Welcome back everyone. If you are a tidy tide tracker, you would remember that this week featured some really nice low tides, which, for obvious reasons, were advantageous for fieldwork. However, before I start weaving tales about the abundance of fieldwork this week, I would like to reflect on this past weekend. On Saturday, my fellow REUs and I went on a scheduled boat trip aboard OIMB’s boat named the R/V Pluteus. In many ways, this excursion was an experience that I will never forget. To paint a picture for you, it was a beautiful, somewhat windy Oregon day that began with smooth, calm ocean waters, but as the trip progressed, the water started becoming choppy. In case you do not know this about me, I get motion sick very easily, so prior to our departure, I took some medicine, hoping that would be enough to prevent me from getting sick. Nevertheless, the water had other plans for me. Anyways, despite my miserable state at the beginning of the trip, I really enjoyed seeing all of the interesting organisms that we dredged from the ocean floor. We caught numerous sea stars, basket stars, gorgonians, and sea cucumbers. Since we decided to make Saturday night our movie night, Annika, Sherlyn, Victoria, and I watched She’s All That later that day. Don’t worry. I know that you are all biting your nails in anticipation of hearing about our movie nights, so I will make sure to keep you updated each week.
Like I previously alluded to, every day this week has involved fieldwork and data collection for my project, which has been really fun and fascinating as I have been delving deeper into my research; I am beyond appreciative that South Slough offers so many field opportunities. On Monday, Ali and I kayaked to Hidden Creek, which is located near the treacherous waist-deep mud of Danger Point, in order to complete an eelgrass presence/absence survey to determine if eelgrass had returned to the monitoring site located there. My kayaking skills are still lacking, but I feel like I am starting to learn, thanks to Ali’s patience. After a rough beginning, paddling down the channel was peaceful once I got the hang of being in the kayak a little more, and the afternoon was gorgeous as we paddled back from Hidden Creek. On Tuesday, Lara came back down from Corvallis to continue working on her thesis project, and I was excited to work with her again throughout this week. Aside from Hidden Creek, we also visited Fossil Point, Clam Island, Collver Point, and Valino Island, so it was uplifting to explore some sites with more abundant eelgrass compared to the barrenness of Hidden Creek. Additionally, we collected some reproductive shoots for processing in the lab, which has taken up most of my time after fieldwork. However, I like being able to take my time examining each shoot without worrying about the incoming tide, especially since I have found some spadices containing mature seeds close to release (stage five of development) from the shoots we collected this week. This means that we will hopefully be able to record seed metric data soon, which is super exciting. On a side note, we just completed the mid-program survey for the REU this week. I still cannot fathom the fact that this is week four and that the program is almost halfway over. The time is flying by, but my gratitude for being chosen for this incredible opportunity continues to grow.
1 Comment
Annika
7/21/2022 04:23:32 pm
Wow! Your fieldwork looks like a ton of fun!
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AuthorHi everyone! My name is Chloe Cummins, and I am from Loretto, Tennessee. I am a rising senior at the University of Tennessee Southern where I am pursuing a B.S. degree in Biology (with a concentration in Wildlife Biology and Ecology) and a minor in Sustainability. I’m super excited to be researching the reproductive ecology of eelgrass with my mentor Ali Helms at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve during my time here at OIMB! Archives
August 2022
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