Drop-In Blog

Being Resourceful, the MLML Grad Student Way

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By Catherine Drake, Invertebrate Zoology Lab

Sometimes when sampling, you have to be resourceful.  Not everything will go according to plan (an instrument might break or a sampling method may not work), which is why problem solving is a great skill for any scientist to have.  Such mishaps can even be humorous, as I found with my trip to Catalina Island with the Biological Oceanography lab two weeks ago.

The city of Avalon on beautiful Catalina Island.

We set out for Catalina Island in the early morning of Sunday, May 6th to meet the TS Golden Bear as it traveled around the island on its way southward.  Two of our crew boarded a small boat and made their out to the ship, while the rest of us explored the beautiful island.  While on the ship, the others worked on the treatment of the ship’s ballast water, took samples, and brought them back to the island.  Then, it was time for us to start our zooplankton counts.

The issue we faced was that we had no facility to conduct out counts in, so we had to improvise.  Time for us to put our problem solving caps on!  We went into the hotel room and started to stare at all the objects—furniture, cabinets, shelves, etc.—to figure out how we could setup our counting stations.  Our final configurations worked like a charm!  My setup comprised of an ironing board, a wicker chair, and a microscope.  And although the stations weren’t conventional, we were still able to get the data, and had fun in the process.

My microscope setup for my zooplankton counts.

The Unseen Elkhorn Slough

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By Gabriela Navas, Invertebrate Zoology Lab

Every time you find yourself walking along the beautiful Elkhorn Slough, do you admire all you see? I guess we would have a conversation about the birds, crabs, even the occasional fish you may have seen. What about the snails? Oh yes, what about them? They are actually intermediate hosts to unseen residents of the slough, the trematode Cercaria batillariae. Trematodes are also known as flukes, and even though they may have a bad rap in some circles, they merit respect. Their life cycles involve sometimes one or more hosts, specialized to supplying different needs of the trematode. Some trematodes are even known to take over a snail body and mind modifying its behavior in order to get to its next host! Check this out this video on the trematode species Leucochloridium making “SNAIL ZOMBIES”:

Snail Zombies? You may think primitive, but in fact trematodes have recently been shown to show the ability to form caste systems just like your everyday ant or bee. According to Hechinger et al this is the first time this has been shown in flatworms.

So, next time we take a stroll around the slough - let’s chat about the unseen, shall we?

Diving into the Deep

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By Catherine Drake, Invertebrate Zoology Lab

My family and I have been going to the beach since before I could even walk. I’ve been snorkeling, boogie boarding, and building sandcastles for most of my life. But there is one method of enjoying the ocean that, until a couple of weeks ago, I had not yet tried: scuba diving. When I moved up to the central coast to attend MLML almost nine months ago, I knew that I wanted to get my open water diving certification. That way, eventually I could take the research diving course taught by Dr. Diana Steller. Also, I would ideally like to incorporate diving into my thesis, so I wanted to ensure that I could feel comfortable in such a novel environment.

To get your open water certification through PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), you need to go on four dives. So, on Saturday April 14th, we set out for Stillwater Cove in Pebble Beach with all our dive gear and kayaks. I filled up my kayak with my tank, BC, weight belt, and snorkeling gear, clipped it all in and set off into the cove. On Sunday, we got on a boat in Monterey Harbor and set out into the bay. Our first site was at Red House, with a couple curious otters watching us as we jumped off the boat into the water. Then we moved over to Octopus Reef, for our final dive of the certification process.

My kayak getting filled with all of my dive gear to go diving in Stillwater Cove.

During our dives, I saw multiple species of sea stars, including a Pycnopodia helianthoides that was almost a meter wide. In addition, I found some nudibranchs, a giant decorator crab, and a gumboot chiton. I didn’t see any fish until halfway through my last dive; I was practicing a compass heading and happened to look up, only to find I was in the middle of a school of fish. I just hung out there and watched them as they watched me.

Getting our kayaks ready for launching into Stillwater Cove.
My dive buddies, instructors, and I on the boat just before our final two dives.

Before my diving experiences, I was nervous that I would become too afraid to be able to dive. Surprisingly, the only time I was scared during the whole weekend was when I first slid off my kayak into the water before beginning my first dive. I had not yet put on my BC, so I was just floating in my seven mm wetsuit; I slid down my mask and looked into the water. All I could see were my flippers, and below that was a green abyss. My first thought was, “what if there is a shark below me?” and I became anxious. But then I took a deep breath to calm down, put on my BC, and dove into the depths below into this new, unfamiliar and amazing world. It was an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to go diving again now that I’m certified!

 

Welcome to Moss Landing Marine Labs!

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Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology

Have you ever wondered about the secret life of deep sea fishes?  Or what the inside of a whale looks like?  Have you touched one of the largest sea slugs in the world?  Well, visitors to this year’s Open House at MLML got a chance to do all of this and more!   Over the course of this two day event students, faculty, and staff opened their labs and their minds to over 2300 visitors of all ages from around the Monterey Bay area.  If you missed it come on a tour with me and walk through the labs.  At the first stop we see a large mahi mahi fish and skeletons of local and far away fish.

Fish skeleton to be viewed but not touched in the Ichthyology Lab
Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi on display at Open House

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Under Pressure

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CTD aboard the Pt. Sur, Moss Landing

The CTD is a much used tool in the world of oceanography. We send it up and down the ocean, from surface to bottom, gathering data and water samples. As depth increases, so does the pressure. And a fun way to demonstrate the crushing pressure of a 1000 meters of water, is to literally crush things! Sending some decorated Polystyrene coffee cups along for a ride is a bit of a tradition on oceanographic cruises.  The result? Some very tiny coffee cups to place upon your desk and remind you of your adventures at sea.

Physical Oceanography Student Diane Wyse, proudly displays student art.
Phycology student, Sarah Jeffries demonstrates one way to reduce caffeine consumption.
After the hydrostatic pressure squeeze.

Lights, Camera, Action!

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By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology

MLML’s annual Open House is fast approaching and our students are busy trying to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.  One of our main attractions is the marine adventure themed puppet show.   Students invite the audience to dive into the ocean with a much anticipated, “Welcome to the Moss Landing Marine Labs Open House Puppet show!”  This puppet show aims to teach the audience about the ocean and get them really excited about studying and conserving it.

To learn more about how the creators of this year’s show feel about the show I asked each of them a few questions.

What is the best thing about the puppet show?

Nicole: The creative process that brings the whole show together; writing songs, developing choreography, crafting sets and props, all for the purpose of educating visitors about marine life in a super fun way!!

Marilyn: The best part of the show for me has to be people coming up afterwards to tell us how much they learned from and enjoyed the show, especially when we're able to reach both kids and adults. It means a lot when we're able to communicate crazily complex scientific concepts to everyone in a fun and accurate way. And the singing and dancing, of course. And writing the songs. Wait. That was more than one best thing...

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