Council.

As you can tell from the last few paragraphs, funding in the first 30 years of MLML and Sea Grant was directed towards basic information about the biology of fishes. Sea Grant funding to MLML has diversified in the last 15 years. In the early 2000s Gary Greene and Rikk Kvitek received Sea Grant funds to develop and publish a habitat characterization of the California Continental Margin. Similarly, Lisa Kerr, Jason Cope and I received Sea Grant funds to publish a book on the Trends in Fisheries and Fishery Resources of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Just after that time, Mike Graham successfully competed for Sea Grant funds to study the population dynamics of the invasive kelp Undaria in Santa Barbara harbor. Mike followed that work up with a Sea Grant to culture red seaweeds to add to red abalone diets. Mike also was successful in getting a grant to develop methods for kelp preservation for feeding abalone.

Venturing further from studies of species of commercial use, from 2008–2011 Sea Grant funded Jim Harvey, Josh Adams, and Erika McPhee-Shaw to track Sooty Shearwaters to identify pathways of connectivity of Shearwaters in the California Current Upwelling System. Also, Larry Breaker was funded about that time to investigate why water temperatures in central California were decreasing as global atmospheric temperatures were increasing. Diana Stellar was awarded a grant in 2010 to study Rhodoliths with students Paul Tompkins, Scott Gabara, and Kristin Meagher.  Diana reminds us that Rhodolith means ‘red stone’ and they are unattached coralline algal nodules that roll around on the seafloor with the help of waves and currents.  Collectively they form a unique habitat over soft sedimentary bottoms and occur worldwide from the poles to the tropics!

Sea Grant Funding for Future Ocean Changes

Sea Grant funding to MLML in recent years has been focused on future ocean changes. A sample of projects MLML PIs have received recently includes:

• Response of Calcified and Fleshy Macroalgae to Warming and Ocean Acidification: from Single Species to Community Interactions (Scott Hamilton, Michael Graham)

• Effects of Ocean Acidification on Olfactory Senses, Swimming Physiology, and Gene Expression in Juvenile Rockfish (Scott Hamilton)

• Baseline Characterization of Rocky Intertidal Ecosystems (Ivano Aiello)

• CSU Center for Aquaculture workshop (Graham, Hamilton)
• Ocean acidification and hypoxia effects on reproduction in rockfish (Scott Hamilton)

The next 50 years

Sea Grant and MLML have enjoyed a great partnership for many years. Sea Grant has provided funding for research, graduate traineeships, and helped publish and distribute information generated from the research. MLML has helped Sea Grant by conducting great research, training grad students to be interested in solving societal issues, and housing Sea Grant Extension Specialists. We expect the partnership will continue to grow and thrive. Next fall we plan to advertise for a joint Sea Grant/MLML position in aquaculture. Both Sea Grant and MLML believe that an aquaculture program here at MLML has tremendous potential to help serve Californians. We look forward to another 50 years of collaboration.

 

by Greg Cailliet with help from others (26 May 2016)

This is a compilation of input from many MLML faculty, staff and graduate students, all of whom were involved in one way or the other with the operation of the museum at MLML. This is organized in chronological order. Much of the information was taken from some NSF proposals in past years to fund expansion and improvement of the MLML Museum (now called the Marine Biology Collection or MBC). Unfortunately, none of these proposals were funded and the MLML Museum is as successful as it is, mainly due to the hard work and dedication of past and present faculty and graduate students.

The MLML Museum is home to a herbarium collection of marine macrophyte (algae and plant) pressings, and many specimens of invertebrates, fishes, turtles, birds, and mammals. Much of this is in preservatives in jars, but there is also a fairly vast collection of dried specimens, bones, skins, and stuffed organism. This is a unique collection focusing on the biota of the Monterey Bay, collected during the last 50 years. It represents a thorough sampling of the flora and fauna of Monterey Bay and the larger sub-tropical and temperate Northeast Pacific region (Baja California, California, Oregon and Washington). It has proven to be a valuable research and teaching tool. Given the almost haphazard way in which the MBC was assembled, the procedures for accessioning, storage, care, observation, analysis, and loaning of MBC specimens have also been developed in an opportunistic fashion, and this will be part of the focus of this blog.

In 2009, many of the museum specimens in jars were used by local marine photographer, Jason Bradley, to produce some incredible images of deep-sea fishes and invertebrates (some images are interspersed in this blog). Jason has loaned MLML several large prints of these photographs and they hang in the hall near the Friends of MLML office (the Fangtooth, Anoplogaster cornuta), in the library (Krill, Euphausia pacifica, and the Longfin Dragonfish Tactostoma macropus), and one – a photograph of yours truly behind some jars of fishes in the museum – hangs above my desk in my home office. Jason Bradley Photographic is at P.O. Box 51621, Pacific Grove, CA 93950; phone: 818.415.2767.

