By Ansuya, Flora, Soren, and Tyler
Note: This post was originally interactive, but WordPress does not allow hyperlinking within a document, so now you just have to scroll.
Good morning! After a restful night’s sleep, the world seems ripe with possibilities. How will you start your day?
- Go to Friday Harbor Labs
- Collect data at the beach
- Work in the Spring Street Lab
- Watch the pigeon guillemots at the docks
Welcome to Friday Harbor Labs! By appointment you can…
Meet with Dr. Sandy
Go to the fish lab
Eelgrass symposium: Flora, Ansuya, and Scarlett
You meet Dr. Sandy in his office. In a packed 45 minutes, he reviews your procedure, gives you valuable input, and imparts a few life lessons. You learn the importance of precise language and providing scientific reasoning behind the choices in your procedure. You now have several other trials that you need to perform in preparation for your experiment including observation to determine how long it takes for a sea hare to get hungry and a test run of scraping the epiphytes off an eelgrass leaf to determine how much the sea hare eats. In preparation for the germination of the eelgrass seeds, two of Dr. Sandy’s tanks must be cleaned and filled. You embark on a quest to gather the variety of pipes Dr. Sandy directed you to, during which you run into Adam and Soren. CONTINUE TO ORIGAMI BITES BACK.
Formalin Fish Fun- Soren (and Adam)
“I want to live here one day.” – Soren
You accompany Soren and Adam to the fish lab. Future Dr. Meg gives you a tour of the wet specimens.
Surprise: You found a diaphonized frog specimen!
Diaphonized specimens are made by using a chemical solution to clear the organism. Then dyes are added, the pink dye is attracted to the collagen rich bone and the blue to the cartilage.
Soren is doing his project on the preservation of wet specimens. Wet specimen refers to an organism that has been preserved in liquid. The organism is first placed in a fixative liquid (usually a formalin solution) this will halt any decomposition and the organism will stiffen into the position it is placed in. After around 24 hours the organism will be removed from the solution, rinsed in water, then go through a dehydration series. Placed first in 25% ethanol alcohol gradually it will be moved through higher concentrations of alcohol until it will be indefinitely preserved in 70% ethanol alcohol.
Hooray! Future Dr. Meg agreed to help Soren with his project. With her help, Soren will test how well different species hold up to preservation.
You have extra time before lunch, you help Adam sanitize sea water for Claudia’s experiment. On the way back to his office, you run into Flora, Ansuya, and Scarlett. CONTINUE TO ORIGAMI BITES BACK.
Origami Bites Back- Scarlett, Flora, Ansuya, Soren, (and Adam)
Surprise: Wasp Attack!
You and five others head down to the tanks in order to clean them. As you begin to wash the tanks, Scarlett yelps. Something has bit her! Upon further investigation, you discover a wasp nest on one of the tanks. These are paper wasps, distinguished by their tendency to bite rather than sting. As Caroline informs you later, their hive essentially functions as a condo where females lay eggs and feed their own young without forming close connections with the other wasps.
Adam, allergic to wasps and notorious for not carrying his epi-pen, informs Dr. Sandy of the hive. The daring Dr. Sandy assures you he will take care of it. Thwarted once again by circumstance, you return to the dorms for lunch.
Choose to
Return to the dorm
Follow Dr. Sandy’s sidequest
Ahoy! Welcome to the docks…
Pursuing Pigeons- Tatum
You and Tatam head down to the docks to observe the pigeon guillemots. Tatum finds a way to survey the birds that will allow her to establish a baseline of their behaviors. Watching the birds is a meditative experience, though the ferries were extremely disruptive. Interrupting both the vibe and the view. After a successful day of collecting preliminary data you and Tatam head back to the dorms. CONTINUE TO DORM.
Welcome to the Spring Street Lab! Though she be little, she is fierce.
Sand Dollar Shenanigans- Caleb, Finlee, and Claudia
“I’m out of my depth, I’m just an average Joe!”- Caleb Zulauf
Yesterday, Caleb acquired sand dollars from FHL. Today, you help him extract gametes by injecting potassium chloride into the center of the five septa for his experiment which will test how pH affects sand dollar development. Perched on a beaker, the cilia of the sand dollars wave in hypnotizing patterns. Cooped up in the lab all day, surrounded by super-sanitized glassware and a strangely UFO-shaped centrifuge, you feel like you’re boiling alive. You struggle to keep all your water cool. In the end, it’s all worth it, as you fertilize the eggs. Tomorrow, you will have larvae.
