Fishing Observations

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Haley

This summer I have been working on quite a few projects with my grad student accomplice, Theo. They’ve all been based around Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, which will be implemented January 1st, 2016. It is the fifth, and last, and furthest north, marine reserve to go in along the Oregon coast. Most of the reserve is adjacent to Oswald West State Park, so that is where we do the majority of our research. Local community members and stakeholders were involved in deciding where they wanted the marine reserves to be placed. As the reserves mean no extractive purposes (i.e. fishing, shellfishing, etc.) or ocean development, fishermen wanted the marine reserves to be in places that would not significantly, negatively effect their fishing livelihoods. The Cape Falcon Marine Reserve is located in a portion of the ocean that is not heavily fished currently, however, there is still some fishing occurring within the future reserve (which is still completely legal as it does not become prohibited until January 1, 2016). To gather information on exactly how much fishing is occurring in this area, Theo and I have been conducting fishing pressure observation counts. We go to different locations along the coast to acquire the best views of the reserve in its entirety. At each viewpoint we count the number of buoys and boats we can see using binoculars, including any identification tips for the boats and buoys, such as name and color. Additionally, we record conditions of the environment such as sea conditions and weather conditions, as those will effect our abilities to accurately see all boats and buoys in the water. It’s amazing how you can see next to nothing without binoculars, and then you start using them and suddenly you can see dozens of buoys and a handful of boats! This project has been great practice for me at using binoculars and identifying boat types.

Week Eight: Boyfriend, BBQ, and BERNIE!!!

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Micaela Edelson

Last week I only worked three out of the five days. My boyfriend came up from California and I showed him around the coast on Wednesday and Thursday. We went to Agate Beach, Devil’s Punchbowl, the Historic Bayfront, and up to Lincoln City! It was very great seeing him!

On Monday, Tuesday, and Friday I did go to work and finished up collecting aragonite saturation and pH values for potential thresholds for the various taxa I needed to complete.

The weekend primarily consisted of two events: the tuna cook-off and the Bernie Sanders rally. On Saturday from 11-3 at the Newport docks, amateur and professional teams competed in the Great Albacore Tuna BBQ Challenge! Student tickets were only $10 and you can leave and renter throughout the day. Rosalyn, Ron, and Weiwu, an REU intern, stuffed our stomachs with fresh tuna for three hours. I was so full from the event I didn’t eat dinner even though the challenge ended at 3! The food was delicious and even though our favorites didn’t end up winning, it was still a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, Abby, Rosalyn, Ron, Weiwu, and I all headed up to Portland to see Bernie Sanders speak at the Moda Center. We got to Portland around lunchtime and went to eat with my sister who met us there. We walked around Portland for a little bit and then my sister dropped us off at the rally at 4:30—an hour and a half before doors opened. We were able to go onto the floor in front of his podium and had a great view of the Senator. 28,000 people ended up showing up the rally—the largest rally in the election thus far. In a stadium with maximum capacity at 19,000, 9,000 people listened to his speech from outside the Moda Center. We listened to him speak about economic, racial, and social inequality, climate change, affordable college, and other serious political issues. I also ran into an old friend from high-school at the rally and saw pictures on my Facebook newsfeed of Facebook friends who also attended. It was extraordinary and invigorating.

Afterward, we went to Salt and Straw for ice-cream (I had the honey lavender flavor) and ended up getting back to Hatfield at 2 in the morning!

Week Seven: Boats and Coasts, Piercings and Potlucks

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Micaela Edelson

This past week I have been working on finding aragonite saturation and pH values for potential thresholds for fish, echinoderms, amphipods, and polychaetes. Sarah H. briefly visited me at work on Wednesday to see what I’ve been doing. On Thursday, our project was audited, so people from Corvallis came to interrogate my mentor about the quality assurance procedures for CBRAT. Also, on Friday, my mentor, Anthony, and I went on a boat ride in the estuary. We were going to go out of the boat and sieve through the mud and collect some samples just for fun; however, at our first stop Anthony got stuck in the mud and lost a boot! The boat ride was still fun and I was able to catch jellies and crab molts by reaching my hand out of the boat.

This week was also fun outside of work! On Wednesday, I went with a bunch of REU interns and got my nose pierced! Afterwards, to celebrate, we had a mini-wine and cheese night.

