Another interesting food web is shown in the Long Island Sound Study. You can enlarge it by clicking on it...
20150628
Food Webs
On future trips we would like to give participants some kind of direct experience with (by seeing, collecting, catching, etc) more life forms in the food web, across all trophic levels. A typical simplified food web example is shown below, from the NAMERA report, with arrows going in the conventional direction, while carbon actually flows in the opposite direction...
Another interesting food web is shown in the Long Island Sound Study. You can enlarge it by clicking on it...
Another interesting food web is shown in the Long Island Sound Study. You can enlarge it by clicking on it...
20150627
Species Of Interest
DRAFT -- BEING WORKED ON NOW
- *Humpbacked Whale. Prey mostly on 8, 9, 10.
- Blue-finned Tuna. Prey mostly on fish of all kinds.
- Atlantic Cod
- Bristlemouth
- Forage fish: Northern Sand Lance & Atlantic Herring.
- Longfin Inshore Squid (cephalopods)
- *Moon Jelly (jellyfish)
- *Northern Comb Jelly (ctenophore)
- salps (tunicates)
- *Northern Krill (euphausid crustaceans)
- *macro-zooplankton... Calanus finmarchicus, a copepod. Prey mostly on micro-zooplankton.
- *micro-zooplankton... ciliates. Prey mostly on phytoplankton.
- *phytoplankton... diatoms and flagellates and.... autotrophs
- ...Prochlorococcus marinus, cyanobacteria, aka "Blue Green Algae" ( Prochlorococcus - Wikipedia , First ocean bacteria sequenced : Nature News). Autotroph.
- ...Pelagicbacter ubique, one of the SAR11 bacterias (Pelagibacter ubique - Wikipedia). Mostly "eats" what, detritus? It recycles dissolved organic carbon. The most numerous bacteria on Earth and only discovered in 1990!
- ..."algae"..... (-: THIS WILL NEED TO BE EXPLAINED.
- ...virus... Podoviruses and Bacteriophages, especially HTVC010P (the most numerous living organism on Earth, and discovered in 2012!). Prey mostly on bacteria.
- *Great Shearwater & Wilson's Storm-petrel (seabirds, prey mostly on 4, 5, 8, 9, 10)
- *Gulfweed (Sargassum pelagic seaweeds). Autotroph.
- kelp, which are large seaweeds (considered to be a type of "algae"). Autotroph.
and the most interesting species.... Humans
Other marine groups we will not touch on include octocorals, stony corals, sponges, polychaete worms, crustaceans, molluscs, brittle stars, sea stars, anemones, and other invertebrates.
this post is a rough draft, currently in development
===================================================
Note that the NAMERA report
caterogizes marine life forms this way...
see page 1-9ff
Diadromous fish
Demersal fish (aka groundfish)
Small pelagic fish
Large pelagic fish
Cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and whales)
Sea turtles
Coastal and marine birds
from NAMERA chap3 Benthic Habitats, page 3-1….
---------------------------
The seafloor habitats of the Northwest Atlantic reflect immense diversity, containing over 2000 species in 13 phyla
including:
• 662 species of arthropods (crabs, lobsters, shrimp, barnacles)
• 650 species of mollusks (clams, scallops, squid, limpets, sea slugs, snails)
• 547 species of annelids (sea worms)
• 195 species of echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sand dollars)
• 141 species of bryozoans (crusts, bryozoans)
• 58 species of cnidarians (corals, anemones, jellyfish)
• 29 species of sipunculas (peanut worms)
• 21 species of chordates (sea squirts)
• 6 species of poriferans (sponges)
• 3 species of chaetognathans (arrow worms)
• 2 species of brachiopods (lamp shells)
• 1 species of nemerteans (ribbon worms)
• 1 species of ctenophores (comb jellies)
===============
What is the most numerous fish? The Bristlemouth!
