German Group

For the next couple of days we have a group of university students and professors from Germany staying on campus and touring the St. Andrews area.  They are here in the Maritimes doing an excursion as part of their studies.  

Today the group toured different parts of the Huntsman, including the aquarium and the ARC (Atlantic Reference Centre), and also went out with me on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray.  It was a beautiful day to be on the water and sample the marine environment.  While onboard the boat we collected plankton, conducted a scallop drag, checked out the seals hanging around the herring weir, and slipped through St. Andrews Harbour to get a view of town from the water.  Our scallop drag samples were pretty diverse with both groups collecting sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers, scallops, sea peaches, sponges, and crabs.  The second group also brought up from the bottom a ‘beautiful’ worm called a sea mouse!    

To finish off the afternoon the group was touring the St. Andrews Biological Station (the neighbouring research station for the Canadian government) and then heading into town for a lovely meal.

Glad to meet you all today!  Safe travels for the rest of your trip!   

Our captain dumping the scallop drag.

Getting their hands dirty sorting through the collection!

Sea stars

Sea urchins

The top of the herring weir.

Towing the plankton nets.

Zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Shark Week Interactive Exhibit

Our interactive exhibit at the aquarium this week is all about sharks!  Have fun digging for shark teeth, check out the shark jaws on display, pickup some children’s activity sheets, and view the life size shark silhouettes up around the aquarium.  Tomorrow we plan to have two new children’s games also, pin the tail on the thresher shark and shark lunch!

How many shark teeth can you find?

Check out the size of that shark!

We have a number of cool shark items on display.

Seabird Week Interactive Exhibit

Our interactive exhibit at the aquarium this week is all about seabirds.  Make a seabird at the kids activity table, check out the shearwater migration display, view the amazing bird specimens, watch two great bird movies in the Dunn Science Theatre, and take home a free seabird ID card (great if you are going whale watching!). 

View 15 species of birds that frequent the Bay.

Shearwater migration display...now that is some frequent flyer miles!

Beautiful puffin

All Things Marine – Day 3

Today the group looked at marine organisms through different scopes, the first being art and the second being cooking.  Throughout the day the group worked with Barb to tap into their inner artists.  They created some beautifully colourful pieces for a mural that will be posted in the aquarium.  It is amazing what you can create when you try!  Then in the afternoon the long awaited cooking class took place.  Amid some laughs the group prepped some periwinkles, sea cucumbers and scallops to add to the meal for the evening.  We will see at supper who is feeling adventurous!  But just in case I think the ladies in the kitchen are making ‘regular’ food for supper!

This evening the group is free to explore St. Andrews.  Hopefully, they will leave it all in one piece!            

The toad crab posed pretty well...for a little while!

De-shelled periwinkles ready for supper!

Sea cucumber ready to be cooked...yum!?

From day 2: a blood worm shooting out its proboscis

(the 4 teeth are found on the end of the proboscis).

All Things Marine – Day 2

Yesterday morning our excited group of teachers and adults boarded the Fundy Spray in search of what lives beyond the intertidal zone.  We headed out of Passamaquoddy Bay in search of marine mammals and found approximately 30 harbour and grey seals lounging on the ledges.  Some of them were quite active, jumping out of the water and putting on a little show for us.  Unfortunately, because of the fog we didn’t get to head out further in search of even larger animals but that is life in the Bay of Fundy, you are at the mercy of the weather!  Also, while on board we did a plankton tow and two scallop drags to collect animals to study in the lab.  We found a great diversity of species using the scallop drag, including two very soft lobsters that must have just moulted.  The group was a bit upset we couldn’t bring the lobsters back for their cooking class but we did bring back sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and scallops…a fair trade?!

In the afternoon the group met in the lab to get a closer look at the animals they collected Monday at Indian Point and while on the boat.  They had lots of fun viewing everything through the microscopes and learning about animals they had never heard of before such as sea spiders, terebellid worms and bryozoans. 

Later in the afternoon we donned our rubber boots and took buckets and shovels to the muddy shore in search of marine worms.  Tracey did a quick introduction with the group and warned them that a couple of the worms can bite.  As luck would have it the first worm of the day was a blood worm which decided to have a taste of one of the teachers, who now has quite the story to take back to his students!  While on the beach did find a great diversity of animals, including bamboo worms, red-lined worms, milky ribbon worms, soft-shelled clams, and moon snails.  One of the coolest finds was a huge moon snail collar, which contains the eggs one very large moon snail!

After a great roasted chicken supper (which included stuffing and gravy…yum!) the group met me in the aquarium lab to check out their plankton sample from earlier in the day.  They found an amazing selection of diatoms, dinoflagellates, copepods, and even some Podon sp.  It was a great comparison for the teachers who are used to working with freshwater plankton species. 

Below are some pictures from our awesome day. 

Zooplankton and phytoplankton samples.

Our captain dumping the scallop drag.

Sorting through the collection from the scallop drag.

Soft lobster.

Tiny urchins.

Checking out the beautiful terebellid worm.

Digging for worms!

Look at the size of that moon collar...huge!

Biology teachers in their glory!  Studying the plankton samples.