Thursday, Hatfield summer residents hosted another potluck, and the food was delicious! On Friday, Austin’s mentor, Dan, hosted Austin, Rosalyn, Abby, and I for another mini-potluck where we ate, played card games, and video games! It was really enjoyable! Then on Saturday, Abby, Rosalyn, Ron, Weiwu (REU intern), and I hiked Cascade Head! The view was great!

Afterwards, we went to Pelican Brewing Company for dinner and walked the beach at Pacific City!

August Already!? (Goals, Projects, and a Random Scientific Question)

Posted on August 3, 2015 by sea_aus

Wow so much time has passed. I can’t believe the summer is getting ever closer to coming to an end. The past week or two I’ve been using my time wisely in Oregon. I’ve managed to attempt spear fishing and going into it I figured it would be difficult. I was correct in believing so, because swimming down 15-20ft into the dark unknown on a single breath all the while trying not to scare the fish once you’ve reached the bottom is nearly impossible for a newbie. With all the difficulty aside though, it was a rich experience and I plan on attempting it again after taking a few more snorkeling trips to gather some confidence in my diving abilities in low visibility waters. Something on my bucket list also water related is that while out here I’m going to go surfing and the next opportunity I get I’m taking it.

On the science end of things, crab data has been gathered and we are beginning to conduct analyses and have begun building the prototype stereocam rigs. There’s really only two weeks until our poster sessions, so the scrambling of trying to get projects done and putting the “final” product into a physical presentation will soon be among us.

Something totally unrelated to my crab/camera project, but I feel like is worth noting about science is that I recently had brought to my attention a thought. A philosophical question put into my mind by a movie. The movie “Chappie”, not to give too much away is about a police sentry robot in South Africa that is programmed with consciousness. Unlike most movies that portray robots enslaving our species or eradicating us entirely, Chappie brings up the question as to how we would potentially treat and raise this artificial intelligence and whether it would be morally considered a sentient subject with rights like you and I. You may be thinking that this is a far off thought that is merely fiction, but as we progress with technology we are fast approaching a time where this could be reality in the not so distant future. Some of the top minds in the world are already raising concerns over the topic like Stephen Hawking. What are your thoughts on this debatable topic? Although some parts of the movie are not for younger viewers, I suggest checking it out if you feel like acquiring some new “keeping you up at night” material to think about.

Theatre poster for the movie Chappie

Entering August….

Posted on August 2, 2015 by sea_ros

Typical day at the dorms

Abby had to go to a wedding in Eugene, so Ron, Micaela and I hitched a ride to explore Eugene!

We thoroughly enjoyed the Eugene Saturday Market and I got a cool rainbow trout hat!

Here’s us posing next to a sleepy Ron on the bus en route to see Inside Out in theaters. (By the way, super good movie! Go see it if you haven’t!!)

accidentally waking Ron up due to us taking pictures of him

This week on Monday, I went out with Abby and helped out ODF&W with their SMURFing surveys. I was super nervous and excited going into the day and came out with an incredibly miserable experience on the water. Abby and I went in for the first SMURF station/buoy, and I quickly had a mini panic attack and had to stop after the first station. Once I got back on the deck of the boat, I got violently sea sick and threw up throughout each subsequent station. It was super cool being able to go out in open ocean, but it’s definitely not for me hahaha. BUT, it was really cool to see Abby in such a comfortable setting. For context, Abby is on her way to getting her dive masters, and is already really used to these kinds of scenarios and settings and seeing her in the water was such a treat. She seemed so calm and in her element.

Afterwards, we came back to Newport to process the fish we caught via the SMURFs!

check out those colors!!!

Processing the fish in the lab afterwards was definitely more of my jam.

Further evidence that I’m destined for lab work.

Other work happenings….

Micaela at Wednesday donuts with my new wide-angle lens!

Labeling for dayssssss

I’ve mostly been on Excel/data work for most of the week:

note: Annie’s graham cracker snacks have been maintaining and guiding my desk side munchies towards a more manageable level

Bothering Micaela in her office

Grinding up green macro-algae samples for stable isotope studies (N15 specifically)

Some of the OSG scholars got together to watch the Grudge in the dining hall one night, so this is Abby and I imitating the Grudge girl a day later.

before

after

Bulls-eye at Bier One!!