An Ocean Mystery in the Trillions - The New York Times
20150625
Habitats
this section will explain the major "habitats" across the GOM, within the major types, which we can simplify into three categories:
This image is from the NERACOOS presentation on the ISMN "Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network for Ecosystem Change in Northeastern U.S. Ocean and Coastal Waters". Integrated Sentinel Monitoring for Change in Northeastern Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems | Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems
This is from a draft document of a plan that will be submitted to our congressional representatives for an Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network for the Northeastern US waters, to fit with a Canadian monitoring program that is already in place.
- Coastal/estuarine/nearshore.
- Benthic.
- Pelagic.
This image is from the NERACOOS presentation on the ISMN "Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network for Ecosystem Change in Northeastern U.S. Ocean and Coastal Waters". Integrated Sentinel Monitoring for Change in Northeastern Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems | Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems
This is from a draft document of a plan that will be submitted to our congressional representatives for an Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network for the Northeastern US waters, to fit with a Canadian monitoring program that is already in place.
20150624
Interdependencies & chain reactions
There are many interdependencies we need to consider, and some will be listed here. Here is just one of them....
This image is from the NERACOOS presentation on ISMN. See the other ISMN image post above for the full citation information.
20150623
Changes
Is anything in the ocean really changing? What are the objective measurements reporting to us?
..
Here is the link to this full article.... Accelerated Warming of the Continental Shelf Off Northeast Coast : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Here is the link to this full article.... Accelerated Warming of the Continental Shelf Off Northeast Coast : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
20150622
Framework for June 27-28 trip
This is initially our private website, but when it goes more public this post will be removed.
The following diagram shows many of the components of the "ECO-program" reflecting discussions with most of you. Comparing our June 27-28 trip against these components suggests that we touched a lot of these bases already in the last two days...
The following diagram shows many of the components of the "ECO-program" reflecting discussions with most of you. Comparing our June 27-28 trip against these components suggests that we touched a lot of these bases already in the last two days...
You can click on this diagram to expand it (and press ESC key to return) and view it at this webpage...
RESULTS of June 27-28 trip, with numbers tied to the above diagram ...
1. First/preliminary run of the new ECO-program went well on June 28th.
2. Four of the team spoke, representing the entire team, including videos. It came across as a well-integrated presentation, including good Q&A. It spanned one hour and went well.
3. Bigelow Labs video on kiosks: discussion has been started with Nova Star. Good start.
4. We have started on this, with the plankton sampling and seabird observations. More to come.
5. We have started to collect some "inputs" on this trip.
6. We have started this website and draft trip report. Full one joint with L.Kaufman.
7. Took two water samples. First one at dock showed some large zooplankton moving around. Then ship left Yarmouth dock at 8:29am ET. Second sample at 4:15pm was successfully captured at full 20 knots in storm, in mid-GOM, and taken to BU for review and analysis. Microscope has been acquired for the next trip, including a USB camera to send image to laptop for projection onto large wall screen. Machinery was tested and works fine.
8. We had great demos of instruments in flying bridge of Nova Star.
9. Observations were greatly reduced by the rain and wind storm.
10. Chum was not used at all, because of weather conditions.
11. Mast Cam is a possibility, for future discussions.
12. Stormy weather made full survey impractical. Will write full trip report.
13. New website being developed (this one?).
14. Live feeds are for future discussion. Probably unlikely.
20. We have no standardized survey data from this trip which we can contribute to any database. Weather disrupted our outdoor survey observations.
21. Our cooperation with the GNATS work has begun and hopefully will continue. Much appreciated.
22. We will sync/cooperate with other marine projects. To be setup over next few months.
23. TRAIL programs will be developed and/or linked with. Trail themes spanning ME, NS and GOM could be: whale watching, bird watching, wildlife preserves/conservation, universities, fishing, energy/power production, hiking, sailing, ferries, islands around GOM, gourmet/food/restaurants, historical sites, beaches, sports, etc
24. We got the first few email addresses of people who want to continue working with us, we contacted them, and this will be developed in future weeks and months.