You’re collecting Data at the beach!
You’re headed to the field, but what beach do you choose?
Cattle Point Beach
Deadman’s Bay
Go to Cattle Point Beach
Focus on:
Mussels
Nudibranchs
Muscles and Mussels- Nina & co.
You accompany Nina on a perilous quest to collect mussels from the rocks for her project. She will observe the effects of temperature on the strength of mussels’ byssal threads. In her intrepid attempts to pry the bivalves from their substrate, Nina bangs her head on a log and injures her knee. Luckily, others are nearby, and she promptly receives help.
Oh no! You forgot the knife and spatula used to scrape up the mussels at the beach. Head back to the beach to collect the abandoned items then go back to the dorms. CONTINUE TO DORMS
The Elusive Red Sponge Nudibranch- Sam & co.
“There was more Ulva than seawater” – Sam Feit (frustrated)
At cattle point, you assist Sam, Max, Nina, and Ian in their pursuit of red sponge nudibranchs for Sam’s project which involves observation of their egg-laying behaviors. Max spies and collects one in the first ten minutes, but you spend the next hour up to your thighs in seawater. Due to the high density of sea lettuce, your visibility of everything below the surface is extremely obscured, and you do not find any more. Sam nearly loses a finger to a red rock crab and your boots are now full of water. You drop the one nudibranch off at the labs then head defeated back to the dorms CONTINUE TO DORMS
Congratulations! You have chosen to go to Deadman’s Bay!
You now have another choice ahead of you.
You can focus on:
Chitons
Limpets
Crabs
Anemones
Coasting with Chitons- Katie and Gretchen
You and a friend start a survey looking at the mossy chiton. Starting from the rocks then heading deeper into the intertidal zone. Your mission is successful! You find many mossy chitons! Afterwards you head back to the dorms. CONTINUE TO DORMS
Out of the Tide Pool, into the Bucket- Matt
You notice that he has a heavy heart due to some unforeseen circumstances regarding his project and some recent changes. You also realize that he is armed with a scraper and a spatula, which vastly increases his chances of collecting more mossy chitons at the beach. However, all hope is not lost. You and him work together to collect a whopping 6 mossy chitons at the beach, heading back to the dorms on a high note. CONTINUE TO DORMS
Looking for Limpets – Tyler
You get out to the beach after a short drive with 6 others. With your quadrant and transect in your hands, you pick a good spot and start taking some measurements. Your data sheet in hand, you start noting down how many limpets are in the transect. Finger, shield and mask limpets are dotted throughout the rocky intertidal area as your paper slowly starts to fill up with numbers. You head back to the dorms with a sense of accomplishment knowing that all your data is now collected. CONTINUE TO DORMS
Sticky Pincers- Morgan and Ben
With a couple good buddies on the journey, you are glad that you are able to get outside to look at some crabs to help with Morgan’s project. You find an assortment of crabs hidden underneath the wide variety of rocks found at Deadman’s Bay. You also eat a delicious sandwich lunch while you are there. With full stomachs and crab buckets, you head back to the dorm. CONTINUE TO DORMS
Sea Anemone Roundup – Sid
You set out to collect data on Sea anemones, using a transect. You are fairly successful, ending up with 20 data entries by the end of the expedition. The anemones seem to grow better in the sun, but still the data is inconclusive and more information is needed. You head back to the dorms. CONTINUE TO DORMS.
It’s lunchtime! Thanks for collecting data with us. You return to the dorms for a quick bite to eat. Meanwhile…
Fighting Fire with Oil- Dr. Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria
When Dr. Sandy receives Adam’s message about the wasps, he fearlessly takes it upon himself to clear the creatures. He strategically selects his weapon- a can of WD-40. After dousing the nest, he rolls coolly up to maintenance to inform them of the situation. Wasps begone!
