Physical Oceanography Lab

Tidepooling Take Two

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By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Earlier this week, three graduate student volunteers and I ventured to Bay View Academy in Monterey to talk with the fourth grade class about trophic levels and intertidal zonation.  I had the unique opportunity to lead the trip again this year, you can learn about the first iteration of this trip in one of my very first posts for the Drop-In.

Sara Worden, Heather Kramp, Dorota Szuta, and Diane Wyse lead a classroom safety briefing and intertidal lesson. Photo: Erika McPhee-Shaw (2013)
Sara Worden, Heather Kramp, Dorota Szuta, and Diane Wyse lead a classroom safety briefing and intertidal lesson. Photo: Erika McPhee-Shaw (2013)

I volunteered for the trip again this year because it is the sort of educational outreach experience that to me really embodies the spirit of MLML; sharing resources and experiences from multiple labs and teaching in our beautiful marine backyard.  The student volunteers represented the Physical Oceanography Lab, the Phycology Lab (Sara Worden), the Benthic Ecology Lab (Dorota Szuta), and the Ichthyology Lab (Heather Kramp). Another reason I volunteered again? Try passing up an opportunity to geek out science on one of the prettiest beaches in the world.  Yeah, it’s tough to do.

Benthic Ecology Lab student Dorota Szuta teaches a group of fourth grade girls about intertidal invertebrates. Photo: Diane Wyse (2013)
Benthic Ecology Lab student Dorota Szuta teaches a group of fourth grade girls about intertidal invertebrates. Photo: Diane Wyse (2013)

Working off an intertidal food web lesson plan developed by the Teaching Enhancement Program at MLML, the grad student volunteers introduced the fourth grade class to the organisms in tidepools at Asilomar State Beach.  We were impressed by the knowledge the students shared with us that their teacher Alicia Doolittle had introduced in previous lessons.  At the beach it was hard to tell who was more excited to explore the intertidal – the elementary students, grad students, or even the parent chaperones!

Ichthyology Lab student Heather Kramp shows some intertidal organisms to an interested chaperone and the youngest field trip participant. Photo: Diane Wyse (2013)
Ichthyology Lab student Heather Kramp shows some intertidal organisms to an interested chaperone and the youngest field trip participant. Photo: Diane Wyse (2013)

This year’s trip was especially cool for me as my graduate advisor, Dr Erika McPhee-Shaw, who serves as a board member for Bay View Academy, was along for the trip and helped to photo-document the field lessons.  I’ll admit it was a bit intimidating to be on the other side of things – here’s a highly-regarded physical oceanographer who has taught me equations of motion, coastal dynamics, and guided me through the steps of a Master’s research thesis, and here I am fielding questions about the inner workings of the ocean to a class of fourth graders while she listens in the audience.  It reinforced something I’ve learned time and again through graduate school, that the more simply and elegantly you can describe a complicated process, the more completely you understand it.  With the students’ healthy appetite for knowledge our conversation ventured from why ocean water is blue to a comparison of ecological zonation on a beach versus a mountain.

Recognize those t-shirts? The 2013 Open House tshirts were designed by our very own Dorota Szuta! Photo: Alicia Doolittle (2013)
Recognize those t-shirts? The 2013 Open House t-shirts were designed by our very own Dorota Szuta! Photo: Alicia Doolittle (2013)

From the closing discussion it was clear that invertebrates were the crowd favorite: the hermit crabs, the purple pisaster (ochre) seastar, even the tunicates were getting some love thanks to the students’ curiosity about the round little chordates.  Will student leaders from MLML lead the trip again?  You better believe it!

R/V Point Sur in Transit

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By Diane Wyse

The R/V Point Sur is heading home this week, and students have had the opportunity to help with various science operations and add some cruise time to their resumes by joining up for a leg or two of the trip.  Check out this post by Ashley Wheeler, a first year in the Geological Oceanography Lab at MLML, about her experiences aboard our beloved vessel.

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Ashley Wheeler – Photo by Tara Pastuszek
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Ready on deck, the CTD package is set to deploy at sunrise – Photo by Ashley Wheeler

Biological Oceanography Class Field Trip to the California Maritime Academy

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by Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Last week the biological oceanography class took a field trip to the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.  The purpose of the trip was to learn about the MLML Biological Oceanography Lab’s work with ballast water treatment aboard the Training Ship Golden Bear.

