9/29/13

I didn't get to feed anything this morning besides the Moon Jellies and West Coast Sea Nettles because everyone else did the others first. Today was pretty normal overall. I cleaned the tubesnout. pipefish and kelp bass tanks. I found an escaped tubesnout and that was the only abnormal thing today.... I worked the 'kitchen' most of today (the kitchen is where we raise our zoo-plankton and phytoplankton) and so I gotta show people them under the microscope, give out stamps and stickers and just talk to the public in general. There were a lot of excited little kids, and I have to say, they were super adorable. Around 2:15 I met with Andres, my mentor, to discuss my research proposal. I got some things clarified and think that I will have it done and turned in by next Sunday. He also told me about another 'beach seine' coming up and he said that I should go. I really want to, the only problem is that it will be really early in the morning, like, 5 a.m. early.... my parents would have to drive me there and I don't think that they'd want to. But it would be an excellent opportunity to collect specimens and observe how rich the diversity in the inner beach is. I also met with an aquarist today and she was able to specify how much swell sharks eat each meal, how big they would grow by the 3 month time frame and what size tanks I'll need. Then in the afternoon I fed everything: Red Abalone, Kelp Bass, Blue-banded Gobies, Juvenile Garibaldi,  Pipefish, Tubesnout, Moon Jellyfish, West Coast Sea Nettles and even the Wolf Eels. The Wolf Eels were really, really cool. I've never fed them before and so that was really fun.

09/22/13

Today was a great day. It was the icebreaker day. I will admit that I was quite a bit skeptical at first, I mean who actually LIKES icebreakers? But this one was nothing at all like ones I'd ever had to participate in the past. It started off with Dr. Darrow introducing the Young Scientist Program and what it was about and how it would all work. Then we got to hear from others who have done projects there before and also met all the staff who would be helping. My mentor, Andres Carillo, is one of those. After this we all headed over to the Cabrillo beach where we did a beach seine. Pretty much what we did was drag a large net through the water and then pick out all the specimens and put them in buckets of water to collect data. My group and I collected about 26 Topsmelts. We weighed  and measured them. Our biggest one was 7.1 cm and 4 grams while our smallest was 5.5 cm and 1.8 grams. We recorded out data for the first 15 of them and then went back to the aquarium. Then we learned how to use a Quadrant square and spent some time working on our research proposals. By the end of the Icebreaker I had learned a lot and actually honed my independent component idea more. My current hypothesis, which is still under construction, is as follows:
A Swell Shark's size, growth, behavior and hunting behavior is effected, if not determined, by the amount of Carbohydrates, Calories, protein and fat in their diet.

I really need to get moving on filling out my paper work, I have a deadline to meet! Anyways, after the icebreaker was over I headed back to the Aquatic Nursery and did the P.M. feedings. The West Coast Sea Nettles gave me a mini panic attack during feeding when they kept floating to the top and getting stuck.... we can't just push them down with the basters because they are very delicate, in fact, about 95% of their body is made of water. So we have to use our hands to gently push them back down. I was really lucky and wasn't stung, but it's only a matter of time. A lot of the staff and volunteers who have been working their for a long time have been stung so often by them that they no longer feel the stings. Maybe by the end of senior project I'll be like that? :P

Topsmelt caught in Seine Net. Topsmelt can get about 14.5 inches long and have a life span of 6-9 years. They are not a true smelt, instead they are in the silversides family and more so related to Grunions. They can be found along sandy beaches, muddy areas, rocky reefs, kelp beds, bays, piers and estuaries from around the Vancouver Island to the Gulf of California. Their spawning occurs in spring and summer in relatively shallow waters.

Blog 6: Interview 2 questions

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?
Name: Andres Carillo
Work: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Address of Cabrillo: 3720 Stephen M White Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90731

2.  What five questions will ask them about their background?
1. How long have you been working here at Cabrillo?
2. How long has the Aquatic Nursery been here, and how big was it when they first started?
3. What college are you going to and what degree are you aiming for?
4.What high school did you go to and how did it help prepare you for college?
5. What inspired you to go into biology?

