Spring has Sprung

I'm happy to report that Spring has sprung in our Marine Exhibit (though unhappy in my personal life due to hay fever)!

Brenda wrote the following after working in the exhibit this past Saturday:

"Hi all! spring is here in the marine exhibit and this weekend (plus or minus a day or two) has been filled with exciting animal activity. In case you’re interested, here are some of the highlights:

-The hooded nudibranchs have been spending a lot of quality time together, resulting in at least three egg cases in the eel grass tank. Perhaps more to come soon!
-The green urchins have been spawning quite a bit. When Liza or I would start to siphon in the tank, they would start to go!
-A couple mottled sea stars were also spotted spawning.
-The shrimps have been molting, for better or worse…
-Sticklebacks made a little nest with some eggs in the eel grass tank.
-The painted greenling laid eggs in the piling tank on a cluster of tube worms. Unfortunately, for the greenling and its offspring, the effort was in vain. Very soon after, the opportunistic Pollock (I’m assuming it was them) had a tasty snack.

That’s it for now!
-brenda-

Hope to see many of you this Wednesday, 6pm, for the marine bio study group meeting all about plankton! We will be in the marine exhibit classroom."

Hooded Nudibranchs Mating

Painted Greenling

Photos Courtesy of Brenda Danner

Thank you for keeping us updated Brenda!

Wolfle Elementary Students' Website

One of the most rewarding things about teaching is hearing how the kids have taken their newly absorbed knowledge and embraced it. The third graders at Wolfle Elementary School in Kingston, Washington have done just that. With the help of teacher Tamara Stone, the students created a website with descriptions and pictures of this year's activities so far, including some of their experiences with PTMSC. They have also had a variety of guest speakers in their classroom to talk about salmon restoration and native tribal stories and drumming.

The amount of information that the students of Wolfle Elementary are exposed to in a single year is amazing. Makes me wish I was in third grade all over again!

Two Programs for Your Consideration

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 - Frontline journalist Hedrick Smith will investigate the poisoned waters of Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay. The special, titled "Poisoned Waters," can be seen on PBS or online between 9 and 11 pm. “The environment has slipped off our radar screen because it’s not a hot crisis like the financial meltdown, war or terrorism,” Smith says. “But pollution is a ticking time bomb. It’s a chronic cancer that is slowly eating away the natural resources that are vital to our very lives.” To view a trailer, click here.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 - In Jean-Michel Cousteau's series, Ocean Adventures, he and his crew explore the lives of orcas. The crew will travel worldwide to find these apex predators, and discuss how the health of orcas intersects with that of humans. To view a trailer, click here. To view trailers of other episodes, including those featuring sharks, beluga whales, and gray whales, click here.

Executive Director Anne Murphy Receives Award

Executive Directory Anne Murphy, who has dedicated the past 20 years of her life to building and promoting our home-grown non-profit Port Townsend Marine Science Center, received the prestigious Warren Magnuson Puget Sound Legacy Award presented by People for Puget Sound.

Read more about her in the article published by the Port Townsend Leader!

Thank you for your unrelenting service to this organization Anne!

Executive Director Anne Murphy

Photo Courtesy of the PT Leader

I'd like to Introduce you to Ruby...our new Octopus!

I'm excited to report that Brian from the Department of Fish and Wildlife collected an Octopus for us! Libby thinks it may be a female, so until we learn otherwise we will assume that! She is a Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) but I just call her Ruby! We have had her for a few weeks now and she is slowly getting used to her new home. Usually she hides behind the rocks so we rarely see her except when cleaning (Octopuses are nocturnal). Today she put on a quite a show for the few people in the exhibit by eating a shore crab right in front of us!

Adult Red Octopuses feed on crustaceans, mollusks and fish. Shore crabs seem to be a favorite for our Ruby. It was amazing to watch her eat! She sensed the movement of a little shore crab and her tentacles glided swiftly over to it. Then she scooped down killing it with secretions from her salivary glands. After eating the body, the Octopus then breaks the shell apart and pulls of each leg while eating it.

An Octopus has many defense mechanisms; not only can it change colors to blend in extremely well, it has a sharp beak that can cut skin. It can swim quickly and can squirt out a cloud of ink to reduce to visibility of the water. Ruby did an amazing job blending in with our sponge rocks...she seemed to take on the mossy texture and coloring of the rock.

You may have the chance to meet Ruby the next time your visit our Marine Exhibit!

Unusual Sounds on Hydrophones

Last night, on both Lime Kiln and Orcasound hydrophones, listeners were surprised to hear some peculiar sounds. Not the sounds of orcas, or the regular shipping traffic, but the sounds of human voices and mid-frequency sonar pings. I'm listening to the recordings made by Scott Veirs of Beam Reach now and it is very obvious that these sounds are not a part of the natural environment.

Jeanne Hyde of The Whale Museum contacted the Bellingham Coast Guard and confirmed that the Navy was doing exercises in Haro Strait. Scott Veirs recorded the sounds and created spectrograms.

To listen to the recordings, go to the Lime Kiln or Orcasound hydrophone sites, scroll down through the archived sounds, and click on one of the most recent recordings with the words "voice" and "sonar" in the title.

Also, the Port Townsend Peace Movement is holding a meeting on Thursday, April 9th at 7:30 pm to discuss the Navy's proposal to expand training exercises, which includes areas in Admiralty Inlet, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary. For more information on this meeting, and how to send in your comments to the Navy by April 13th, click here.

Carving a home out of rock

Don't you wish you could carve a home in a nice little rocky area burrowing down amongst chitons, crabs and nudibranchs...then again maybe Liza and I only dream about such things? One of our very dedicated volunteers sent us an article published by The New York times about Sea Urchin Teeth. Click on the article to read a synopisis of how Sea Urchins are able to grind down limestone without grinding down their teeth!

Our Marine Exhibit is now open for regular Spring Hours: Fri-Sun 12pm-4pm.
In our exhibit you will find Sea Urchins. Perhaps if you are lucky, or if you ask nicely, you will get to see a picture of kelp grazed upon by Sea Urchins. (They make star shapes while they eat since they have 5 teeth).