The MLML museum collection has a long history, going back to the first days in 1965 when MLML evolved as a California State College (now University) marine station in the Beaudette Foundation building. The idea of keeping representative specimens of local and west coast organisms for use in teaching and research was initiated by early MLML instructors, including James W. Nybakken and G. Victor Morejohn. Both of these instructors had considerable experience with museum specimens for their research and teaching. Indeed, the organization of the early card catalogue system was initiated by these two faculty members, along with others who were guest instructors (e.g. Jim Jensen - U.C. Berkeley, Peter Moyle -U.C. Davis, and Edgar Yarberry - Hartnell College).

Early Years

Phycology was first taught by Charles W. Bell (S.J.S.U.) in 1966 and later by Jim Jensen (U.C. Berkeley; Deceased), who is believed to have started the herbarium of pressed algae and some marine plants. Judy (Hansen) Johnson had a major role in the early herbarium collection at MLML. Judy was Jim Jensen’s TA. Jim was a traditional phycologist trained by J.F. Papenfuss from UCB, therefore, herbarium collections were of paramount importance in his classes. All students made class collections of 50 or more pressed/mounted local species from Monterey Bay. John Bell built a plant press dryer (the shape/size of a coffin) to continually dry the presses in the back of the classroom. The room smelled chronically like seaweed drying on the beach.

Judy curated the early herbarium collections. She used the labeling technique of the UCB herbarium and later that of Isabella A. Abbott (Hopkins Marine Station). Permanent herbarium specimens were mounted on 100% rag paper, therefore, should last for a 100 years. When Judy graduated in 1972, Sara Tanner and Lynn McMasters continued on with curating the herbarium.

John Hansen (FSU), Barry Turner, and Gary Davidson were the first graduate students of MLML in 1966 – working with John Harville. John worked on the boring shell symbionts/parasites of abalone with Jim Nybakken, and Judy believes that the large collection of abalone shells went into the invert collection. John and Barry worked closely with Vic Morejohn and Jim Nybakken in the early collection and accessioning of specimens of invertebrates, fishes, birds, and mammals.

Gary McDonald, who was a graduate student at MLML from 1970 to 1976 was put him in charge of the invertebrate collection by Nybakken after his first year, and he believes he was the first “official” curator of that collection. Shane Anderson collected a number of invertebrates for the museum during this time, including some during the R. V. Makrele cruise.

Fishes and Vertebrates:

Victor Morejohn apparently started the MLML museum, mainly for vertebrate specimens to be used for teaching. Gary Kukowski contributed some of the fish specimens to the collection during this time, while both Dan Varoujean and Larry Talent also contributed specimens from their field sampling.

Dan Varoujean, having collected birds for the Biology Department museum at California State University at Fresno prior to coming to MLML, applied his experience under the tutelage of Victor Morejohn and collected seabirds from 1969 to 1972, with many of these specimens being put-up as study skins for the museum by students under the supervision of Dan and Victor.  Dan also collected Dall’s porpoise and retrieved marine mammal specimens that were cetaceans and pinnipeds found dead on the beaches of Monterey Bay. In 1971 Dan was awarded the salaried position of boat captain of the R.V. Orca and curator of the vertebrate museum. As curator, he continued to collect and prepare seabird and marine mammal specimens and prepared fish brought in by others for inclusion into the museum reference collection.

Dave Lewis said that his “recollections of his time as curator of the vertebrate museum at MLML are quite similar to Dan’s. He collected mostly seabirds and beach-cast marine mammals to add to the collection, maintained “The Boneyard” and provided skins and bones for Vic Morejohn’s marine mammals course. Dave said his “most difficult single assignment was to attempt to retrieve a rotting leatherback turtle carcass from the kelp bed off the DFG Granite Canyon lab (“I figured I could simply swim out, strap it to a dive mat and haul it in - I was lucky to just get the head!- Presumably it’s still in the collection.).”

In addition to the mostly humdrum duties at the museum, Dave performed necropsies for the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) on sea otter carcasses they provided, working with Morejohn and Jack Ames.  They quickly established that several of the otters had apparently been hit by boats, based on the obvious blunt trauma and consecutive propeller slash marks.  Their CDFG technical report was already in press when Jack, performing one last necropsy of a boat-battered otter, noticed a tiny serrated tooth fragment deep in one of the “propeller” slashes.  The fragment proved to be from a Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), and they had to scramble to amend their report accordingly.