One of the cool things about being this far along in the summer– you have enough data to actually analyze what you’ve been doing! So, after plotting the data we have accumulated from the estuary CTD/chlorophyll cruises, we found one of the extreme outliers was Alsea River.

So far, through our data analysis, we see a very clear trend across the board in all estuaries—as you increase salinity in these systems, you also see a correlated increase in phosphates. This can imply that there are oceanic drivers of nutrients and phosphates. However, Alsea showed high levels of chlorophyll and nutrients at a mid level of salinity, instead of this increasing trend we see with other Oregonian estuaries. We assumed the Alsea water samples already entered had been collected during an algal bloom, so we decided to do another sampling at Alsea a couple days ago to see if the data we had before was indeed, abnormal of typical Alsea conditions.

I analyze the samples we obtained on Thursday this upcoming week, so I’ll keep you posted as to what we find!

I got off work on Friday at 1:00pm, and brainstormed what I could do with all my free time. I visited the Hatfield visitor center and thoroughly went through all the exhibits, reading everything and watching every video. I was surprised I hadn’t done so yet, considering how long we’ve been at Hatfield already!

Also, unrelated, but this is a Potato Au Gratin dish I made for a get-together/potluck and I’m very proud of it.

Over the weekend, a few interns and I headed to Cascade Head and hiked to the top~

Remember when I said Salmon River was my favorite field site? I’m so glad I got to come back to Salmon again, this time with all mah new frands.

hanging out on the dock

Then after our hike, we visited Pacific City to go to Pelican Brewery and to hang out on the beach.

After a very jam-packed day, we chilled at the dorms and talked until the morning. This is Ron wanting to go to bed.

Also, since I’m not used to my GoPro yet, I have yet to make it a habit to upload all my pictures! Prepare for a photo-dump of photos taken from before.
From our weekend going up to Washington for the Gorge Amphitheater:

Field work:

Camping at the mid-summer check in!

Also this past week, for two days in a row, Abby and I decided to take advantage of living so close to the water, and just jump in after work!

“See you next week!”

If These Puns are Bad, Then Let Minnow!

Posted on August 2, 2015 by sea_abb

Yet again, I find myself on Monday morning in a wetsuit heading out to Otter Rock Marine Reserve to collect SMURFs and sample the juvenile fish. I’ve decided this is one of my favorite jobs I’ve done so far with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The start time is not too early, it’s a good way to start the day, and I get to swim in the ocean. No matter how cold or early, I would take any opportunity I could to get in the water and do some field work.

The day was very successful and Rosalyn was able to go with us, which made it a lot more fun. The day did not end after the field work however. There was a total of 275 fish that needed to be identified and measured. It took until about 8 pm, but we were able to finish and go to the local bar and sit down for a beer. It was a long day.

Something I have realized from this week is that I really want to go to grad school at some point. I think there is a lot to be learned in the field of marine biology and I even though I don’t know when I will go, I want to continue my education. I’ve been looking a lot of different places and even schools abroad as well. There are so many programs that look so interesting!

As the weekend rolled up, our plan of attack was to finally hike Cascade Head, which is one of the more popular hikes in Lincoln City. It was around 5 miles and had an amazing view at the top. I cannot get over how gorgeous Oregon really is and how much of it that I still have yet to explore. As the weekend calms down, I am spending the day relaxing and resting for the week ahead. I cannot believe that the end is now in sight. It seems like only a short while ago I was graduating from college and on my way to Newport.

Another update is that I get to attend the American Fisheries Society Conference in Portland in two weeks! I have never been to one before and am excited to be around people that are passionate about the same things that I am. It will also be a great way to end the internship and summer. I am hopeful for the future and so far this has solidified that I do really love working on the coast and in marine science.

Exploregon

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Haley

Even though I am a born and raised Oregonian, I still have plenty to explore in this beautiful state! I’ve been taking advantage of days off by adventuring around and I thought I’d share a few places I’ve been in this blog post in case anyone else is feeling up to a little weekend adventure.

Pictured here is Little Crater Lake. This is a hidden gem that my mentor at ODFW, Tommy, stumbled upon and told me about. This is located up by Mt. Hood. the water is super clear as you can see in the photo. Check out that tree you can see so clearly in the lake! Water temperatures here are about 34 degrees, so not ideal for long swims, but beautiful to look at!

