Island Updates

2015 Summer Interns

We are excited to have finalized the team for our summer season on Hurricane Island! Our summer interns will arrive in late June and help with the delivery of our middle and high school summer programs. They are an integral part of our community and we are looking forward to having them on the island. Stay tuned for updates from our interns about programs on the island, research, and more!

Jacqueline Rosa - Science & Experiential Education Intern

Originally from Connecticut, Jacque earned her degree in Marine Science from the University of Maine. During her time at UMaine, she spent a summer working at the Darling Marine Center (DMC) while completing her capstone research on the American lobster. Jacque then participated in the DMC's Semester by the Sea program. After graduating, she moved to California to work as a Marine Science Instructor at Catalina Island Marine Institute. She is passionate about helping kids gain environmental awareness and is excited to be back on the beautiful coast of Maine (and finally eat lobster again!).  

Olivia Lukacic - Science Education Intern

Olivia was born and raised in Massachusetts, but has now fallen in love with Vermont while attending the University of Vermont for the past three years. Studying environmental science and forestry has allowed her to critically look at the space around her with greater understanding. Although she spends classroom time daydreaming about being outside, she hopes to work to combine education and the environment to inspire the younger generation of scientists! While at school she spends many of her mornings on the Lamoille River watching the sunrise as a member of the women's rowing team. Waking up in the dark is tricky, but she would not trade the unique perspective on the river for anything. When Olivia is not rowing, she loves hiking, climbing, exploring, as well as reading and cooking! During winter, which is in her top two favorite seasons, she loves cross country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding and making paper snowflakes. Her love for the outdoors began while growing up on conservation land and she continues to be curious about everything that goes on around her, and particularly loves swapping knowledge about the natural world with others. Olivia's family spent many summers camping on the coast of Maine and she cannot wait to live on the Island this summer!  

Bailey Moritz - Scallop Research Intern

Though a proud Seattleite at heart, Bailey is currently a junior studying Earth & Oceanographic Science and Environmental Studies at Bowdoin College in Maine. Last summer she was on campus researching ocean acidification in a clam flat and getting covered in mud. In hopes of improving her Spanish skills, she went abroad on an ecology and marine conservation program in Panama, living with home stay families, researching Caribbean spiny lobster, and eating lots of plantains. Interested in the interaction of society and marine resources, she hopes to pursue fisheries science in the future. After becoming a leader for the Bowdoin Outing Club, she tries to spend most weekends exploring some corner of Maine by foot, canoe, or white water raft. Scuba diving has been her favorite activity since high school and inspired an awe and passion for the underwater world, which she loves to learn more about and share with others. Whenever she has free time, she plays percussion in a Middle Eastern Ensemble and can't pass up a good round of board games. 

Silas Rogers - Sustainability Intern

Silas grew up in the foothills of western Maine, but finds himself at home on Maine’s coast, and on the water. He is currently enrolled at The Apprenticeshop, a school for traditional boatbuilding in Rockland, Maine, for a two-year apprenticeship. There, he is honing his skills as a woodworker, building and restoring wooden boats. 

Silas enjoys activities such as biking, skiing, rowing, and sailing. Another of his favorite pastimes is playing music. He has been part of many music groups over the years, playing a mixture of instruments including fiddle and guitar, and hopes to bring music to the island this summer.

Excited to be a part of the Hurricane Island family, Silas is full of enthusiasm and energy, guided toward understanding and improving the island systems. He is always ready to take on a challenge, especially if it is hands-on. 

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Eastern Maine Skippers at the Fishermen's Forum

Every year March rolls around and fishermen, marine scientists, and industry members from along the coast of Maine gather in Rockland at the annual Fishermen's Forum. This is the 40th year this event has been running, and it is a great opportunity for everyone to connect about the major challenges and innovative ideas to address changes in Maine's fisheries.

After the fall kickoff event on Hurricane Island, the Eastern Maine Skippers Program students have been busy developing green crab project plans to implement this spring. The Fishermen's Forum was a great opportunity for all of the school groups to gather and share their project updates to the broader community. Student's from all of the schools (North Haven, Vinalhaven, Deer Isle Stonington, George Stevens Academy, Narraguagus, and Jonesport-Beals) presented on their project ideas, and the whole group will be giving a final presentation about their approach to a green crab solution on May 28th at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth. Below is a summary of the range of project ideas that students presented on during their slot at the forum:

North Haven students have proposed two main projects around creating fertilizer from green crabs: one group is going to determine the best ratio of green crab meal to soil for optimal growing, and the other group is going to be looking at the opportunity of green crabs as being a natural nematode suppressant and will be comparing the quantity and quality of the produce grown from corn, beans, and tomatoes that are grown with green crab added to the soil vs. their control.