9/14/13

Although I usually go on Sundays, I had to go on a Saturday this time because I was busy Sunday. So it was almost like my very first day there again because I knew nobody there except for one person.... but anyways I did my usual morning feedings of the kelp bass, pipefish, tubesnouts, gobies, juvenile Garibaldi, red abalone and the jellyfish. Then I syphened the kelp bass, tubesnout, pipefish, gobie and juvenile Garibaldi tanks. I learned how to feed the zoo-plankton too later and that was sort of cool. I ran the 'kitchen' today which I had never done before and showed people samples of phytoplankton and zoo-plankton. I also ran into an old friend who was visiting with her family so that was nice seeing her again. Later in the day after the afternoon feeding was done, I was allowed to go look at the main exhibit. I spent most of the times watching the leopard sharks, swell sharks and rays. I saw my first swell shark swell up today. Four of them swelled up when a ray swam over them and that was really cool to watch. I also got my mentor today, Andres Carillo agreed to be mine so I'm super excited! :D

9/01/13

Today I did my usual morning feedings of the Jellyfish, kelp bass, pipefish, gobies, red abalone and the juvenile Garibaldi. I cleaned the tanks and wiped down the sneeze-guards, learned how to make 'greenwater' and how to fill the larvae buckets. I also did my interview today. I interviewed Andres Carillo, whom I am considering asking to be my mentor. The interview went very well and I learned a lot of new things. Then we worked a bit more on my swell shark project and filling out the paperwork. I also met with one of the aquarists there named Mako. He gave me information I needed about swell sharks, like how many times a week they're feed and stuff.

Swell Sharks

This is a baby Swell Shark, adorable right? Well here's some facts about them I learned today at Cabrillo.

Name: Swell Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum)
Diet: Teleosts, crustations, molluscs
Reproduction: Oviparous, hatch after 10 months depending on water temperature
Habitat: Rocky reefs and kelp beds with lush algal covered bottom. Warm temperate, subtropical.
Swell sharks are nocturnal and sluggish during the day, their young are about 14 to 15 cm at birth while adults can get up to 3ft. They use electrorecption to hunt their prey.

What is electrorecption?
Sharks have a system of pores in their skin, usually distributed around the head and mouth, that exudes a jelly-like substance when pressed. The pores are surface openings for long jelly-filled tubes that connect to groups of ampullary organs in the head. These organs are composed of the ampullae of Lorenzini sensory receptors. These recieve information conveyed by the ampullary canals. Each ampulla concists of a cluster of multipul sack-like alveoli and continues with the jelly-filled canal. In the walls of the alveoli are the sensory cells. Each ampulla produces around 5 sensory nerves which pass to the brain.
The electroreceptive  system is sensitive to small electrical fields, responding to voltage gradients of less than 0.01 microvolts per centimeter. Most fish and invertibrates produce their own electric fields and so the Swell sharks use this system for hunting.

Fun fact! Sharks sense electrical activity coming from the heartbeat, not necessarily movement.

9/01/13

I went to Cabrillo again today. Fed the red abalone and jellies in the morning, freaked out shortly when the Pacific Sea Nettles floated to the top...... but didn't get stung when I pushed them back down, so that was good. I went with some other volunteers across the street to the beach and over to the tide pools to collect snails, hermit crabs and crabs to feed to the octopus. Unfortunately it was high tide so it took us a bit longer to find them. In the end we gathered a bunch of snails, a small number of hermit crabs and one crab. Then we went back to the jelly lab to fetch a moon jelly for the Pacific Sea Nettles. Prepared that and fed them again, this time I felt less bad for it... that sounds bad but it's true. I did my interview today with Andres Carillo. It went really well and I actually decided to change my original EQ because of the conversation. Originally this was going to be my working EQ:
What is the best way to acclimate marine life from the wild to captivity?
But after volunteering at the nursery I've become more interested in the raising of fish. After our interview, I spoke with Andres about this and we came up with an idea. Now I'm thinking of doing a project with hatchling Swell sharks. The aquarium usually feeds the Swell sharks a diet of Shrimp, Squid, mackerel, and clams. Now each of these has a different nutritional value. What I plan on doing is taking a few baby Swell sharks, keeping them in separate tanks, and feeding them one food specifically. For example, I'd feed one only Mackerel and another only Squid. Then I'd see how that would effect things such as their growth and behavior. But I have a long way to go before I do that. I still have to work on that idea more, and then I have to fill out forms to give to the aquarists there and vets so that they can make sure nothing in this problem would be a danger to the sharks.
So after we finished this conversation I headed on up to their library and spent about an hour and a half studying swell sharks. I learned a lot and took good notes I will use later. Then I went back to the normal tasks or p.m. feeding, cleaning the tanks and raiding the kitchen.....