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View of the Carquinez Strait Bridge from the TS Golden Bear. Photo: D. Wyse

We started the day with background about the importance of ballast water treatment for aquatic invasive species management, led by Biological Oceanography Lab students Brian Maurer, Heather Fulton-Bennet, and Julie Kuo.

Biological oceanography student Brian Maurer concentrates a water sample to test for zooplankton viability.
Biological oceanography student Brian Maurer concentrates a water sample to test for zooplankton viability. Photo: D. Wyse

 After that we took a tour of the ship’s engine room, bridge, and saw some of the living quarters.  The ship can house up to 350 people and each year takes a 2-month cruise in different parts of the world to train Cal Maritime students about merchant marine operations and engineering.

Members of the biological oceanography class take a tour of the TS Golden Bear. Photo: D. Wyse
Members of the biological oceanography class take a tour of the TS Golden Bear. Photo: D. Wyse

In the afternoon we took a tour of the marine biology lab, where Biological Oceanography lab students, under the direction of Dr Nick Welshmeyer, analyze the effectiveness of different ballast water treatment methods.

Biological oceanography student Heather Fulton-Bennet counts live zooplankton under a microscope on the TS Golden Bear
Biological oceanography student Heather Fulton-Bennet counts live zooplankton under a microscope on the TS Golden Bear

New Semester, New Students, New Stories

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By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

With classes underway, the lab is abuzz with new activities and learning.  This fall, the MLML community welcomes 22 new students to ten of our labs.  Ever find yourself wondering how graduate students at Moss Landing got their start in marine science?  Our new student backgrounds range from gray whale surveys off the Washington coast, to photographing white sharks in South Africa, to shipboard oceanography in Canada, and much more!

Jackie surveying whales off the Washington coast
Kristin freediving in South Africa
Heather performing field research in Canada

Stay tuned for their stories and more from your MLML blog team.

Buoy Riding in the Name of Science

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By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Among the coolest aspects of interning at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) are all of the opportunities for new and exciting experiences in marine science and engineering. On a beautiful Moss Landing summer day, fellow intern Samantha Peterson and I enjoyed one of those opportunities on a day cruise aboard MBARI’s R/V Zephyr.  We steamed out of Moss Landing Harbor early in the morning, and after two hours of getting our sea legs and munching on snacks (to avoid sea sickness, for sure), we arrived at our first of two stops for the day. The cruise plan included a visit to the M2 mooring, a buoy deployed and maintained by MBARI scientists and engineers in partnership with the National Data Buoy Center (ID 46044), to download acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data and perform routine maintenance.

R/V Zephry from the M2 moored buoy. Photo: D. Wyse

The whole process of visiting and maintaining a mooring was really exciting to experience, especially as a student of physical oceanography.  I got a kick out of the adventure inherent in maintaining oceanographic and meteorological instruments bobbing at the surface, moored 1000+ meters below on the seafloor.  As I stood at the back of the Zephyr taking in the experience- the albatrosses gracefully landing to investigate our activities, the sea lion curiously poking it’s head up around the buoy, the scientists and technicians climbing onto the buoy from the side of the ship- I wondered what sort of training or security clearance one has the endure to work on the buoy.  After pondering this aloud to my fellow intern, I inquired with the ship operator.  His job was to carefully back the boat up to the buoy to transfer people and equipment, then to maintain a safe distance from the buoy while the technicians were working on it.  As it turns out, it was surprisingly simple; I had to confirm with just about everyone on that day cruise that I am not sensitive to seasickness before getting the go-ahead to disembark the trusty Zephry and climb (well, pounce, really) aboard M2.  I could see immediately what everyone was driving at once I was aboard the mooring.  Because the platform is only about 10 ft in diameter, it is much easier to get tossed about with the swell.  You feel much more in touch with the ocean on a smaller vessel.  While ocean observers Mike Kelley and Jared Figurski downloaded the ADCP data, I climbed to the upper level to investigate the meteorological instruments.  With my finely tuned CSI skills, I observed the evidence of seabird visitors on the solar panels and offered to clean off the droppings, you know, in the name of science.  Surprisingly, they were more than happy to oblige that request, and I grabbed a cloth with seawater and scrubbed those panels squeaky clean.

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A Summer on the Central Coast: My Marine Science Internship at MBARI

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By Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

This summer I am working as an intern at MLML’s neighboring marine science and engineering institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Through generous support of the Friends of Moss Landing and the Gashler family, I am working on the Drew Gashler Internship with Dr Jim Bellingham in the Long-Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (LRAUV) lab.