25. Will discuss this with Nova Star Cruises this month.
26. Currently being drafted.
27. Fun Facts list drafted, and printed, but not widely distributed.
20150621
MV Nova Star
Here is the super-stabilized 528 foot long MV (motor vessel) Nova Star and its decks...
Deck #11 is the "flight deck", with helicopter landing pad.
Deck #10 has the bridge and a large outdoor area on both sides of ship.
Deck #9 is for staff and crew. The main conference room is there.
Passenger cabins are on deck #8.
Main passenger deck is #7, including restaurant, bars, service desk.
Deck #5 is the secondary parking level, and has several open ports in rear, especially several accessible on the starboard side, which we used successfully for collection of discrete water samples (with our flow-through plankton-pipe), both at dock and in mid-GOM while at full speed in the storm! The new plankton-pipe bounced around on the white caps and then (because it is heavy) submerged for 60 seconds of water collection and concentration of plankton in the net (which held together even under these extreme conditions).
Deck #3 is the main/lower parking level and where passengers board.
Deck #11 is the "flight deck", with helicopter landing pad.
Deck #10 has the bridge and a large outdoor area on both sides of ship.
Deck #9 is for staff and crew. The main conference room is there.
Passenger cabins are on deck #8.
Main passenger deck is #7, including restaurant, bars, service desk.
Deck #5 is the secondary parking level, and has several open ports in rear, especially several accessible on the starboard side, which we used successfully for collection of discrete water samples (with our flow-through plankton-pipe), both at dock and in mid-GOM while at full speed in the storm! The new plankton-pipe bounced around on the white caps and then (because it is heavy) submerged for 60 seconds of water collection and concentration of plankton in the net (which held together even under these extreme conditions).
Deck #3 is the main/lower parking level and where passengers board.
20150620
Basic Info for June 27-28, 2015
Click on the following links to see the basic information for this weekend...
Overview of this weekend...
Who will be in our group...
Time plan for June 27-28 weekend...
Note that we are flexible and this may change as we adapt to the unexpected...
Note that we are flexible and this may change as we adapt to the unexpected...
Liability Waiver document....
Liability waiver for Nova Star trip on June 27-29 - Google Docs
Presentation deck..... in development now, and coming soon....
Last year's seabird-focused trip on this ship across the GOM...
2014 Oct 11-12 GOM Marine & Seabird Survey
20150618
Reminders
THESE ARE REMINDERS FOR OUR JUNE 27-28 TRIP:
Please sign and bring your liability waiver document with you, if you have not already mailed it. Having everybody sign this document protects both Nova Star Cruises and us from accidents.
You will need to bring your passport or passport card. This is an international trip, to Canada and back.
Part of this trip will be outdoors on the upper decks, unless you choose not to do that part of the trip. We have flexibility.
Wear shoes/sneakers with sticky bottoms. The top decks can be a bit wet and slippery.
Bring a sweater and coat/windbreaker for cold windy weather: it can be surprisingly & amazingly cold and windy on the GOM.
In case it rains, please bring at least a jacket/hood to protect youself from rain.
Bring a pair of binoculars. This is important. If you do not have binoculars let me know and we will bring a pair for you.
The Nova Star is a large super-stabilized vessel (our October trip was during a crazy wind storm, but the Nova Star was stable like a rock), but if you have any concerns about seasickness, Bonine (as you know) taken several hours before boarding works for most people, even on small vessels which are not stabilized.
Recommended boarding time, as per the Nova Star website....
"Final boarding is at 7:15 pm ET for Portland departures, and at 8:45 am AT for Yarmouth departures. Please be at the terminal no later than 1.5 hours prior to final boarding so that you can be checked in and your documentation verified."
I would recommend you be in Portland no later than 5:20pm to park your car and walk to the dock area (the ticketing area is now relocated into the dock main building).
Ocean Gateway Parking Garage is recommended:
Secure parking is available at the Ocean Gateway Garage, located 1 block from the ferry terminal at 167 Fore Street in Portland, ME. This convenient automated facility is open 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365 days of the year, and offers abundant parking on 7 levels.