Vinalhaven students have focused their efforts on testing the efficiency of traps and bait in capturing green crabs, and also on developing creative cooking ideas to make green crabs a new tasty menu item. One of the student groups is going to trial a trap used by Unity College students at a variety of depths and trying different types of bait to determine the most efficient way to harvest green crabs. Another group is attempting a new cooking method which involves a two-part process of softening the crab shell first in a vinegar brine, flavoring with teriyaki, and then smoking the crabs whole. Part of the cooking challenge will be for students to determine if there is a preferable size for the crabs which results in a soft shell and positive taste results. 

Deer Isle-Stonington High School students are banding together to assess the real impacts of green crabs by asking "How do green crabs affect the lobster industry in the waters around Deer Isle?" Students will be documenting where and in what densities they are finding green crabs, determining if green crabs eat lobsters and between what size range, if green crabs and lobsters are competing for the same food, and whether the local lobster settlement is lower because of green crabs. Students plan to collect their data using permitted ventless traps, and looking at the population ratio of green crabs to juvenile lobsters within their survey area.

George Stevens Academy students are planning to see if crushed green crab powder can be added to grass fertilizer and marketed to local golf courses like the Blue Hill Country Club. They will be testing nutrient levels in the soil with the addition of green crabs, and, if their project succeeds, look into larger distribution opportunities with their product. First, they are in the market for a dehydrator, and are waiting for the snow to melt so they can set their traps!

Narraguagus High School is planning to test three different green crab traps to determine the most cost effective and efficient design-- one used by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in a 1950s green crab survey, one triangular trap design, and one design they are still working on. With the help of donated supplies from Brooks Trap Mill they are going to be fishing these traps and comparing which fishes best. These students have also been surveying local community members, including wormers, clamdiggers, and gathering testimonials about the scope of the green crab problem, and its potential long-term impacts on important coastal industries.

Jonesport-Beals High School students have also been exploring compost and food opportunities for green crabs. A few highlight ideas include developing green crab rangoon, green crab cakes, green crab sushi, and a specialty green crab spice which could flavor seafood and soups--the spice would be produced by cooking, dehydrating, and grinding up green crabs into a powder! 

We were impressed with the quality of the presentations from students-- their project ideas have matured so much from the fall, and students delivered a polished presentation to a packed room! We wish the Skippers the best of luck as they launch into their projects, and hope that there will be a taste-testing opportunity during the May event to sample green crab recipes!


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Campus Visit: University of Vermont

Alice and I visited the University of Vermont (UVM) campus in Burlington, Vermont on November 13 and 14, 2014 to meet with faculty and brainstorm future collaborations with the University. This trip was a great follow up from working with UVM senior Chloe Tremper last summer as part of an internship program with the University. Luckily, UVM is situated just up the road from Lake Champlain, so we didn't feel too land-locked during our stay! (Not to mention Burlington has some amazing restaurants and coffee shops).

While on campus, we checked out some of the ways UVM is communicating their sustainable design initiatives. One of these is through this awesome building dashboard, which, paired with a series of sensors in their buildings, tracks electricity and na…

While on campus, we checked out some of the ways UVM is communicating their sustainable design initiatives. One of these is through this awesome building dashboard, which, paired with a series of sensors in their buildings, tracks electricity and natural gas use of their LEED certified buildings.

We had a jam-packed visit, and were excited to come away with a number of good connections and potential opportunities to work with UVM. Some of these include continuing to host Perennial Interns from the Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources, support course trips out to Hurricane Island for a applied field science opportunity, and offer undergraduate and graduate students on-island research experiences during the summer.

Many of UVM's classes are designed to have a service-learning component, which means that student groups pair up and work with community partners on an identified need from the partner organization. Going forward, we could potentially send data collected on Hurricane to a statistics course where the students would learn statistical analysis techniques by working with our data during their semester. This would provide an opportunity to extend our island classroom well beyond Hurricane, which is exciting, and also help us organize and synthesize our datasets. All in all, our visit was well worth the trip and we are looking forward to working with UVM in the future and getting more students out to Hurricane!

