We start out on the East Coast in Woods Hole studying the variety of marine life located on the docks. Our location of study is Eel Pond, which is a small body of water connected to Woods Hole harbor. As high school students the main reason for doing something like this to learn about the marine life on both coasts of the United States. The information that we obtain in Woods Hole will be sent to the students on the West Coast in Friday Harbor, and they in turn will send us data, and pictures that they have collected from their own docks. Once we get the information from Friday Harbor, we can compare the abundance of different organisms and algae from both sides of the continent.
On the dock of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole
many different organisms were collected. Four different groups
took part in looking for organisms at five different locations
on the dock. On April 11, the water temperature was extremely
frigid at only 6 degrees Celsius. The air
temperature at Woods Hole was chilling 10 degrees Celsius. It
was sunny with occasional winds that picked up throughout the
day. The water was clear, and from the surface of the dock we
could see to the bottom of the pond. The depth of the pond was
3.25 feet. Observations were made along different areas of the
dock to observe any differences between plants and animals that
lived directly under the dock as opposed to off the sides. The
first location was a buoy that hung off the side of the dock.
This was lifted to the surface so we could try to locate and classify
as many different organisms as possible. Scientists were on the
docks to help us identify any plant or animal that was not found
in the keys. Once an organism was identified, we estimated the
percent of coverage on the buoy. This procedure was used at four
other locations on the dock: a tire, a net, the side, and crate.
These results were recorded onto the data sheet and compiled across
all groups.
R=rare
C=common
A=abundant
Organisms found:
Chlorophyta (green algae):
Phaeophyta: (brown algae) A
Bryozoa: (moss animals)
Schizoporella : R
Shrimp: R
Urochordates: (sea squirts)
Botrylloids : A
Shrimp: R
Phaeophyta: (brown algae): A
Mollusca: (shelled animals):
Mytilus : R
Crepidula : R
Annelida: (segmented worms):
Spirorbis : A
Bryozoa: (moss animals):
Schizoporella : C
Arthropoda: (crustaceans):
Balanus (barnacle): A
Amphipods : C
UNDERNEATH DOCK
Can you identify this organism? It's a Molgula.
Chlorophyta (green algae):
Enteromorpha : R
Fauna (animals):
Porifera (sponges): C
Halichondria : A
Cnidaria (hydroids etc.)
Obelia (hydroid): C
Mollusca (shelled anidmals):
Mytilus (mussel): R
Tergipes : R
Annelida (segmented worms):
Spirorbis (tube worm): R
Bryozoa (moss animals):
Schizoporella : A
Arthropoda (crustaceans):
Balanus : A
Urochordates (sea squirts):
Styela (solitary): A
Ciona (solitary): A
Botryllus (cmpd. stars): C
Botrylloides (cmpd. rows): A
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