Science for Everyone

Don't Take this Place for Granite

Post by Bailey Mortiz, Scallop Research Intern

This may or may not be a crescentic gauge carved out by an active glacier.

Flipping through the igneous rock section of my geology textbook, theres a striking photo of white and black rocks swirled together, a prime example of two different magmas mixing in a chamber hundreds of thousands of years ago. The photos caption cites none other than our neighboring island, Vinalhaven, which has been studied by geologists the world over for its fascinating and unique rock features. Every geologic formation and the rocks that build it have a story to tell about the locations history. Hurricane Island is no exception, and as is true almost anywhere on the Maine coast, theres a lot of interesting geology to be observed underfoot.

 xenolith- Magma of different composition mixed with the granite to form these ubiquitous enclaves around the island

Granite makes up the island and granite is responsible for much of its human history, giving rise to the booming quarry town that once was. Granite consists primarily of 3 minerals; quartz, feldspar, and biotite. Different ratios of these minerals give rise to different colors and textures of granite. The granite of Hurricane Island is tannish in color and has notably high potassium feldspar content. Reddish granite slabs pop up here and there around the island, and these were brought in from other places with other mineral compositions to be carved by the skilled quarrymen of Hurricane. Architects and builders could peruse catalogs that described granite by its color and grain size quality in order to decide where to purchase the material from. Potassium rich granite from Hurricane Island was selected for the Washington Monument and streets of Havana, Cuba.

As these granite bodies cooled within the earth, another type of magma, one that was darker in color and therefore more rich in iron content, intruded in and caused pockets of different material, called mafic enclaves, to appear throughout. Next time you visit Hurricane Island, see if you can spot some on the exposed rock, ranging anywhere from several inches to several feet across. But these odd bubbles within the granite were not always visible. About 13,000 years ago, the last of the glaciers that once covered this place in deep ice finally retreated. Although the granite has been well weathered, there are still some potential places where we can find evidence of past glacial movement. Striations are a set of parallel scrapes that a glacier literally carves into the bedrock as it slides. Crescentic gauges are chips out of the bedrock that occur as heavy ice puts pressure on the surface below it. Examples of both can be seen around here.

Beautiful colored garnets peeking out of a pegmatite boulder.

On a stroll to the north end of the island, we came across a magnificent while boulder with large grain sizes of feldspar. Even though it did not originate here, it is my favorite rock on Hurricane. Embedded amongst the white feldspar minerals is another glistening surprise; beautiful, perfect maroon garnets! Garnets are the birthstone of January and a common gemstone for jewelry, but it’s even cooler to find them in their natural state. This rock is a pegmatite, which is an igneous magma that cools really slowly, allowing enough time for larger and more unique minerals to form. But a phenomenon like this would not be found on Hurricane. Perhaps a glacier carried it along, or maybe it was brought by human hands for trade. Either way, it adds a nice touch to the natural geology museum that exists all around us.

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On Cloud Nine

Post by Bailey Moritz, Scallop Research Intern

Wherever you are right now, stop, go outside, and look up at the sky. Are there clouds up there? Do they appear fluffy, wispy, or flat? Maybe its sunset and they are streaked with colors. What shapes come to mind? In The Cloudspotter’s Guide,  Gavin Pretor-Pinney describes clouds as the most egalitarian of natures displays, because anyone can view them, at absolutely any time they want. And when you start to pay more attention to them, you begin to notice the variety of clouds that appear are as vast as the sky itself. Summer is the time to have your head in the clouds, and here are a few of the types we have seen flying high above Hurricane Island recently;

On a sunny day, the cumulus clouds are piling up, with a cirrus cloud known as a horsetail in the background.

Cumulus- When we think of clouds, this puffy, friendly type is probably the first image that comes to mind. As water evaporates from the earths surface, it creates a thermal column of air that begins to form water droplets once it reaches a layer of cooler air. These water droplets build and “accumulate” to form a cumulus cloud. As more and more water evaporates, the cloud grows bigger, and eventually becomes the giant storm cloud, cumulonimbus, capable of showering us with lightning, rain, and hail. The water in a typical cumulus cloud weights about as much as 80 elephants!

Cirrus- These clouds are the highest forming variety. Deriving from the latin word for “lock of hair”, the cirrus’ wispy appearance is actually due to the fact that they are made of ice crystals expanding across the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Even on the hottest of days, there may be snow overhead!

