A Day on the Bay, Biological Oceanography Style

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By Heather Fulton-Bennett, Biological Oceanography Lab

The term cruise generally brings to mind tropical weather and luxurious surroundings, but scientific research cruises are much more about long hours of work and only a few brief moments to enjoy the view. As a new student in the Biological Oceanography Laboratory, I was simply excited to get out on the water.

View of San Francisco Bay
Our view of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge as we approached our anchorage for the afternoon

The Biological Oceanography Lab is part of a testing program for ballast water sterilization systems and utilizes the training vessel TS Golden Bear as a semi-mobile research station. With increasing concerns about the spread of invasive species through boating traffic, researchers are trying to minimize the potential for the viable organism to be transported in the ballast water of ships. State regulations focus on minimizing the number of live organisms present following treatment, and our lab is responsible for determining if treatment systems are effective by providing organism counts. Live organism counts are done by microscope on both the untreated and treated ballast water to compare the number of live organisms before and after the treatment. Current regulations require very low numbers of live organisms to be present in the water, so it is crucial to make sure the systems are effective.

Zooplankton counting station
Microscope counting of live organisms is used to determine the effectiveness of various ballast water treatment systems.
Golden Bear Marine Biology Lab
The TS Golden Bear shipboard laboratory where microscope counts and other analyses are conducted.

     While these systems are intended for use on vessels around the world, most of our tests are done by manipulating the concentrations of organisms and nutrients in the surrounding waters of the Carquinez Straight.  However, this weekend we got to test unaltered sea water from the San Francisco Bay as the TS Golden Bear anchored off Treasure Island. As part of the fall fundraising for the California Maritime Academy, families and alumni were treated to a day on the bay enjoying a demonstration by the Blue Angels as part of Fleet Week and watching the America’s Cup sail boat races. Taking advantage of the pleasure cruise for most gave us the chance to see how treatment systems work with real seawater and provided the microscope counters with the excitement of seeing new plankton which we normally don’t see in our dock-based tests.

Stern Deck of the TS Golden Bear
The sampling tanks on the stern of the TS Golden Bear were the best work station on board, with live music and the best view of the America’s Cup races.
The Alfred Zamba Carquinez Bridge
The fog clears from around Alfred Zamba Carquinez Bridge, near where the TS Golden Bear is usually docked.

 While research cruises involve long hours of grueling, yet fascinating, work, having beautiful weather and amazing scenery makes for an incredibly enjoyable experience. I’ll definitely be participating in many more cruises to come!