 

1972-1983:

This was the decade during which new faculty were added at MLML and they had an influence on the MLML museum.

Tommy W. Thompson, from the University of Wisconsin, was added to the MLML to serve as the diving safety officer, the marine botany faculty member, and the MLML Sea Grant coordinator. Bette Nybakken recalls that he went on sick leave for the 1974 academic year she was hired to teach phycology for the spring and fall semesters. Bette had students make collections both semesters and accessioned some of those specimens for the Herbarium. And, she says “the herbarium was just one large cabinet in the classroom that year.” Sara Tanner was her TA both semesters, and, Jim Harvey was one of her students.

When Mike Foster came to MLML from CSU Hayward in 1976, Lynn McMasters was his T.A. for 2-3 years and added to the herbarium. Mike notes that Jim Norris added Gulf of California specimens, and Mike added pressed specimens of species from southern California and Puget Sound.

Gary McDonald continued to curate the museum until he left to work at U.C. Santa Cruz in 1976. Curation of the invertebrate collection was passed on briefly to Kathy Mawn, and then John Cooper (unfortunately now deceased) took over and had that job for some time.

Gary provided a photo he took of the museum in April 1973, with a hand-held camera without a flash. So, it is not very sharp, but it is all we can find. In it, the formalin room is at the left rear, the fish collection in cabinets is in the aisle at right rear, the invertebrate collection in cabinets is at right & out of frame. The gray/brown cabinet at center rear might be the algae collection, but he was not sure.

James W. Nybakken always had an active interest in this collection. Between Jim’s and Greg Cailliet’s interests, there were many contributions, especially deep-sea midwater and benthic organisms, mainly from class cruises aboard the various research vessels available at MLML. The museum has a fabulous collection of deep-sea invertebrates and fishes (see also M. Eric Anderson’s comments later), some of which are fairly rare, and these have been used often by both MLML and outside researchers.

Gregor M. Cailliet started at MLML in the fall of 1972, and had experience with teaching and research collections of invertebrates and fishes at UCSB during graduate school. So, it was easy and interesting for him to take on the MLML museum fish collection. One of his first graduate students, M. Eric Anderson, took over as curator of the fish collection in 1973 and continued in that role until he graduated in 1977. Eric recounts that “At the start, the research collection consisted of less than 200 lots, the teaching collection was about 40 lots, and we had no dry skeletal, otolith, or larval material. The research catalogue was a card file started by Victor Morejohn and was a unique ecological system in which a specimen’s habitat or community was identified followed by a numerical indication.”

Eric’s research centered on midwater trawling in Monterey Submarine Canyon to attempt to keep mesopelagic critters alive in aquaria for study. He built a small midwater trawl with a special cod end to buffer the effects of hauling and was rather successful with some animals (midwater eelpouts, snailfish, one octopod, and shrimp). In addition, a lot of fish and invertebrate species from the Canyon were added to the museum from this effort, all trawled from MLML’s little tugboat, the R. V. Artemia (sometimes also known as the ST-908, its original name at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and the Good Ship Lolipop, for its multiple colors).

With Greg Cailliet and John McCosker’s support and enthusiasm, Eric was mentored also by the curators at the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), Bill Eschmeyer and Tomio Iwamoto. Because of this, his objective as student curator was to build the research collection in terms of species and localities. This was possible through our own collecting and engaging in specimen exchanges with other museums, notably the British Columbia Provincial Museum. Specimens also were donated by collaborative scientists like Edgar Yarberry, John McCosker, and Bob Lea.

Eric also added that “A huge amount of enthusiasm and help in supporting my desire to build the fish collection goes to fellow students Brooke Antrim, Dave Ambrose, Rich Kliever, Gary McDonald, Ed Osada, my late wife Karen Anderson, and needless to say Greg Cailliet for his vision and financial support from some of his grants to expand the museum holdings. Thanks everyone, some great memories!”

Brooke Antrim remembrances: From the moment I arrived at ML in the fall of ’73, I knew I wanted to be involved with the Museum in whatever capacity I possibly could. At that time Gary McDonald was the Invertebrate Curator and M. Eric Anderson was the Fish Curator. The Museum was truly a cramped room of probably less than 400 sq. ft. housing 2 working desks, 2 prep sinks, 1 exhaust hood (story to follow), probably 2 cabinets of accessioning supplies and the rest of the space held all of the liquid preserved invertebrate and fish specimens. After three years of helping Eric with his duties when I could, in ’77 I became the Fish Curator when Eric left to pursue his doctorate.

