What is a marine scientist’s vehicle of choice? Ships, boats, and anything that floats!
Summer is an exciting and busy time for marine scientists, especially graduate students. With classes done for the time being, our lives are consumed by the a few hectic months of field work. As a marine scientist in Moss Landing, our “field” is the entire ocean! Our vast study area stretches from pole to pole, and includes everything from the waves crashing on the rocky intertidal shore, to the dark abyssal depths of the Monterey Submarine Canyon.
So how to we explore and poke and probe a body of water that is so deep and wide? In the ichthyology lab, we use boats to scour the sea for our fishy specimens in a variety of ways. This month I’ll be posting lots of photos from our ship-side adventures that will put you right in the field with us – minus the wind and seasickness! Stay tuned and enjoy!
by Amanda Kahn, Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab
Land ho! Two months ago, I left MLML and California on a flight to Chile to help out on a 40-day research cruise in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. During the months leading up to the cruise, I worked dual lives–struggling to keep up with work at school while also making arrangements for travel, going through the necessary medical tests and preliminary cruise preparation, and starting up on my job as a public outreach person on the ship (I wrote a blog, just like my posts here).
Being out at sea for 40 days was an incredible and unique experience. Many of the things we take for granted on land are just different on a ship (stable ground, for example!). I was worried about being seasick the entire time, but I got my sea legs after a few days and was able to function just fine in almost any weather. Since everything on a ship is constantly moving, everything must be tied down or secured to prevent it from sliding around or falling. Laptop computers were tied down to tables and sat on non-skid mats to protect them–actually, anything that we didn’t want to have slide off the tables sat on non-skid mats, including our dinner plates! We had safety drills every week, which included fire drills and abandon ship drills. Also, we only had whatever we brought on the ship with us from the beginning, which meant that for six weeks, we had to make fresh foods last! Over the course of the cruise, our fresh foods progressed from a salad bar brimming with fresh fruits and veggies to a meager selection of hardy vegetables, like iceberg lettuce and carrots, and finally to preserved foods such as olives, pickles, and canned peaches and pineapple slices.
For the most part, I found life on the ship to be rather exciting, but certain aspects were difficult. We had no internet connection, and the email system transferred emails by satellite three times a day. That meant limited contact with people on shore. It also meant no YouTube, Google, or any other online websites. The science we did onboard more than made up for the lack of online entertainment, however. Trawls through the top 300 meters of water brought up animals like Antarctic krill, salps, jellies, swimming worms, and even swimming snail relatives called pteropods.
Antarctic krill, the main food source for baleen whales that migrate to the Southern Ocean, were collected in trawls.
I’m now back in action at MLML, and ready to write again about what life is like here at the labs. It will be very different from life on the ship, but I think certain things are quite a bit nicer here on land (stable ground, for instance!).
It’s generally a good practice to get the most “bang for your buck” out of a rare opportunity – such as a giant mahi-mahi specimen. After dissecting this impressive fish in our ichthyology class to study it’s feeding musculature and internal anatomy, we put it out on display for our April Open House (butchered side down, of course!).
Our giant mahi-mahi wowed the crowds during April's Open House.
If you were one of the many wowed by the chance to see such a large fish up close, you may be wondering what became of the specimen after all the crowds went home.
Perhaps you also made a fish print while here at Open House – with a fish you could easily hold in your hands. We didn’t think we had done justice to our massive mahi-mahi until it too had its impression preserved in paint.
Fun fact: Mahi-mahi only live to be 4 or 5 years old, and are some of the fastest growing fish in the world!
And what next for this specimen of multiple lives? Grad student Katie Schmidt is undertaking the task preserving the entire fish for posterity by cleaning its skeleton – one shining vertebrae at a time. Stay tuned to see photos of the work in progress!
Free wall art for the starving grad student apartment is also a plus.
MLML students dissect a dead killer whale to try to determine its cause of death.
Colleen Young
by Collen Young, Vertebrate Ecology Lab
Did you know that Vertebrate Ecology Lab (VEL) at MLML is part of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network? As Stranding Network participants, we collect data on pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) and cetaceans (whales and dolphins) that wash up dead (strand) on beaches in Monterey County. By keeping track of the local strandings, we can determine baseline estimates of what’s “normal,” allowing us to identify “unusual mortality events,” when more animals than usual strand. We rely 100% on the general public (you!) to report dead marine mammals that are on the beach, so if you see one, give us a call…you may present us with an opportunity to learn about a rare or poorly studied species, like the killer whale that was called in earlier this month!
On Sunday, April 5, residents in a community south of Carmel found a dead killer whale floating in their cove. Luckily, they knew to call us, and we went out that afternoon to investigate. Upon arrival, our team determined that the animal was a female, juvenile killer whale, probably about 1 year old. There were no obvious external clues about the cause of death, so we decided to anchor the carcass and come back the next day to get a closer look.