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Campus Visit: Thompson Island

Post by Emily Peckham Gannon, Development Administrator

On October 30, 2014, we made a trip out to the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center (TIOBEC). Our trip planning really began years ago, when various directors and advisors urged us to take a look at what TIOBEC was doing on a similarly-sized island in the urban setting of the Boston Harbor Islands. Advisor Andrew Bendheim, Board Members Peter Willauer, Chris Carrigan, and Ben Willauer, and Executive Director Barney Hallowell have each had rich histories with TIOBEC over the years.

Ready to depart South Boston for Thompson Island

Ready to depart South Boston for Thompson Island

Our host, Arthur Pearson, Executive Director of TIOBEC, met Hurricane staffers Barney Hallowell, Emily Gannon, and Alice Anderson at the dock to board their transport boat, the M/V "Outward Bound." As we steamed out to Thompson Island from the port in South Boston, we passed container ships, islands with old forts and asylums, and Logan Airport—reminding us how similar our journey from a busy port to an island is, yet the sheer scale of Boston is a stark contrast. The Boston skyline is visible from many parts of Thompson Island, yet there is a peaceful wildness to it.

Emily, Olga, and Alice enjoy a campus walk and some beautiful fall foliage

Emily, Olga, and Alice enjoy a campus walk and some beautiful fall foliage

Upon arriving on Thompson Island, we rode all over the campus with Arthur. A portion of the island is in conservation with a salt marsh that includes monitoring equipment, and the old homestead foundation is there. It was fascinating to see the old root cellar and a cemetery that the staff and friends of Thompson Island have been rehabilitating. We saw wild turkeys, hawks, and students in two programs that were taking place on Thompson Island, both with engaged in leadership activities at high ropes courses, and we spent a wonderful afternoon touring with our new friend Olga Feingold, Program Coordinator at TIOBEC.

We enjoyed dinner in the dining hall with participants of the overnight programs and TIOBEC staff. It was a perfect cap to an amazing day on Thompson Island before we retired to comfortable rooms in the Headmaster’s House, one of the beautiful old brick buildings on the campus that remains as a solid reminder of Thompson Island’s storied history as a school. We had a wonderful visit and look forward to continued sharing of ideas between our organizations. Thank you, Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center!

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Bowdoin Coastal Studies Center courses

Guest post by Bowdoin instructor Sarah Kingston

Bowdoin College is running two new field-based courses this fall out of their Coastal Studies Center on Orr’s Island: Dimensions of Marine Biodiversity (David Carlon, Director of the Coastal Studies Center) and Marine Molecular Ecology and Evolution (Sarah Kingston, Doherty Marine Biology Postdoctoral Scholar).  Students and Instructors from both courses spent a weekend on Hurricane Island in October, 2014 as a portion of their field seasons.

The Dimensions of Biodiversity class is starting the collection and curation of a long-term dataset to assess changes in the intertidal community as climate changes in the Gulf of Maine.  The Marine Molecular Ecology and Evolution course is executing a population level study of Littorine snails (periwinkle snails) in the Gulf of Maine (utilizing next generation sequencing technology).

Intertidal Monitoring work

Intertidal Monitoring work

The Bowdoin group arrived on a bit of a grey Friday afternoon.  Despite the cloudy skies, the ride over from Rockland was a beautiful panorama of rocky shores and pine-crested islands.  Hurricane was welcoming with warm food and drink as well as cozy cabins.  The students were embarking on quite the field adventure, given the rain in the forecast for the next day.

The Bowdoin visitors targeted two sites: a sheltered section at Gibbon Point, and an exposed, wave-impacted, portion across from Two Bush Island.  The Dimensions of Biodiversity class installed permanent markers (bolts drilled into the rock) for three different tidal level transects: low, medium, and high.  They dutifully collected the first year’s worth of data using quadrats and microquadrats to subsample the area along the transects.  Students noted presence and abundance of organisms in the community like algae, snails, crabs, and barnacles.  The Marine Molecular Ecology and Evolution students collected Littorina saxatilis from rocky crevices in the upper intertidal as well as Littorina obtusata hiding amongst the rockweed in the mid- and lower intertidal before helping their classmates on the transect surveys.

Rain, from mist to a steady fall, persisted throughout Saturday’s work.  The chilly water did not dampen spirits, however, as students and instructors alike explored tide pools, even happening upon a resident starfish.

Nightfall brought about another warm meal gathering.  Students shook off the cold, damp day, and embarked on course discussions and mid-term studying.  Hurricane Island turned out to be the perfect place to focus on scholarship after a long day in the field.

