This morning I collected another plankton sample from the end of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, equipped this time with a 53-µm net used to collect phytoplankton. Phytos, as we refer to them, are the (mostly) unicellular photosynthetic organisms that make up the bottom of the pelagic trophic web. In a nutshell, they are the…
A star is born!
I’m sorry. I had to go there. You didn’t really expect me not to, did you? The reason, of course, is that today we got our first settled and metamorphosed Pisaster stars! We were doing our normal Monday water change when I noticed a teensy orange speck on the bottom of one of the jars….
I go on a treasure hunt
California is being slammed by a very intense El Niño event, and the effects are being felt up and down the coast. Seawater temperatures here in Santa Cruz have been in the 15-16°C since late May, and in the past week have shot up to 18.5°C. While Californians have their fingers crossed that El Niño will bring drought-relieving…
The perfect storm
Although the last thing that any of us marine invertebrate biologists want to see again is a wasted sea star, the syndrome has once again been making its presence felt at the marine lab. It has been almost two years since I documented the initial outbreak, and while nobody is convinced that it has entirely…
The dearth has begun
In the spring and early summer, beekeeping is really easy. The nectar is flowing and the bees are busy and happy because there’s plenty of food for everybody. The colonies build up quickly and, if a beekeeper isn’t diligent, throw swarms when the bees feel they are too crowded. There’s a certain amount of good-natured…
Gyrations and gymnastics
Today is Monday, which means Scott and I changed the water for our Pisaster larvae. I should have taken some pictures to show you how we do it. Maybe next time. The largest and most developed larvae are now 2.2-2.5 mm long, not including the long brachiolar arms, which is about as big as they’re…
All in the family
Earlier this week an acquaintance asked me about the development of sand dollars, specifically if it is anything like that of sea urchins. It just so happens that sea urchins and sand dollars, while not in the same taxonomic family, are in the same class, the Echinoidea. As close kin, they share a similar larval form,…
You are what you eat, part the first
Remember those little urchins I brought into the world back in January? Well, they’re doing well, for the most part. About a month ago I took about 250 of them, measured them, and divided them into three feeding treatments: one group I left on the coralline rocks they all cut their teeth on, one group…
The necessity for solitude
Some people are energized by constant activity, feeding on and drawing strength from the buzz of never-ending stimulation. Although I sometimes wish I were, I am not one of them. I am, according to any personality test I’ve ever taken, the quintessential introvert. I am much more comfortable in small groups than large crowds, prefer…
Got ’em!
When I moved to the coast these many years ago and started poking around in the local intertidal, I became entranced with little animals called staurozoans. I can’t claim to have been to every intertidal site in the area, but I’ve been to several of them and I personally know the staurozoans to occur at…