Daphne, an LRAUV, is prepared for deployment from the MLML Small Boats dock. (Photo: Diane Wyse)

The primary focus for my internship project is analyzing data from a laser sensor (the Laser In Situ Scattering and Transmissometry, or LISST) that detects the particle sizes of plankton via forward scattering on 32 channels. The objective is to test whether differing combinations of the 32 channels can be used as surrogates for chlorophyll and fluorescence, as it relates to my interests in phytoplankton bloom dynamics. Additionally, Dr Bellingham and I are investigating whether we can identify species of zooplankton the AUV encounters in Monterey Bay based on specific combinations of the LISST channel particle size distributions.

En route to deploy LRAUV Daphne on a Moss Landing summer day. (Photo: Dongsik Chang)

Though I am working in the LRAUV lab, the LISST sensor is actually mounted on the Dorado upper-water-column autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which is larger and performs shorter missions than the LRAUVs. The Dorado AUVs perform missions over a couple days, while the LRAUVs can be deployed to collect data for nearly a month! The missions vary in duration and purpose, and it is really exciting to have both of these types of AUVs available for data collection and processing. One of the cool features of the Dorado vehicle is the gulper sampling system, which through a sampling algorithm designed by MBARI Senior Research Specialist Dr Yanwu Zhang, samples 1.8L of water autonomously when the desired combination of oceanographic conditions are detected by the vehicle. Imagine being able to fill ten 2L soda bottles with water samples for lab analysis without donning pounds of neoprene! Ok, as a research diver who appreciates the importance and value of blue-water sampling, I would jump at that opportunity, however the Dorado’s sampling technique is also very exciting. The sensor suite and algorithm for gulper sampling on the Dorado vehicle allows us to combine continuously recorded oceanographic data for temperature, salinity, depth, nitrate, LISST, and more with the water samples that are then analyzed for plankton species identification and abundances in the lab at MBARI.

The internship has been, and continues to be a fantastic learning experience and a great opportunity to apply the oceanographic data analysis and research skills I have developed at MLML over the past two semesters. My internship experience at MBARI has been full of amazing marine science, engineering, exploration, and outreach opportunities, which I look forward to sharing in the weeks to come!

Pitching Oranges in the Name of Science

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by Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

One sunny afternoon at the beach in Moss Landing, beachgoers were treated to a tangy surprise. Dr. Erika McPhee-Shaw’s Physical Oceanography class made the most of the beautiful weather and nearby beach to observe the effects of alongshore transport in the surf zone.

Physical oceanography students observing wave action on the Monterey Bay. Photo: Jason Adelaars

From the shore, students observed the waves breaking and made predictions about the direction of alongshore transport and where convergent rip currents would occur.

Feeding surfers? Not exactly. Vertebrate Ecology Lab student Emily Golson pitches an orange to observe it move in the surf zone. Photo: Jason Adelaars

How did they test these predictions?  Why, launching citrus into the surf zone, of course!  Members of the class warmed up their pitching arms and threw oranges into the water from the beach.  They observed and discussed where the oranges traveled as a means of visualizing transport of sediment and plankton with the movement of water in the near-shore environment.

Students discuss the movement of the oranges in the surf zone. Photo: Jason Adelaars
Dr. Erika McPhee-Shaw launches an orange in the name of science. Photo: Jason Adelaars
Physical Oceanography Teaching Assistant Shandy Buckley (L) discusses alongshore transport with students. Photo: Jason Adelaars

Real Field Research Experiences!

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MLML Physical Oceanography student Alexis Howard observes a sediment grab performed by the crew of the R/V Point Sur. (photo: S. Gabara)

For the Physical Oceanography class at Moss Landing Marine Lab field research trips aboard the R/V Point Sur are a fun way to experience different field oceanographic equipment.  Here student Alexis Howard looks on as the crew of the Point Sur retrieves a sample of sediment from the depths of Monterey Bay by means of a sediment grabber.

Giant Crane Game for Sediment

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The crew of the R/V Point Sur work to get the sediment sampling device ready for redeployment. (photo: S. Gabara)

What does the sediment look like on the bottom of the ocean?  The easiest way to get a sample is to send a giant sediment sampler (grabber) which is open as it drops to the seafloor, and closes when hits the bottom.  Then voila, the grabber is filled with sand or gravel from the ocean depths!  We can get an idea of how these sediments will move by how large or small the particles are.