OCEAN GATEWAY PARKING RATES:
$3.50 USD for 1 hour or less
$2.50 USD for each additional hour or fraction thereof
$31.00 USD maximum for 24 hours
MEETING LOCATION:
After we board the ship it is possible to get separated, and cell phones do not work most of the time. The best place for us to rendez-vous in that situation would be the very front of the main deck (I think that is level #7 ), near the big front windows.
Please sign and bring your liability waiver document with you, if you have not already mailed it. Having everybody sign this document protects both Nova Star Cruises and us from accidents.
You will need to bring your passport or passport card. This is an international trip, to Canada and back.
Part of this trip will be outdoors on the upper decks, unless you choose not to do that part of the trip. We have flexibility.
Wear shoes/sneakers with sticky bottoms. The top decks can be a bit wet and slippery.
Bring a sweater and coat/windbreaker for cold windy weather: it can be surprisingly & amazingly cold and windy on the GOM.
In case it rains, please bring at least a jacket/hood to protect youself from rain.
Bring a pair of binoculars. This is important. If you do not have binoculars let me know and we will bring a pair for you.
The Nova Star is a large super-stabilized vessel (our October trip was during a crazy wind storm, but the Nova Star was stable like a rock), but if you have any concerns about seasickness, Bonine (as you know) taken several hours before boarding works for most people, even on small vessels which are not stabilized.
Recommended boarding time, as per the Nova Star website....
"Final boarding is at 7:15 pm ET for Portland departures, and at 8:45 am AT for Yarmouth departures. Please be at the terminal no later than 1.5 hours prior to final boarding so that you can be checked in and your documentation verified."
I would recommend you be in Portland no later than 5:20pm to park your car and walk to the dock area (the ticketing area is now relocated into the dock main building).
Ocean Gateway Parking Garage is recommended:
Secure parking is available at the Ocean Gateway Garage, located 1 block from the ferry terminal at 167 Fore Street in Portland, ME. This convenient automated facility is open 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365 days of the year, and offers abundant parking on 7 levels.
OCEAN GATEWAY PARKING RATES:
$3.50 USD for 1 hour or less
$2.50 USD for each additional hour or fraction thereof
$31.00 USD maximum for 24 hours
MEETING LOCATION:
After we board the ship it is possible to get separated, and cell phones do not work most of the time. The best place for us to rendez-vous in that situation would be the very front of the main deck (I think that is level #7 ), near the big front windows.
20150615
List of Interesting Facts
Here is a list of ten fun facts about Gulf Of Maine (including the Bay of Fundy) created for us by Laurie Murison (THANK YOU LAURIE... Laurie Murison – a life of juggling | Amanda Banks ), used with her permission:
Some Fun Facts about the Gulf of Maine, including the Bay of Fundy:
1. The French settled first in NA at St. Croix Island in 1604 and brought with them tidally powered grist mills.
2. The GOM/BOF is critical habitat for many species of whales including the endangered right whale which used the BOF as a refugia which protected a few females from the hunt and these females have helped bring right whales back from the absolute brink of probably only 50 animals in the 1930s.
3. The BOF (and maybe GOM) has the highest densities of harbour porpoises in the world (the Baltic used to have much higher densities but the porpoise population suffered from bycatch). The Passamaquoddies hunted them for food and also later for their oil. Many of the lighthouses used porpoise oil in the winter because it didn't solidify like seal oil did.
4. Most of the American Shad summer in the BOF/GOM
5. The GOM/BOF have the southern most nesting colonies for puffins, razorbills, common murres (and formally northern gannets), Arctic terns (and maybe a few other species like Leach's storm petrels) and the most northerly nesting for laughing gulls, although southern species are moving northward.
6. James Audubon stopped at White Head Island in May 1833 to paint the rare juvenile herring gull (also the common eider and puffin) and went on to lobby for the protection of herring gulls which I believe were the first birds protected in NA but you might want to check that.