Here’s the view of the Sisters Mountains from a chair lift at Mt. Bachelor. Bachelor is awesome for snow sports in the winter, but it’s still absolutely stunning and tons of fun in the summer. There’s plenty of mountain biking trails on the mountain. When I went up we did a summer dogsled ride that was tons of fun! Also, the restaurant is still open in the summer (which you take a chair lift up to); be sure to make nighttime reservations as it’s unbelievably beautiful at night!

This is Steelhead Falls, which is part of the Deschutes River. There are plenty of places to do some cliff jumping into the water around here. When we went there were kayakers practicing going down the waterfall and then rolling back over when they flipped. Super beautiful spot, not too crowded and also pretty dang cold water, though not as cold as Little Crater Lake.

This is Smith Rock during sunrise. Smith Rock is a popular destination in Central Oregon. I would certainly recommend a visit to hike here, just make sure to bring lots of water as there is little to no shade and temperatures rise quickly in the summer! This is also a good place for rock climbing if anyone is interested in that!

Anyways, I just wanted to share a few spots I’ve been around Oregon lately in case anyone else wants to go exploring, though it’s difficult to leave Newport on the weekends because it’s such a beautiful beach!

Posted on July 26, 2015 by sea_ros

It’s been a bit of time since we’ve last spoken, blog. A lot has happened– both the good and the bad (the bad mostly being me throwing up on one of our field days).

All of the boats at the EPA are named after birds. I threw up on the Osprey for our field day on the Umpqua.
Other than getting the most sea sick I’ve gotten in a longgggg time, the Umpqua is definitely one of my favorite systems. Super pretty!

We stopped at the Grateful Bread for some marionberry scones before hitting the estuary.

Then after work, Abby and Sara and I hit up Nye Beach!
We saw a really cool history of boarding (including skateboarding, surfing, etc) shown through artwork.

In other news, I got a bulls-eye for the first time too!!!!! It’s common for Hatfield grad students, interns, and the younger crowd to hit up Bier One on Wednesdays to play games and hang out. It’s cool to see familiar Hatfield faces fill up a room.

Also, this is Ron killing a spider for Abby and I. Ron’s our resident bug killer.

Fieldwork at Salmon River is my all time favorite so far.

I think it’s obvious why.

When we take water samples, we take measurements of pH, temperature, in situ fluorescence, DO, DO% saturation, and salinity of the “Bottom” depth, “Mid”, and “Surface”. However, we only take the “Mid” water samples to filter out for chlorophyll and nutrients. BUT! if the salinity between the bottom depth and surface is more than two units apart, we take samples from both the bottom and surface (doubling our work). At Salmon, every station we stopped at, we would have to take two samples. This was very strange, seeing as it was one of our smallest systems, and the river was only 2-5 meters deep in some areas. That much change in salinity/other parameters in such shallow waters made me wonder what was up. Also, at one of our stations, a group of cows were just chilling on the bank. Needless to say, the chlorophyll levels were a lot higher, and nutrient levels were probably super high by the cows.

On the weekend, we headed to the Gorge Amphitheater to see Zac Brown Band perform!

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way up to Washington~

THE GORGE!

The gorge isn’t always evergreen-y though, some parts looked like the Grapevine in California.

on our way back

After camping that night after the show, we were on our way back to Newport. But… we took a wrong turn and ended up in Seattle…Don’t ask us how that even happened…

Back in the lab… more sonication for processing the chlorophyll samples
I was also able to do some fieldwork besides the chlorophyll/nutrient sampling we’ve been doing. I got to go out on the mudflats to help a grad student with a seagrass experiment part of the ZEN project (UC Davis represent!) I take pride in saying Jay Stachowicz, who started the ZEN project, was my general ecology professor, and now am helping with the ZEN, 400+ miles away.

IMG_20150715_060232_HDR

Speaking of varying fieldwork experiences… I got to help out with sea star surveys with ODF&W !

4 am selfies with the roomie :)

Henricia leviuscula

We got to go inside Devil’s Punchbowl for a ROV-ing survey.

During our Sea Grant Mid Summer check-in, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium!

ROCKFISH!

IMG_20150719_160118

Later that weekend, we headed to Eugene! Here are some rapids on the Williamette some of us jumped in. Eugene was awesome. It feels like a mini-Portland, but one that doesn’t try very hard to be too hip.

There’s a U-Pick blueberry farm in a town nearby!