Sunday’s weather evolved from an eerie morning fog into a bright, sunny afternoon.  The Two-Bush Island site was a little trickier to execute, as the wave action added another unpredictable component.  Quadrats on transects were counted on the falling tide; a permanent data logger was installed on the lowest transect to record temperatures throughout the year.

The warmth of the afternoon sun provided a perfect environment in which to reflect on the weekend’s experiences. ​ 

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Northeast High School

For our final program of the season, we were lucky to be joined by 32 enthusiastic students and staff who made a seven-hour trek up from Philadelphia to experience Hurricane Island from October 5-9, 2014! Students spent the first part of the program learning about the botany, geology, history, intertidal zone, birds, sustainable infrastructure, and lobster industry that are all unique to Hurricane's island ecology.

The main focus of this program was for students to fulfill one of their IB Diploma requirements by completing a group project to "find a question to answer utilizing scientific reasoning and investigation." Students split into five groups, and based on the subject that peaked their interest over the first few days of exploration on Hurricane, these groups generated potential questions they wanted to pursue. From those questions, we spent time discussing how questions drive our experimental design, and worked to help students come up with an appropriate sampling approach to address their question. After everyone was clear on the data they needed to collect, the protocol to follow in order to collect data consistently, and the field equipment they needed, groups set out for a day of field work.

Group 1 with their presentation visuals: students showed their results clearly in a bar graph, and also generated a great visual of their sampling site.

The first group focused on the intertidal zone, and was interested to see if the invasive green crabs we find on Hurricane prefer to live in a specific area of the intertidal. These students learned how to use a leveling rod and a sighting compass to make sure that they were collecting comparable tide heights regardless of the slope and terrain in the intertidal. They chose the intertidal zone between Hurricane and Two-Bush Island as their site for research, and used meter square quadrats for their sampling area. 

 

Group 2 shows off their map marking the sample plots they collected along the coastal trail

The second group noticed that as we hiked around the island, there are areas that seem to see more windthow and downed trees than others. They decided to survey plots along the coastal perimeter trail on Hurricane in order to see if there was a noticeable difference in the ratio of live to dead trees between the more protected east side of the island vs. the exposed west side. Students also used a wind rose showing the average wind speeds in the area based on the season to help explain their results.

 

Group 3 with their appliance theoretical and actual power draws.

The third group was interested in learning more about our solar capacity on Hurricane Island. They looked at the amount of power our 24 280-watt panel array could bring in during an average fall day, and then looked at the different draws of a coffee-maker, refrigerator, freezer, laptop, and a cellphone in order to understand how long each of these appliances could run before exhausting our power supply.

 

Group 4 shows their results, and a map depicting where they sampled around the island and how that related to different autumnal stages.

The fourth group was interested in seeing whether they could identify a driving force behind the different stages of fall that we see in the American Mountain Ash trees on Hurricane. They developed their own leaf-color key to quantify stages of color change with a number scale, looked at sun exposure, location on the island, and as they worked, started to realize elevation may impact the differences they were noticing in the degree to which each tree had changed the color of its leaves.

 

Group 5 shows the physical parameters they monitored between the quarry and the ice pond.

The final group looked at our two main fresh water resources, the quarry and the ice pond, and tried to quantify some of the differences between them which may impact the type of organisms that grow in each. They collected readings on dissolved oxygen, pH, and then collected water samples with a plankton net in order to identify some of the small freshwater invertebrates that call each water source home. Students also caught some small fish in the quarry, and observed green frogs at both sites.

The groups spent the final portion of their time on Hurricane working to synthesize the data they collected, and prepared an "initial findings" presentation of their work, which covered the question they were asking, how they collected their data, how they worked as a groups, what their initial results were, and how they would improve this project if they were to do it again. We then celebrated the completion of group projects with a hike up to sunset rock. We couldn't have asked for a better way to wrap up our season on Hurricane, and hope to see Northeast High School students out on the island next year!

The full class from Northeast High School

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Riley School

We enjoyed hosting the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from the Riley School for a two-day exploration of Hurricane. There time on the island started off with lessons in leadership which were supplemented with fun group challenges and team building activities. The students identified some positive leadership qualities such as being a good listener and clear communicator, how to identify group needs, leading by example, and allowing for everyone’s voice to be heard. They also brainstormed ways in which they could apply these leadership skills back at Riley. 