Monday we came armed to collect some serious data. The animal had been washed onto some rocks, and was no longer floating, allowing us to take a variety of measurements and a skin sample. Unfortunately, the ocean conditions were too rough to bring the animal by boat back to Moss Landing for further examination, but still got some valuable data.
The killer whale pulls into Moss Landing aboard the Research Vessel Shilea B.
Once word broke out that we had a killer whale, researchers all over the Pacific Northwest started requesting samples. Given the great number of researchers who would benefit from getting more samples, we decided to pull out all the stops to get the animal back to Moss Landing for a necropsy (an animal autopsy).
On Tuesday we went back to the animal and attached a buoy around a caudal peduncle (the area right before the tale). The ocean still wasn’t cooperating with us to allow transport back to MLML, so we wanted to make sure we could re-locate the animal the next day.
Finally, on Wednesday, the ocean had slightly calmed, so we decided to retrieve the killer whale. A team of snorkelers swam the animal out of the cove to a waiting rigid-hulled inflatable boat (rhib), which towed the carcass until meeting up with MLML’s aluminum front-loader, the Shiela B. We transferred the animal to the deck of the Shiela B, and she sped off towards the team of researchers eagerly awaiting her arrival.
In about 3 hours, with the help of a marine mammal veterinarian, and several students from the VEL, the killer whale was fully necropsied. We obtained tissue and organ samples, measurements of blubber and muscle thickness, and other important data. Samples have been mailed all over the west coast of the US for further processing to try to figure out why this young whale died.
While we await the results, the VEL is standing by to investigate other marine mammal stranding incidents in Monterey County. Please help us stay informed about dead stranded marine mammals by calling 831-771-4422 if you see one!
Congratulations to all our Open House science detectives!
Were you a science sleuth who complted a scavenger hunt at MLML Open House this year? Check how well you did! The answer keys are posted on our Teacher corner page, and you can also download them here:
We can't wait to see you at Open House this weekend!
At last, the moment you’ve been waiting for! The count down is over, and Open House is here! We hope you’re as excited as we are to learn about all the amazing research that we do. This is your chance to meet dedicated students and faculty, and find out first hand just what it means to be a marine scientist. So bring us your questions! Ask us what we’re doing and how we got started. We can’t wait to meet you – because we love what we do, and we think you will too!
Researcher Bob Zook (orange) shows of SCINI at last year’s Open House. This year, come see SCINI actually get in the water!
How would you study the ocean in Antarctica that is covered in ice? How about building a robot that can explore the frigid water that you cannot! That’s excatly what the Benthic Lab at MLML has done with their SCINI, the “skinny” robot that could! SCINI is an ROV, or Remotely Operated Vehicle, and it’s name stands for “Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging.” SCINI can help scientists take pictures of marine organisms living in a pretty inhospitable place.
At this year’s Open House, you will the rare treat of watching this ROV in action! Come see how scientists drive and maneuver this robot in the water to help them do their research. Plus, it will be a lot warmer than a field day in Antarctica!
Open House should give you ample opportunities to appreciate how amazing marine creatures are – but they’re even more spectacular when they dance and sing! You won’t want to miss the Open House puppet show, no matter what your age. Check out last year’s video so you can see what all the hype is about. This year’s show is sure to be a success, with it’s tributes to Harry Potter, the Lion King, and good ol’ Charles Darwin. How will we pull it off? Come to one of the showings, at 10:30, 12:30 or 2:30 on Saturday and Sunday to find out!
At MLML, we study not just the marine environment, but the interface where the land meets the sea. The construction of our current lab facility included the restoration of the surrounding beach dune habitat. At this year’s Open House, the MLML Central Coastal Wetlands Group will be giving 30 minute tours the beach dunes, starting at 10 am and 2 pm both Saturday and Sunday.
These tours will include fun information about our fascinating location, from dune restoration efforts and wildlife such as legless lizards, to Native American history and the excavation of Native middens on our lab site. The poppies and lupine are in full bloom, painting our hillside in splahes of purple and gold. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience this beautiful coastal habitat for yourself!
What does a gumboot chiton feel like? Come to the touch tank to find out!
Holy bat stars! Are you ready to get up close and personal with some wet and wild sea creatures? The Open House touch tank, hosted by the Invertebrate Zoology Lab, is a must-see. We’ll have crabs, snails, sponges – and even some deep-sea sea stars that you won’t get to see anywhere else! It just wouldn’t be a marine lab without some live critters roaming around. So let us bring the ocean to you – come check out just what these animals need to live under the sea!