Brooke continues: These were truly thrilling, exciting and vibrant years. The Collection was in its infancy, we were establishing protocols for preservation and accessioning, specimens were being donated by professional colleagues and other research institutions and almost every research cruise that put to sea provided some specimen that would end up being a new addition to the Collection.   There was a sense of exploration that I can only imagine 19^th century explorers must have held as they sought to sample ecosystems never touched by man. In fact during these years, the mid-water and deep-sea collection cruises were so diverse that several invertebrate and fish specimens resulted in new species descriptions. It would not be too much of a stretch to say that there was an adrenaline rush every time the net broke the surface of the water as to what secrets it would reveal.

Victor Morejohn continued to have a role in adding specimens of marine reptiles, birds and mammals to the museum. Lynn McMasters recalls taking Ichthyology and Birds and Mammals from Morejohn during one of the summer semesters in the early 1970s. She recalls preparing a bird study skin (probably still in the teaching collection) and a fish skeleton prep. The students got to take the skeleton preps home, but Lynn’s was eaten by her cat. Some students over the years used the “cat-ate-my-bone-prep” excuse for not turning theirs in for credit. Lynn was lucky that she got credit before her cat destroyed hers.

 

Roger Helm reports: “I was the Marine Bird and Mammal Curator/Lab Tech from 1977-78.  I shared space in that dark, dank, and stinky museum in the original building with John Cooper (a really nice human being, may he rest in peace) who was the Invert Curator.  The job was 1/4 time with the other 1/4 serving as the TA for Vic Morejohn's Marine Vertebrate and Marine Birds and Mammals classes.  The essence of the vertebrate museum tech job was to head out at all hours of the day and night to retrieve dead birds and mammals, or parts thereof. When I arrived at the lab, my mentor for this job was a big-hearted gal who was so focused on delighting Morejohn with carcasses and specimens that she didn't have time for much else.  I rapidly decided that if I was going to do this work I was going to stay upwind, dedicate a set of clothes and rain gear to the effort, and not miss a shower.”

Roger continues to say “It’s fair to say that Mike Rowe, star of the TV show Dirty Jobs, had nothing on MLML’s vertebrate museum techs.  I wonder what he would have made of the opportunity to dissect a dolphin whose innards had been baking inside their thick blubber layer for days. While those dissections were not so sweet, they were a fresh ocean breeze compared to acquiring samples from a disintegrating 30-ton gray whale rolling around in the surf. Fooling with formaldehyde, mucking around in the bone yard, and attending to less than fresh flesh and oozing body fluids was not for the squeamish. For me it was great fun running around the bay and addressing fresh carcasses and when they weren’t fresh I attacked them with the battle cry Remain Upwind!”

 

Post-Earthquake Trailers and Warehouse in Salinas (1989-2000)

In 1989, MLML and the space that housed the Museum were destroyed during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Miraculously, almost the entire MBC and associated card catalog databases were salvaged. The specimens that survived the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake were removed by a group of students lead by Aaron King, who used a tractor to move boxes of specimens from the museum site on pallets. These were moved first to a building at the former Spreckles (Sugar) Plant, and then to a site in a warehouse leased by MLML and SJSU on Vertin Avenue, in Salinas, that was near the SJSU satellite campus that became the temporary home of MLML.

Erik Cordes recalls: “My first job at Moss Landing was during an undergraduate internship in 1993. I spent many an hour hidden away in Vertin organizing the collection from the U. S. Navy-funded dredge waste disposal study. It was where I first discovered the vast array of undescribed invertebrate species in the deep sea, a finding that changed my path and sent me into the deep sea (sometimes literally) for the rest of my career.”

In the mid-1990s, the collection was moved from Salinas to MLML’s Norte site and in some temporary buildings near a surf shop. Several former MLML graduate students had recollections. Ned Laman adds that the move to Norte was a big group effort, with many days of driving back and forth through the lettuce fields of Salinas with lumber, cutting up plywood, then anchoring the shelving system. Both Ned and Erik recall some good lunches at the Central Texan in Castroville on the way between Salinas and Moss Landing. Then the specimen jars had to be prepared for transport to the shore. Ned recalls that “moving day from Vertin Avenue was one where we called on “all hands” of the core grad student body at that time and had a dozen or more people over there putting jars in 55 gallon barrels with vermiculite.” Bill Leopold and Julie Neer also remember helping them, and others, pack the jars in 55-gallon drums with vermiculite, and then move the museum collection from the Vertin Avenue warehouse to the trailer at MLML Norte.