Students learn how to band lobsters

The afternoon was filled with a variety of activities. Oakley and Josie led them on a history hike around the island, stopping at different points of interest to explain about the quarrying era that used to reside on Hurricane over a century ago. Alice led a lesson about lobsters and the lobster fishery, followed by a hands on art exercise. The evening closed with songs and s’mores around the campfire.

Their second day on the island started off with a hike around the perimeter trail with stops along the way to look at the botany and wildlife that live on Hurricane. An adventure into the intertidal between Two Bush Island and Hurricane proved to be exciting as students flipped over rocks and seaweed to find and identify sea creatures. Some students were brave enough to eat a live green crab. Their last afternoon was spent rocking climbing on the main face above the quarry. Everyone got a chance to try a few routes and expressed words of encouragement to their classmates as they challenged themselves to reach greater heights.

We had a blast with the Riley School students and hope they return to Hurricane soon for another fun filled visit!

Students enjoy a clear, sunny view at the high cliffs on Hurricane

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Showerhouse Renovation Project Complete!

Post by Sam Hallowell

Over the past several years we have been renovating the existing buildings and structures on Hurricane to best meet the current and future needs of our programs.  We have been fortunate to have inherited these facilities on the island as a part of our 40-year lease, but this has also proved to be challenging in identifying and prioritizing which structures should be remodeled each year to support our new programs on-island. We have a working Master Plan to help inform and direct the process of infrastructure development, and in that process we have identified several guiding factors that have helped inform our decisions: capacity and sustainability. 

We have been intentional in developing systems to support the island community that are designed with and based on the use of sustainable technologies that are scaled to meet the demand of our human capacity, and that are also capable of expanding to meet future demand. While we are expecting and hopeful for continued growth in programs, we are also conscious of growing at a sustainable rate so that all or our resources can handle the demand.

Phase 1: building the deck extension to house the showerhouse, and give enough above-ground clearance to house the composting toilet bin

Phase 1: building the deck extension to house the showerhouse, and give enough above-ground clearance to house the composting toilet bin

In looking at these factors, we identified that we needed to expand our shower and toilet facilities to be able to accommodate larger groups for a sustained period of time.  Our current use of these facilities was reaching the extent of their functionality.  We worked with GO Logic of Belfast, Maine to help design an expansion of our current shower house building to incorporate another Clivus Multurm composting toilet as well as 2 additional showers.  We contracted with the skilled craftsman of Harbor Builders based in Port Clyde, Maine to build the extension off of the existing structure.  Extending from the original structure allowed allowed enough clearance above grade to accommodate the height of the new composting toilet system, and also consolidated our toilet and shower facilities located close to the constructed wetland that manages all the greywater produced at that facility.

The Clivus Multrum M12 composting toilet systems that was installed is designed to accommodate ­­­­­­­­­­up to 30,000 uses per year.  This composting system is slightly different system than the “foam flushing” version that we installed in 2013 in our other bathroom facility closer to Main Pier.  Without the need for water, these “dry toilets” will be able to be used throughout the year when our water system in not online, but still function with the same composting principals.  (Visit Clivus Multrum for more information on these systems.)

The complete extension! (Note the outdoor showers!)

The complete extension! (Note the outdoor showers!)

The extension has been connected to the existing solar thermal system that produces hot water (roof mounted evacuated tubes:  Click here to see a description of this system that was created by a volunteer staff member Juliette Bendheim) and has also been connected to our Constructed Wetland (designed by Russel Martin of Public Health Solutions and approved as an alternative wastewater treatment of grey water by the State of Maine).  

In planning of this structure, we decided that we wanted the facility to be self-sustaining and powered by a stand-alone photovoltaic system.  To do this we contracted with Rideout Electric (based in Warren, Maine) to install 4 solar panels, charge controller, inverter, and batteries to supply power to the whole showerhouse to make this a self-sustaining facility. Until this photovoltaic system was online we had been using a portable ReGenerator Power Management System, known as the “Power Cube” (designed, developed, and donated Lyman-Morse Technologies and Reluminati, and now owned by ZeroBase) as primary source of power for the existing shower house.  The “Power Cube” also served the primary source of power for the entire building process, with limited used of a gas generator during periods of the building process with peak electrical needs.

We are excited to have this system online for all of our fall programs and to be able to start the spring season with increased ability to handle larger programs without stressing our systems.  We also are excited to use this building as an educational demonstration facility for sustainable technologies to allow people to gain an understanding of ways to mitigate the impact that we have on our environment.

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