Shannon-Point

Unfortunately my phone died while we were still on the boat so all of my pictures are from the boat. I thought it was really interesting that what we did wasn’t done all the way. Nate the skipper said that the process is only really done by schools like us.

The animal in the bottom part of the picture is I believe Oregonia Gracilis or the Graceful Decorator Crab. We collected the little guy with the other creatures we collected in the boat. It seemed to be minding its own business in the container and didn’t really move much. Only trying to steady itself in the water. I would think that it’s ecological role is to be a predator and eat smaller prey. One  interesting thing I found out about them is they can sometimes attach another organism on their backs for protection or camouflage.

The organism pictured above is a Sand Shrimp. We found these shrimp when we were on the boat. They would group together in the container when we looked at them. I think their ecological role is to provide food for the ecosystem.

The organism picture above I believe is a Shore Crab. We picked him up in the net on the boat. He was slowly moving around the container using his claws to guide his way. I believe their ecological role is to eat the dead fish and other things on the bottom of the sea floor. One interesting thing I found out about them is they are a  very alien and invasive species.

The organism in the picture above is a Sea Pen. It was in the lab in a container. It wasn’t really doing anything just sitting in the water. I think it’s ecological role is to provide food for other organisms.

The most interesting thing that I learned during our trip to Shannon-Point was that we have porpoises in our Puget Sound. What I learned on the trip changed my perspective because i didn’t know there was so much diversity in our waters. One question that I had was how invasive was our experience to the ecosystem where we were at?