My trip to Shannon Point was one to remember from the course! I thought it was fun exploring and finding things on the shore, like deer tracks and a dead eel, as well as seeing a porpoise while out on the waters! At Shannon Point Marine Center, I observed the Nudibranch and Tube Worm in the lab. Along the shore, I observed the Red Rock Crab and Lichen. I think that the nudibranch is my new favorite aquatic organism. I was stuck at the lab table just watching the little thing move around. It looked like a dragon!! A nudibranch is a sea slug. This nudibranch was about an inch long. I thought it was cool to learn how nudibranchs are carnivores that get their color from the type of food they eat. Nudibranchs are important to aquatic food chains, even though they only live up to one year. The tube worm has always been an interesting creature to me; however, before the trip, I believed it was a flower.. haha. It's pretty cool to see it retreat into it's home after being touched. Tube worms have a big impact on maintaining our coral reefs. The Red Rock Crab is native to the pacific coast. Red rock crabs are a food source to the endangered species of the sea otter. The aquatic lichen we found on the shore was colored vibrant red and spread all onto a rock. Lichen help algae thrive as well as convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. The most interesting thing I saw at Shannon Point was the nudibranch. I had never seen one prior to my visit. They are so captivating to the eye. After seeing one porpoise and not the whole pod, it opened up my perspective on human activity in marine habitats in the Pacific Northwest.
Questions:
What do the students and scientists at the research center believe is going to happen in the communities with the Starfish Wasting Syndrome?
Seeing the harbor porpoise was so cool! What do you think we can do to help them out? Like you said, the fact that we only saw one and not their whole pod was a bit shocking. What role do you think human industry played in that?
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you enjoyed the field trip and you were able to learn more from it. I agree with you that the nudibranch is a very captivating little organism. I had also not seen it before then so it was really cool to see one up close and learn about it.
ReplyDeleteIsa, the nudibranch was a very interesting species to observe and they are carnivorous and will eat many different organisms like sponges, sea slugs and sometimes even members of their own species!
ReplyDeleteI also remember Gwen mentioning nudibranch are hermaphroditic, meaning they have a set of reproductive organs for female and male. I think their scientific name is Berghia coerulescens.