7. The only war of aggression between Canada and the United States was fought at sea in the BOF/GOM (and other places) but it tested family loyalties since many of those who settled in Canada after the 1776 Rebellion were from New England. Britain continued to buy supplies from American fishermen, even though they were at war with each other because they needed the supplies for England since they were at war with the French. The only still disputed piece of property between Canada and the U.S. was not resolved after the War of 1812 and remains to this day - Machias Seal Island.
8. The oldest lighthouse in New England and the U.S. was built in Boston Harbour 1716. The tallest lighthouse is in Maine - Boon Island Light - 133 '. West Quoddy Head is the eastern most point of the continental U.S. but East Quoddy is in Canada on Campobello Island.
9. The Grand Manan archipelago has one of the highest diversities of seaweeds.
10. The GOM/BOF is on the eastern flyway and has spectacular spring and fall migrations with the upper part of the BOF designated an Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network and sees hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop over on their migration. The mouth of the BOF has hundred of thousands of red and red-necked phalaropes using that area as a stopover. Three weeks of feeding builds back their fat reserves and they continue on to Africa or South America.
11. The highest tides on earth occur in the Gulf of Maine, ranging as much as 16 meters (52 feet) in the Minas Basin.
12. Georges Bank is one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world, due largely to the phytoplankton blooms caused by strong tidal currents, shallow waters, and relatively closed circulation.
Some Fun Facts about the Gulf of Maine, including the Bay of Fundy:
1. The French settled first in NA at St. Croix Island in 1604 and brought with them tidally powered grist mills.
2. The GOM/BOF is critical habitat for many species of whales including the endangered right whale which used the BOF as a refugia which protected a few females from the hunt and these females have helped bring right whales back from the absolute brink of probably only 50 animals in the 1930s.
3. The BOF (and maybe GOM) has the highest densities of harbour porpoises in the world (the Baltic used to have much higher densities but the porpoise population suffered from bycatch). The Passamaquoddies hunted them for food and also later for their oil. Many of the lighthouses used porpoise oil in the winter because it didn't solidify like seal oil did.
4. Most of the American Shad summer in the BOF/GOM
5. The GOM/BOF have the southern most nesting colonies for puffins, razorbills, common murres (and formally northern gannets), Arctic terns (and maybe a few other species like Leach's storm petrels) and the most northerly nesting for laughing gulls, although southern species are moving northward.
6. James Audubon stopped at White Head Island in May 1833 to paint the rare juvenile herring gull (also the common eider and puffin) and went on to lobby for the protection of herring gulls which I believe were the first birds protected in NA but you might want to check that.
7. The only war of aggression between Canada and the United States was fought at sea in the BOF/GOM (and other places) but it tested family loyalties since many of those who settled in Canada after the 1776 Rebellion were from New England. Britain continued to buy supplies from American fishermen, even though they were at war with each other because they needed the supplies for England since they were at war with the French. The only still disputed piece of property between Canada and the U.S. was not resolved after the War of 1812 and remains to this day - Machias Seal Island.
8. The oldest lighthouse in New England and the U.S. was built in Boston Harbour 1716. The tallest lighthouse is in Maine - Boon Island Light - 133 '. West Quoddy Head is the eastern most point of the continental U.S. but East Quoddy is in Canada on Campobello Island.
9. The Grand Manan archipelago has one of the highest diversities of seaweeds.
10. The GOM/BOF is on the eastern flyway and has spectacular spring and fall migrations with the upper part of the BOF designated an Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network and sees hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop over on their migration. The mouth of the BOF has hundred of thousands of red and red-necked phalaropes using that area as a stopover. Three weeks of feeding builds back their fat reserves and they continue on to Africa or South America.
11. The highest tides on earth occur in the Gulf of Maine, ranging as much as 16 meters (52 feet) in the Minas Basin.
12. Georges Bank is one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world, due largely to the phytoplankton blooms caused by strong tidal currents, shallow waters, and relatively closed circulation.
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