We have a few more decisions for you to make…
You can either:
Relax at the dorms
Accompany students to Friday Harbor Labs
Sea Hare Fliplimpics- Flora and Ansuya
Image taken by Flora Vaught
After a brief detour (due to wasps) during which you run into Future Dr. Frankie and Future Dr. Yohan, you head back to the labs to finish your preparations. As the hose method of washing the tanks is not working, you resort to bailing it out with a sponge. You are concerned when you begin filling the tank and the water appears dirty, but soon remember that is normal, as it is seawater. You proceed to gather two sea hares from Dr. Sandy’s tanks and accompany Ansuya and Flora to the lab space Dr. Swalla has so kindly allowed you to share. The test you perform will determine how long it takes for a sea hare to get hungry, a crucial detail in Flora and Ansuya’s projects. This is determined through the amount of time it takes for the sea hare to right itself after being flipped over, as this can only be performed when all of the sea hare’s biological processes are occurring properly. After acquiring the data you need, you return the sea hares to their tanks. Finally, you enlist Adam to assist you in examining the eelgrass Scarlett courageously dived blind to collect at 4th of July beach. You are looking for signs of eelgrass wasting disease which is caused by a protist that enters the plant through lesions. This is related to Ansuya’s experiment which will compare sea hare’s grazing habits on healthy and diseased eelgrass. CONTINUE TO DORMS.
You’ve almost made it through the day! You only have one more decision to make!
Head to the beach
Relax in the dorms
Sunbathing at South Beach- The Pebble Pitchers
“So what are we supposed to do now?”- Ian Gafford
Although you probably thought you were going on a hike, you are pleased to be redirected to a north-facing beach for some brief fun in the sun. As Tatum emphasizes, this beach has it all: a gorgeous mountain view, a comfy pebble beach, and a variety of colorful stones. Snacking on grapes, you enjoy the plunk of the pebbles in the calm waves.
Detour! On your way back from the beach, you head to Cattle Point to retrieve Nina’s abandoned implements. CONTINUE TO DINNER
Decompress at the Dorm- The Tired Troupers
You’ve probably been wondering what Salish Sea Science students get up to in their scant free time. Some choose to hang out in the common area working on their posters, or getting some leisure time. Some people go for a walk around the town. Some people even take a nap! Really, it’s just relaxing and recharging after a long day. CONTINUE TO DINNER
Hungry? Good thing it’s time for dinner!
Infiltration- The Mussel Maniacs
Image taken by Flora Vaught
We all come together at the end of the day to eat dinner. You and all the others are happy to welcome our guest speaker Dr. Mike Nishizaki. After dinner we all circle up to listen to Dr. Nishizaki talk about 3 of his ongoing projects including investigations of the effects of temperature fluctuation and water flow on mussels. He also mentioned one of his creations. Robo-mussels! Robo-mussels are engineered to mimic real muscles in order to gain accurate temperature readings. He leaves us with beautiful stickers designed by one of his students, Raquel Santamaria Germani, that contain a QR code which leads to an in-progress poster of the muscle bed ecosystem.
It’s finally dark… Get your headlamp on, we’re going nightlighting.
Fear is the Mind Killer- The Polychaete Pursuers
Image taken by Katie
After dinner you and the rest of the students wait for darkness to fall. Then everyone heads out to the docks at the Friday Harbor Labs. At the docks a light probe is lowered into the water and you watch in amazement as it illuminates the water allowing you to see a myriad of organisms. Ian and some other students are there to collect polychaete worms for their projects. With his delicate hand and dubious British accent, Adam summons the worms from the depths, along with a few “propa fish”. Caleb is a menace with the net, snatching up unsuspecting worms left and right, even braving a bite from the biggest. Ian, the worm whisperer, is thrilled to collect more than enough worms for his experiment.
Suddenly, Katie gasps in shock. There’s a harbor seal! You watch as the seal circles around the light, dipping in and out of visibility. When the seal disappears you gaze up at the starry night sky with Sam until it’s time to head back to the dorms. Once you get back you can feel your eyes telling you it’s time to fall asleep. You get ready then fall into bed. As you close your eyes you look back at everything you did today. So much was going on, no one person could experience all of it. Perhaps you should ask others about their days, listen to their stories and see what choices you could have made.
