Intro to Marine Bio 2016 - Day 4

Today we awoke to another bright shiny day. We started in the lab studying the effect of temperature on the feeding rate of barnacles.  Check out this video we posted on twitter of the barnacles feeding. They are a cool animal to study. We then had an artist join us to help the students make connections between art and biology.  Their artwork was pretty impressive!

Armed with shovels and buckets we went on the hunt for marine worms on a muddy intertidal zone. We found a great diversity including clam worms, blood worms, milky ribbon worms, red lined worms, clams and moon snails. There was even a small war wound inflicted by one of the blood worms. Did you know some worms have teeth?

We finished off the afternoon screen printing Huntsman t-shirts. Mess but fun.

The students are now in town completing the Almost Amazing Marine Race. Stay tuned tomorrow to see which team is the winner!

Very carefully watching the temperature.

A few of the art pieces.

On the hunt for marine worms.

A cute little red lined worm.

T-shirts in the making.

Intro to Marine Bio 2016 - Day 3

Today was d-day - dissection day! This morning started out with a fish dissection lab. The students studied the external anatomy of their fish to learn more about its habitat and prey.  Then they opened them up!  A few of the fish has eggs, while others had lots of prey in their stomach.  During the lab we had some really determined students that even found the otolith bones of their fish. Not an easy task!

To enjoy the beautiful afternoon we headed to the beach to gather data on invasive green crabs and marine debris.  The students found and marked 300 crabs in just over an hour. Wow!  Then they did an awesome job cleaning up marine debris from a section of the shoreline. 

Very focused during the fish dissection!

Wonderful drawings and observations.

Salmon gills.

This herring was full of eggs.

And this herring was full of krill.

A herring otolith magnified 40x.

The crab hunters!

Measured and marked.

The marine debris the students collected.

Intro to Marine Bio 2016 - Day 2

Day 2 began in the lab classifying and identifying the benthic invertebrates that we had collected yesterday while on the boat.  We identified twenty-seven different species including a beautiful skeleton shrimp with eggs in her brood pouch!  Click the link to see a video through the microscope. 

Today the group also had the chance to tour two different museums at the Huntsman, one that is open to the public, the Fundy Discovery Aquarium and one that is only open to researchers, the Atlantic Reference Centre or ARC.  At the aquarium the students were able to view the salmon and harbour seal feedings, as well as enjoy the touch tanks.  The tour of the ARC provided a chance for the students to see a number of preserved deep sea animals including an angler fish, a gulper eel and a viper fish.  They even had the chance to kiss a porbeagle shark head!

We headed out to the beach this afternoon to explore the diversity of life that lives in the intertidal zone. The group found lots of crabs, barnacles and sideswimmers but were pushed inside by thunder showers. 

After a yummy supper at Anderson House we spent some time in the lab learning about the fascinating anatomy of sea urchins and sea stars.  Who knew echinoderms were so interesting!

We had a bit of excitement today when CTV Atlantic Live at 5 arrived to do a news piece on the Introduction to Marine Biology field course.    

In the classification lab.

A hermit crab with snail fur on its shell.

Observing and describing the animals.

Salmon feeding at the aquarium can get a bit wet!

The identification lab at the ARC.

Getting a tour of the ARC collection.

Jars and jars of preserved specimens. Cool!

Exploring the intertidal zone.

Beautiful sunshine before the thunderstorms pushed us inside.

Having a look at the urchins up close.

How rude! Urchins poop a lot!

Intro to Marine Bio 2016 - Day 1

On campus this week we have our Introduction to Marine Biology field course. Students from all over eastern Canada have come to explore this beautiful area of the coast with us.

Today we went for a collection cruise on Passamaquoddy Bay to gather some specimens that we'll study the remainder of the week.  We found lots of animals including sea stars, urchins, sea peaches, sponges, crabs and more.  It was a beautiful sunny and warm day on the water.

This evening we went to the lab to study the phytoplankton and zooplankton that we had collected.

While the students are on campus we will also be posting some pictures and updates on the Huntsman Education Twitter account. 

Boarding the Fundy Spray.

Tracey explaining the collection of plankton.

Zoo and phyto samples.

Gathering invertebrates from the ocean floor using the benthic drag.

Excitedly sorting through the benthic sample!

We found a cute little toad crab!

And lots of urchins!

Heading through St. Andrews Harbour.

Studying plankton in the lab.

The samples were full of copepods and diatoms.