All Things Marine - Day 1

Today we welcomed to campus nine teachers and adults participating in our All Things Marine field course.  The group will be with us for the week having fun and learning about the connections between biology, art, history, and cooking.  Oh yes, even cooking! 

After an introduction to each other and the Huntsman we all headed out to Indian Point to explore the intertidal zone (the area between high and low tide).  The group was amazed to find how many animals could be found hiding under the rocks and seaweed, including sea vases, scale worms, sea stars, and green crabs.  We collected some of each animal to study further in the lab tomorrow and even brought back some periwinkles for cooking class later this week.  Escargot anyone?   

This evening the group was exploring a salt marsh with Tracey before settling into Needler Hall for the night.  Hopefully they put in their order for whales because tomorrow morning we are heading out on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray.  Fingers crossed! 

Found some green crabs...

and some squid eggs!

In the tide pools at Indian Point.

Invasive Species Week Interactive Exhibit

Our interactive exhibit at the aquarium this week is all about marine invasive species.  How many green crabs can you find in the touch pool? 

Marked green crab in the touch pool.

Introduction to Marine Biology – Day 5

This morning the group is conducting behaviour experiments with the live animals they collected this week.  It is organized chaos with five different groups working on a number of experiments; the effect of temperature on the feeding rates of barnacles, if size determines the flipping rate of sea urchins and sea stars, and how arthropods react to light.  Once each group has completed their trials they will present their results to the group.  We will see how much they have been paying attention this week! 

After the lab the group will head up to Anderson House to pack and have their final meal together.  I am sure there may be some tears on departure as this group became pretty close. 

Thank you all for taking part in our course this week.  You have caused your house mom only a little bit of stress so thank you for that.  Have a great summer and hope to see you back again next year!

Cool barnacles!

Does the hermit crab like the light or not?

Urchin flipping.

Sea star flipping.

Introduction to Marine Biology – Day 4

Today is dissection day!  This morning the group headed down to the lab to look at the external and internal anatomy of the fish they collected on the boat yesterday.  The coolest dissection of the day was probably the lumpfish, with its pelvic fins that have been modified into a ‘sucker’.

After lunch, armed with buckets and shovels, the students walked to the Barr Road in hunt of marine worms.  They were amazed to learn that some worms have teeth and can bite, which they witnessed when Barb got nipped.  Not terribly painful but quite a shock!  While on the beach a few of the students were brave and decided to take a dip.  This would not be the last time some of them got soaked today!   

This evening they screen printed t-shirts and will get everyone to sign them tomorrow as a souvenir of all the friends and memories they made here at the Huntsman.  They also played water balloon volleyball, which then deteriorated into a water fight outside with buckets of water.  Hope we can find a mop so they can clean up their slippery path to the sink! 

Look at those teeth!

Which fish do you have?

Digging for worms.

Taking a dip in the ocean!

Water balloon volleyball!

Screen printing.

NB Nature Camp

This week we have NB Nature Camp students staying on campus.  So far this week they have done lots of fun activities in the field and at the pond with their counselors but today their activities focused on the marine environment so I got the chance to work with them. 

This morning all of the students toured the new aquarium and went out on the Huntsman research vessel, the Fundy Spray.  While touring the aquarium the students played in the touch pool, pet the skates, viewed the seals underwater, and checked out the variety of fish and lobsters, including big DeeDee.  On the boat we completed a plankton tow and a scallop drag so the students could see what lives at the surface and on the bottom of the local marine environment.  They were very excited to see jellies in the water and to handle the animals that came up in the scallop drag.  The students also helped me to collect some data on the temperature and salinity of the water at different locations.  It is starting to get pretty warm for this area, a balmy 13°C!

After a yummy lunch the students headed to Pottery Creek to hunt for the invasive green crab.  They helped me to collect data on the size and gender of the crabs.  Total crab count today was 138, three of which were females with eggs.

Tomorrow will be the last day for the nature campers.  Hope to see you all again next year!  

Plankton

    

Lots collected in the scallop drag!

Sorting through the collection.

Snorkel at the aquarium.

On the hunt for green crabs!

Female with eggs.

Introduction to Marine Biology – Day 3

Its boat day!  First thing this morning the group headed out on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray.  While on the boat the students observed three different methods of sampling the marine environment: a plankton tow, a scallop drag, and a fish trawl.  The students got their hands dirty sorting through the scallop drag and counting all of the sea cucumbers, scallops, sea stars, and other animals that were dragged up from the bottom.  Wow, there are lots of sea urchins!  Next they conducted a fish trawl in Passamaquoddy Bay and hauled in a bunch of interesting animals including hake, skates, shrimp, lobsters, and octopus.  Much to the disappointment of the students we were not allowed to keep the lobsters.  Oh well, the chicken for supper was tasty!

This afternoon the group worked with Barb making the connection between art and biology.  The students painted marine animals for an ongoing mural which may be featured in the aquarium.  There are some pretty good artists in the group.  I was impressed!

After supper the group walked into St. Andrews to play kick the can at the giant playground and check out the candy store.  Even though they are teenagers the students still had fun playing at the playground!  It is a seriously awesome playground!          

Don't want to mess with those claws!

sea raven

Art in progress.

The awesome playground!!