YUMMM! blueberry picking! YAY!

After work one day, we decided to go to Yaquina Head to check out the lighthouse.

In reference to the SMART goals we made the first week…

– feeling comfortable in a room full of professionals in my field has been improving, thanks to free donut Wednesdays at Hatfield. Here, we’re able to chat and get to know everyone at Hatfield in a casual setting

– Twitter, unfortunately, has not been improving. I think I’m having a hard time getting into Twitter because I didn’t have one before this summer.

– As for learning local species, I have been adding plenty more, thanks to the recent trips to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and helping ODF&W out!

That’s all folks! Peace out~ see you next week

Oh my Cod…Not Another Fish Pun

Posted on July 26, 2015 by sea_abb

Field days are the best. They take up a good portion of the work day, they involve going out on the water, and they are more fun than sitting in front of a computer and drinking your weight in coffee. Yet, as I’ve learned, while there are weeks with numerous field days, there are also long days that consist of sitting at the office and looking at a computer.

This is what my week six consisted of. Although while sometimes I watched the minutes tick by, there were times where I really enjoyed working with the data that we had collected, while in the office. This week I was able to take data collected from long lining, (one of the surveying methods used in the Marine Reserves), and use ARCgis to map where fish were taken up and what species they were. This was a tedious process, but very satisfying once I was able to put the map together. Another reason I enjoyed this was the fact that this was one of my goals I wrote at the beginning of the summer. I now feel like I have a better grasp on using ARCgis and really enjoy using it as well. While the week consisted of a lot of sitting, I learned a lot and am chipping away at some of my goals for this program.

While work takes up a good chunk of the day, some of the shenanigans we get into after we get back to Hatfield can turn the most boring days into fun. Thursday night we decided it was time to test our vocals and hit up Hoovers Bar and Grill for some Karaoke. It took Rosalyn and I some time, but we decided on ABC by the Jackson 5. We quickly learned that we both did not possess the skill to reach the pitch of that of a ten year old Michael Jackson. It didn’t matter though. We killed it anyways.

As well, this weekend was relaxing and a ton of fun. On Friday we explored the Yaquina Head State Park and wandered around the lighthouse. Saturday, I was able to go to one of my good friend’s wedding in Eugene and today I went diving in Florence! It was an action packed weekend and I am very much looking forward to my next week of adventures!

Sara scoring some epic fish videos

Top of Yaquina Head State Park overlooking Agate Beach

Week Six: Bivalves and beach views

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Micaela Edelson

This past week was very interesting between working during the day and playing during the evening! At work, I finished searching for values for aragonite saturation and pH thresholds for bivalves. There were so many papers that had the impacts of ocean acidification for bivalves—mainly oysters (Crassostrea virginica and Crassostrea gigas) and mussels (Mytulis edulis). With so many papers, this particular literature review took longer than most of the others so it was basically the only thing I worked on this week! However, on Friday, my mentor and I went out on the estuary to monitor a rare estuarine plant that only occurs in Newport and Coos Bay in Oregon. It wasn’t blooming this week, so I think we’re going out again next week to see it in bloom. While we were out, we saw a dead seagull without a head, so that was a pretty interesting way to end the work week.

The social part of the week was quite eventful! On Monday we went blueberry picking at Siletz and made blueberry lemonade. I’ve made blueberry smoothies so often this past week. Also, on Thursday, the scholars and I went to the Oregon Sea Grant picnic and had a blast playing and ladder ball, walking on the beach, and eating delicious food! That evening we all went to karaoke with some REU interns. We also went to Yaquina Bay head and lighthouse on Friday after work. The view was great and the walk was refreshing.

On Saturday, Abby went up to Eugene for a wedding and Ron, Rosalyn, and I accompanied her to Eugene and explored the city that day. We went to the Saturday market, Buffalo Exchange, and the movie theater to see Inside Out. It was a packed and fun day. Today Rosalyn, Ron, and I went over the bridge to look at an Antique mall and then explored the Nye Beach district. Abby joined us for dinner at Nana’s Irish Pub. This past weekend the scholars and I also made a Newport bucket list of things to accomplish before the end of the summer. This list includes kayaking, glass blowing, hiking Cascade head, going to the wooden boat show, and going to Nana’s (which we already checked off the list). I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

Sea Grant Scholars

Learning through experience, for the future of our oceans