Wade Smith reports that he was also one of the students who helped with the next transition, moving samples from the trailer down at Norte to the new lab, and topping off fluids regularly before and after the move. He said “I recall doing quite a bit of packing and organizing in the trailer there on the beach with Jeff Field, perhaps with Joe Bizzarro, and they were involved also packing up inverts as well as fishes.

Before the move to the hill, Wade recalls that some of the Ichthyology Lab members spent a lot of time working in the little bit of space that was available in the museum trailer at Norte. He reports that “the fumes were horrible in that room. Jeff, Joe, and I had a class project on shiner perch and pipefish diet and we did all of our dissections and work up in that room.” He thinks that was part of their project in Steven Morgan's Larval Ecology class. So, even that full, stinky (mammal, formalin, alcohol odor) room saw a fair bit of use. Wade transitioned to working at the present site on the hill during the move in 2000.

 

New Moss Landing Hill Site Building (2000-present)

When we moved into the new, and present, MLML building up on the hill, the MBC was subsequently transferred to a dedicated 4-room museum on the new MLML campus. The specimens were organized into specific locations, helped a great deal by new compact shelves that had been installed in the southern end of the museum space.

Wade Smith stated: “I always enjoyed the teaching collection. A lot of samples were in poor condition after years in Salinas. It was exciting to see the nice racks go into the museum space (as it was open/empty space for quite awhile after we moved in).”  He, and others, shelved the jars in the new museum on the hill (both invertebrates and fishes). Wade and Joe included some new specimens from Baja California. And, when the Pacific Shark Research Center was established, Dave Ebert's presence ramped up collection efforts and accessioning new specimens.

Since that time, growth of the MBC has accelerated due to use by researchers and students from MLML and beyond. It is used annually in 14 organism-based marine science courses at MLML. Data on fishes and invertebrates from numerous deep-sea and benthic trawling class cruises since the mid-1980s are stored on and available from the SIMoN (Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network, of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) – see here for the Sanctuary SIMoN species database and associated data bases.

 Specific voucher collections are also housed in the MLML museum. The include the following: – ACOE Collection, Cephalopod Beak Collection, ESI Reference Collection, Farallones Collection, Herbarium Collection, Hodgson Collection, Invertebrate Collection, Kaiser Refractories Collection, PG&E Collection, SWOOP Reference Collection, and the Slattery Collection. These can be found at the MLML Digital Commons.

Since our rebuilding, however, MLML researchers have also created four unique MBC research collections of worldwide importance: 1) the Global Kelp Archive; 2) the Pacific Shark Research Center's Chondrichthyan Taxonomy Collection; 3) a larval fish collection stressing local species; and 4) a collection of fish otoliths, cephalopod beaks, and other things useful for identifying prey of predators like larger fishes, birds, and mammals. These collections are the basis for long-term research programs that facilitate the research objectives of MLML faculty and students alike. As such, the MBC currently has two purposes: (1) maintenance and improvement of specialized research collections vital to studies of marine biodiversity, evolution, ecology, and conservation; and (2) maintenance and improvement of broad teaching collections essential to the organismal-training of marine science students.

Chris Rinewalt started putting the collection into a software program (Excel) that made it accessible, as Wade recollected wanting to do earlier. First, he and Aaron Carlisle went through all the class cruise (and other sample) data sheets for the SIMoN project. He said that sorting through the small binders of the old sampling sheets in the museum area was difficult. It involved trying to decipher the handwriting of students from 20+ years previous, along with their vague descriptions of sampling locations (or converting LORAN-C to Lat/Long), and scanning every available document (CTD casts, maps, drawings, etc.) into the database for eternal preservation. Unfortunately, the MBNMS folks at SIMoN did not use those metadata when they published it as an Access database on their website. And, now the important data are there, in both formats (Excel and Access) and available to all.

Also, when Chris Rinewalt worked in the museum while TA'ing for Ichthyology, he recalls many hours in the museum with the radio on, cataloging specimens and accessioning new entries. There apparently had been quite a back up from the trailer days and a lot of catch-up work had to be done. He reports seeing things he'd never seen before or since. He was very curious about the parts of whales and other mammals that were saved in 5-gallon jars. Chris’ main role was to update the museum collection in a state-of-the-art Excel spreadsheet. And, now those collection data are posted online, which comprises quite an upgrade. When Greg Cailliet retired in 2009, Scott Hamilton became the Ichthyologist, and has been active in getting the fish collection maintained and improved.

