Getting started

We spent all weekend doing a lot of planning for our experiments and we're finally getting started! We've decided to use the small, bushy algae, Dictyota, for our kelp plots because we've found that it houses a lot of larger invertebrates that we'd be able to identify after the experiment. We collected enough Dictyota today for 7 plots to go out tomorrow and we're planning to get them out in the morning. Small bunches will be placed on a mesh screen and secured to the bottom with rocks to observe which species colonize in 18 days.

We also got approval from Dr. Gordon today for our physiology project to continue forward, but are finding that we don't have enough time to balance both for right now. We're planning on putting our algae plots out and then really get going on our algal preference experiment. We collected 5 wavy turban snails (Lithopoma undosa) during our dive yesterday and they're huge. They have so much algae already on them that the other snails spend all day sitting on their shells eating.

We've been seeing so many small island foxes while eating dinner and such, they're too cute not to share. Smaller than a house cat, these little foxes are so cool to watch run around and get scared by the feral cats. 

Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis)

We also took a team Valkayeri hike over halfway to Two Harbors yesterday and stumbled upon some really cool views. Valerie and Kaylee decided to dig into the cactus fruits, I just got spiked by them. It was awesome seeing out of the cove and looking back at the mainland, not missing it one bit! Although it was cloudy on Saturday for the Orionid meteor shower, we were able to hike up the hill behind the dorms and watch some meteors last night with a few other people. It was so clear and we could see so many stars it was so refreshing to be out in nature with other people who love and appreciate it. Keeping our heads up for the long work days coming up but when you're scuba diving and setting up your own research projects can you even call it work? I like to think not. Thanks for reading y'all!

Bird Rock in front of Ship Rock from above the Wrigley Cove. If you know anything about birds you know why Bird Rock is white!

Left to Right: Two Harbors moorings, Fourth of July cove, Cherry Cove, and Lion's Head at the point. Right inside Lion's Head is where we placed our markers for our plots today and they'll be going out on Wednesday.

Snorkeling Adventures

A school of juvenile blacksmiths and a garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus).

Sandy bottom habitat in the Wrigley Marine Reserve.

Shovelnose guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus).

Juvenile fish in the intertidal.

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), feather boa kelp (Egregia), and various understory species.

A large bat ray (Myliobatis californica).

A leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata).

Macrocystis pyrifera

A round stingray (Urobatis halleri).

The California state fish, the Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus)
 Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)

  Giant Kelpfish (Heterostichus rostratus)

Macrocystis appreciation post

Just Getting Started

Eric, Kaylee, and Valerie here. We've arrived on Catalina Island for our five week marine biology quarter at the Wrigley Marine Science Center at Big Fisherman's Cove on Santa Catalina Island. We're all so ecstatic to be here and are really looking forward to beginning our research. We will be conducting two experiments, one ecological and one physiological. We are also all AAUS dive certified and will be scuba diving while on the island, which makes designing our projects much more enjoyable because we have the ability to really stretch what we can accomplish while here for five weeks.

The ecological experiment will be primarily concerning colonization and biodiversity of invertebrates to satellite reefs placed at a distance from the interface between the kelp forests, primarily dominated by Macrocystis pyrifera, and the sandy bottom. We will be comparing two different sites, one within the marine protected area and one outside of the boundaries. This will hopefully give us some indication of the importance of marine reserves not only for fish, but for the algal species and the invertebrates which are the basis for a healthy ecosystem. This will be conducted by allocating algal species to different plots and placing them in Big Fisherman's Cove and at our secondary site (yet to be determined), and then collecting and doing a species count on the plots. We will also be doing fish surveys to give some indication of the health and success of the individual reefs.

Our physiological experiment will be lab oriented, observing algal preference of a common marine snail, Lithopoma undosa, or the wavy turban snail. Growing to a shell size of 4.5 inches, these snails can get very large and are critical herbivores in many marine environments. We will be ranking the snails by size and placing them with four different algal species of different sizes and morphology, commonly called functional groups. and observing the preference of the snails. This will give us some indication of the feeding habits of these snails, as well as what components of algae is desirable to them.

We will have many more pictures and videos to come, and a whole lot of fun to be had here on Catalina. Looking forward to sharing the experience with everyone and we can't wait to get up tomorrow to continue doing what we love.   

This is the ramp looking down from the Wrigley Marine Science Center.  The weather has been great and everyone is so nice, laid back, and loving that they get to live on this beautiful island.