Hi everyone!
This week has been full of exciting trips, and amazing creatures. On Tuesday morning, Richard, Victoria and I took a fishing boat to a sandy beach on North Spit at low tide in search of sand dollars. We were only able to find young sand dollars, about one to three years old, about the size of a gingersnap cookie. We had a great time on our search, discovering other creatures along the way. There were many little snails, crabs, brown pelicans, and a vibrant purple sea star! I collected beautiful shells as well. We searched for areas in the sand where the diatoms had been disrupted by observing the patterns of the brown colored ridges in the sand. We then stuck our hands deep under the sand, massaging it, waiting to feel a hard sand dollar, and then pulling it out. As I was searching, wrist deep, I felt something hard, grabbed onto it - and felt a sharp PINCH! I’d accidentally unburied a crab! On Wednesday morning, the three of us took a trip to the rocky shore on the south side of Sunset Bay. We trudged through the slippery tidepools in our rubber boots with a little difficulty and a lot of fun. There were many purple sea urchins, crabs, snails, a ribbon worm, chitons, sea anemones, and beautiful purple and orange sea stars. Victoria and Richard ate small pieces of uni (sea urchin gonad) from a damaged purple sea urchin … but I abstained. Apparently they taste similar to an oyster - salty and sweet. I have been sorting through plankton under the microscope, identifying cyprids and nauplii (barnacle larvae), and sorting them by species. Nauplius VI are the last feeding stage of barnacle larvae before they develop into cyprid larvae. By collecting nauplii and raising them, I hope to increase the number of cyprids I have to work with. I am creating a photogenic key of cyprid and nauplii larval stages in coastal Oregon. This will be the first updated key since the 1981 publication. I will photograph the stages of juvenile barnacle development and include observations that will aid in identification between the different species. We have been attending professional development workshops, weekly lunches with marine biologists, and seminars. Last week we had a workshop on ethics in research. This Tuesday, our workshop was focused on writing CVs, cover letters, and resumes in the scientific community. We learned about the different career pathways in biology, and the steps of applying. On Wednesday we had lunch with Katlyn Haven, a fish biologist from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. We asked questions about her academic pathway, and her career path. Later that afternoon we attended her seminar on the groundfish fishery in Oregon, and how they are sampled. She also discussed the process of stock assessments. I hadn’t known much about the topic prior, but have always been curious. It was very interesting to learn about the effort to collaborate with both the fishermen and fish populations to attain sustainability of fish while supporting economic stability in coastal communities. On Monday we have a fourth of July picnic. On Friday morning Nicole took us tidepooling, we had a blast! Next weekend is our boat trip, I can’t wait! I’ve been looking forward to it all summer. Thanks for reading, see you next Monday at 3pm! Annika
6 Comments
Aunt Lisa
7/5/2022 04:33:35 pm
Sounds like you’re having a terrific summer already! It’s interesting.
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Annika
7/5/2022 06:25:42 pm
❤️
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Colin Phifer
7/6/2022 06:53:10 pm
I love this! You’re learning so much! It looks like a lot of fun, except the crab pinch!
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Annika
7/8/2022 04:41:02 pm
Thank you, it has been a ton of fun, and I've learned so much already! The crab pinch wasn't as bad as working with the prickly sea urchins!
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Fern
7/8/2022 05:21:17 pm
So cool! I can’t wait to be up there sometime and have you as our tide pooling guide🤩🐡🦀🌊🌅🪸🐚
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Annika
7/12/2022 01:17:14 pm
Yes, can’t wait! ☺️
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Author
Hi! I'm Annika, a biology student attending Lane Community College. I will be researching cyprid larvae in the Emlet lab this summer. I look forward to sharing my findings on Cyprids. I love roller skating, my eleven penpals across the globe, my two cats, two guinea pigs, and the enchanting PNW woods - my forever home.
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