And, also in 2009, many of the museum specimens in jars were used by local marine photographer, Jason Bradley, to produce some incredible images of deep-sea fishes and invertebrates. Jason has loaned MLML several large prints of these photographs and they hang in the hall near the Friends of MLML office (the Fangtooth, Anoplogaster cornuta), in the library (Krill, Euphausia pacifica, and the Longfin Dragonfish Tactostoma macropus), and one – a photograph of yours truly behind some jars of fishes in the museum – hangs above my desk in my home office. Jason Bradley Photographic is at P.O. Box 51621, Pacific Grove, CA 93950; phone: 818.415.2767.

 

Jim Harvey re-activated interest in improving and adding to the bird, mammal, and reptile holdings of the Museum during this period. In the past several years, Catarina Pien has been doing a stellar job of improving the entire collection through maintaining fluids in the jars, photographing specimens, and making sure that the accessioning process and final resulting database are efficient.

Present Activities in the MLML Museum and How It Functions

Natural history collections (i.e. the collection and preservation of organisms whole or in part) are invaluable resources for biological research and teaching. They are snapshots of nature in space and time, and researchers from a variety of biological fields, from taxonomy to biogeography and paleontology, rely heavily on these collections to guide investigations into the evolutionary history of organisms and species.

Moreover, most ecological studies require that researchers not only have a good understanding of species identification, but that they know how to distinguish individuals of one species from another. It is natural history collections that facilitate proper species identification as well as an understanding of the spatiotemporal variability in organism form and condition. And, this natural history and taxonomic capability is something that is central to the education of both undergraduate and graduate students at MLML.

Improvements are occurring in the museum, including: 1) reorganization of specimens, primarily using compact storage units that more efficiently house specimens; 2) improving the care of specimens, including renewing preservation fluids, 3) updating of computer files on the holdings; 4) taking digital images of MBC specimens; and 5) maintaining a freezer storage unit of tissues for DNA sequences. This is presently being done by staff (Jocelyn Douglas) and student curatorial support, presently Catarina Pien and Heather Fulton-Bennett.

The MLML Museum contains at least 11,000 accessioned biological specimens, with ~75% housed in research collections and ~25% in teaching collections. The following is brief a taxonomic breakdown of accessioned specimens within the five taxonomic groupings representative of our faculty research and educational specialties.

 

 

In addition, there are otoliths from ~ 165 species of fishes, used for prey identification purposes, numerous lots of fish larvae, and a newly initiated frozen tissue collection.

This blog was a edited version, so if you want to read a full accounting of the history of the MLML museum by Greg Cailliet, please use this link.

By Jim Harvey (20 May 2016)

So as I have been preparing these blogs, I have been noting other marine labs and entities that also were celebrating 50 years of existence. It became obvious that many other marine labs originated at about the same time that Moss Landing Marine Laboratories began. So I went to the NAML site. MLML is a member of the National Association of  Marine Labs, and I went to as many of the listed websites as I could to determine the time they began. I did not include the state or federal labs (e.g. NOAA, EPA, CDFW, etc.) in this discussion. Here is a graph of the results (see list at end of blog):

 

What you see is that the first marine lab in the United States (at least for the ones that are members of NAML) was the Marine Biology Laboratory, started in 1888. MBL is located in Woods Hole Massachusetts.

Some other notable marine labs that were established at the onset were: Hopkins Marine Station (1892), Friday Harbor Laboratories (1903), Scripps Institute of Oceanography (1905), and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1930). MLML is the second oldest marine lab on Monterey Bay.

You also will  notice from the graph that about the time MLML started there was an explosion in the number of marine labs. In fact, of the 51 marine labs I investigated 17 (33%) were started in the decade of 1960 to 1969.  The other marine lab that began in 1966 when MLML was formed was Shoals Marine Laboratory that serves Cornell and the University of New Hampshire. You might also notice from the table at the end of the blog that we are the median lab (25 labs started before us, 25 after us), so we are not your "average" lab.

Many other things began around 1966, 50 years ago, and I have compiled a few of interest:

1. National Sea Grant

 

2. Charlie Brown Christmas

 

3. Grateful Dead (apparently first played as Grateful Dead in San Jose, CA)

 

4. Superbowl

 

5. VANS

 

6. Penthouse magazine

(I don't think I should have a picture here)

 

7. Star Trek

 

So MLML began when many other marine labs began, and when a number of other iconic institutions showed up.

Let me know what I missed.

 

 

List of the 51 marine labs I used to determine a timeline.

	INSTITUTION	YEAR	UNIVERSITY
1	Marine Biology Laboratory	1888
2	Hopkins Marine Station	1892	Stanford University
3	Marine Science Institute	1900	University of Texas
4	Friday Harbor Laboratories	1903	University of Washington
5	Scripps Institute of Oceanography	1905	University of California, San Diego
6	Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology	1912	University of Hawaii
7	Chesapeake Biological Laboratory	1925	University of Maryland
8	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution	1930
9	Oregon Institute of Marine Biology	1931	University of Oregon
10	Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences	1932
11	Duke University Marine Lab	1938	Duke University
12	Virginia Institute of Marine Science	1940	William and Mary
13	Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science	1943	University of Miami
14	Gulf Coast Research Lab	1947	University of Southern Mississippi
15	Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory	1949	Florida State University
16	Grice Marine Laboratory	1955	College of Charleston
17	Mote Marine Lab	1955
18	Bodega Marine Laboratory	1960	University of California, Davis
19	Dauphin Island Sea Lab	1963	Alabama's Marine Science Institution
20	Hubbs SeaWorld	1963
21	Darling Marine Center	1965	University of Maine
22	Telonicker Marine Lab	1965	Humboldt State University
23	Hatfield Marine Science Center	1965	Oregon State University
24	Wrigely Marine Science Center	1965	University of Southern California
25	Shoals Marine Laboratory	1966	Cornell and University of New Hampshire
26	Moss Landing Marine Laboratories	1966	California State Universities
27	Skidway Institution of Oceanography	1967	University of Georgia
28	Chincoteague Bay Field Station	1968
29	Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce	1969
30	Baruch Marine Field Lab	1969	University of South Carolina
31	Center for Marine Science	1970	University of North Carolina Wilmington
32	Marine Laboratory	1970	University of Guam
33	Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution	1971	Florida Atlantic University
34	Kewalo Marine Laboratory	1972	University of Hawaii at Manoa
35	Coastal Studies Lab	1973	University of Texas Rio Grand Valley
36	Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences	1974
37	Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience	1974	University of Florida
38	Long Marine Lab	1976	University of California, Santa Cruz
39	Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies	1978	San Francisco State University
40	Louisiana University Marine Consortium	1979
41	Coastal Studies Center	1981	Bowden College
42	Keys Marine Lab	1983
43	Blakely Island Field Station	1984	Seattle Pacific University
44	Richard B. Gump South Pacific Research Station	1985	University of California, Berkeley
45	Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute	1987
46	Marine Laboratory	1997	Roger Williams University
47	Alaska Sealife Center	1998
48	Cal Poly Center for Coastal Marine Sciences	2001	California Polytechnic State University
49	Nantucket Field Station	2004	University of Massachusetts
50	Vester Field Station	2007	Florida Gulf Coast University
51	Sitka Sound Science Center	2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Kenneth Coale (5 May 2016)

I was aboard from her first cruises out of Moss Landing in 1983, to her last cruises from MLML in 2014. Maybe that is why I was the scientist asked to speak at her farewell, and maybe this is also why I was so reluctant. She was in near perfect condition and not just from the looks of her. Recently rebuilt engines, engine controls, navigation, steering, electronics on the bridge, new crane on the bow, new trawl winch, paint on the decks, inside and out, new wastewater management system, air compressors, interior LED lighting, etc… There was little if anything that had not been recently refurbished. Stem to stern and keel to mast, she was fully equipped and had a full complement of tools in the main lab, electronics lab, boatswain locker and engine room and a full set of rigging gear for almost any over-the-side operation, safety gear, firefighting equipment, communications equipment and hundred of thousands of dollars worth of scientific equipment and instrumentation.

 

She had just completed two successful trips to the Arctic and one to the Antarctic and she was still among the most economical vessels to operate in the US fleet of research vessels for her size. Yet, MLML had received direction from the National Science Foundation to dispose of her.

I had served on the UNOLS Council (University NationalOceanographic Laboratory System is the non-governmental body that advises NSF regarding ship scheduling, fleet improvement and other matters related to the nation’s fleet of research vessels) for two terms representing an operating institution and was an active user of the MLML/NSF Research Vessel Point Sur. I had just completed two cruises on the study of methyl mercury in marine fog, and three cruises as part of an NSF sponsored Chief Scientist Training Program designed to encourage young investigators to use large marine facilities such as the R/V Point Sur. The UNOLS Council had recommended to NSF that she be retained. In spite of all of this, the NSF was experiencing heavy internal pressure, pressure from OMB, a loss of facility funding due to an over commitment to cabled observatories and needed to get inventory off of their books. MLML was about to loose her flagship due to politics and failures in leadership, both at the local and national level. I was selected to give an overview of the scientific achievements that the R/V Point Sur had supported, but my blood was boiling and my heart had sunk. Yet this was no attitude in which to say goodbye, but what could I say?

My class had rigged flags from the bow, over the top of the mast and to the stern A-frame. There was food and chairs, tables and drinks. Former crew, scientists and dignitaries had assembled. Camera crews from KSBW and KION. Faculty from MBARI, MLML, NPS took their place and I was beginning to sweat about what I would do.

We heard from several speakers including Jim Harvey, Mike Prince, Stewart Lamerdin, Chris Scholin, Steve Etchemendy and then it was my turn.

“Thank you Mike, Stewart, Chris and Steve for this window into the past and the roots that this vessel has grown. These flags represent the affiliation and the heritage of our students, staff, faculty and colleagues over the years, many of whom have sailed on Pt. Sur. Not all flags would fit, the little ship is just not long enough.

But she is a treasure.

Before I get started, or loose my grip, I wanted to thank Dolly Dieter, Linda Goad, Rose Dufour, Jim Holik, Bob Houtman, Tim Schnoor , Jon Alberts, Annette DeSilva, and many others at NSF, ONR and UNOLS for giving us such a ride, and trusting us with a public asset that has delivered such a huge public benefit. I think that, for this, we can all be grateful.

Eleanor Roosevelt said many wise things. One was one my wife repeats:  Do something that scares you every day. Well, I have never retired a ship, and this may be one of those days.

I have spent some time on the Sur.   Cumulatively, it has been years.

And, I gotta say that without a crew this ship is just a hulk of metal and paint.

With every crew the ship gets better

And I have recently sailed with the best crew I have ever seen

Rick, Bobby, Loren, Alex, Scott, Jack, Olin, Tara, Stian, you guys are the best

No, I can’t let it rest.

Just because you are losing your jobs and your workplace, this is no reason to be sullen.

We did not make all this grub and grog,

Nor dress this ship in fancy flare

To hark back and pine away

‘Bout times gone by, days ill to bear

On those who sit to reminisce

Bout better days now times amiss

Just suck it up and take a piss,

Then get back down to business

This here event will require

That you all rise up and inspire

Give your arses some respect

And abandon ties to the internet

Now stand up from your reclined poise

And be prepared to make a noise

For this is no time for wallerin

Now is the time that we be hollerin

For the rest of this incantation

Will require participation”

 

The crowd rose, a bit perplexed, but all stood up

I then explained that we were going to sing a Shanty in a call-and-response format and I explained how the Shanty would work. I created cue-cards for their singing parts and had briefed my class ahead of time.

 

“ The Pt. Sur Shanty",

Farewell to Whiskey Sierra Charley, 2276

    

Call:                 In ’81, two ships were forged

Response:    Though the seas are rising

Call:                Cape Hatteras and Florida

Response:   Sail on Point Sur

Call:                To Carolina and Florida bound

Though the seas are rising

Call:                The restless ship came westward round

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                A purpose called, a resounding sound

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Carry scientists and crew around

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                Who plumb the depths and scour the seas

Though the seas are rising

Call:                For clues to test hypotheses

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                From Aleutians, North to Bering Sea

Though the seas are rising

Call:                To Bransfield Straits and the Southern Lee

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                Ten thousand souls she carried the lot

Though the seas are rising

Call:                To wonder why and ask why not

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                Discoveries from her labs we see

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Have changed the course of oceanography

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                Yet questions sought and some answers flee

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Still challenge both you and me

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                But leaders with their skulls so thick

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Can sink a vessel just as quick

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                As a reef that rose and claimed the hull

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Of Ocean Researcher and her souls

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                Let your story be told dear

Though the seas are rising

Call:                Of a ship whose life did not end here

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                But one that sailed back out to sea

Though the seas are rising

Call:                And saved the earth from humanity

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                The time has come to bid farewell

Though the seas are rising

Call:                To a faithful ship who has served us well

Sail on Point Sur

Call:                We toast your service and loyalty

Though the seas are rising

Call:                And wish fair winds and a following sea

Sail on Point Sur

Response:   Sail on Point Sur, Sail On,… Sail On Point Sur, Sail On.”

 

I had positioned my student Alex, on the bridge and when the Shanty was over, Alex let off two short blasts on the ship’s horn, and everybody broke for drinks on the dock.

We did find a good home for the R/V Point Sur. Colleagues from the University of Southern Mississippi and the Louisiana Marine Consortium spent a couple of weeks loading and provisioning her for her second trip through the canal, back to the Gulf of Mexico, where she would be operated in support of science related to the Deep-Water Horizon blowout. The crew and scientists could not believe her condition and her provisions.

As she sailed from Moss Landing for the last time, she was flying two signal flags: Bravo and Zulu. Flown together these flags indicate “Job well done”.