A family of virga fall from above.

Virga- When higher clouds like cirrus actually start to precipitate, or rain down their water, charismatic formations known as virga may appear. As the precipitation falls, it hits a warmer, dryer layer of air and the water evaporates before reaching the earth.

Fog- Fog is something we are very familiar with on the coast of Maine. A type of stratus cloud, coastal fog forms when air passes over a stretch of warm ocean water, and then encounters a colder current. This sudden drop in temperature right at the waters surface basically causes a water droplet cloud to form low to the ground, enveloping us all.

Contrails- We leave our mark on the sky as much as we do on the earth. Contrails form when the hot exhaust from airplanes cools rapidly into ice crystals in its wake. The tiny particles in the exhaust give the ice something to cling to and they can grow rapidly. If contrails don’t appear behind a plane or they disappear really quickly, it’s a sign that the air is dry and clear skies will likely continue.

Fog rolls in over the quarry

Who knows what worldy destinations these contrails lead to.

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Kelp: Cultivating Health, Habitat, and Science

Post by Bailey Moritz, Scallop Research Intern

Sugar Kelp growing commercially

As an island rich with tide pooling enthusiasts, we tend to view seaweed as a slipping hazard on our way down the rocks. It’s something that clings to docks and the bottom of our boats. But for Paul Dobbins, kelp enthusiast and owner of Ocean Approved kelp farm near Portland, this marine plant holds so much more potential. From food to biofuel to skin care products, the uses for kelp are numerous and growing. Hurricane Island is gearing up to start our own educational aquaculture program and we were lucky enough to have Paul and his wife come out this past week to give us valuable advice about the process.

Paul shares a photo of sugar kelp in its early stages of growth

The first and most technically involved step in growing kelp is seeding the line. Kelp sporophytes, only a handful of cells large, are placed in a water-filled container with a spool of thread and some nutrient solution. After only 24 hours, the little kelp seeds will have attached themselves to the thread and start to grow. Once a visible brown film is present, the thread is ready to be spun out around a thicker rope suspended in the ocean. Kelp is an incredible crop in that it doesn’t require any inputs once it’s in the water. It utilizes nutrients already in the water column, and can actually help to clean water near populated areas. Since the farms are generally placed over muddy bottom, they create excellent habitat for juvenile species like lobster and fish where there wasn’t before. One of the fastest growing organisms in the world, the kelp will be 8-14 ft long after only about 12 weeks, which is harvestable size. Paul Dobbins' company processes and sells the kelp as a food product, such as a slaw or smoothie powder. It’s considered a superfood given the concentrated amount of nutrients, particularly iodine. Maine is the first state in the U.S. to grow kelp commercially so there is a lot of potential for growth in the market place and it’s a relevant field for students to engage in.

Determining future aquaculture sites on Hurricane Island

We look forward to involving student in the process of growing and taking care of their own kelp ropes this winter as part of our new in-school winter programming. As Paul made clear, growing your own kelp is very doable, with tangible results over a short amount of time. And there is a strong emphasis on the scientific process. Students will be able to see the tiny kelp cells under a microscope as they grow, monitor temperature, manipulate nutrients to optimize growth, and eventually reap their harvest. Aquaculture success is closely linked to the environment in which the products are growing. Walking around the island, Paul agreed that the sandy, protected cove of Gibbons Point would be ideal for growing oysters. Placing a line of kelp out there would also help to buffer waves coming into shore. The opposite end of the island by Two Bush Island seems to be the most promising for kelp that prefers high wave action. Now its just a matter of getting our gear together. The knowledge Paul Dobbins brought to our future kelp operation was incredibly helpful and inspiring. We’re super excited to get growing! 

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Scallops, and Clams, and Mussels, Oh My!

Post by Bailey Moritz, Scallop Research Intern

Mussel jackpot! We’ll put these guys back to grow bigger.

The dock has become my office. Since retrieving the spat bags in late July, I have been whiling away the hours, fog or shine, sorting and measuring the baby scallops in all 35 bags that we collected. Eventually, we will map the data to get a picture of where in Penobscot Bay scallop settlement is higher, which can inform fishery management policy. Even though my scallop count is a whopping 14,000 and counting, I can still say that baby scallops are adorable and surprisingly entertaining. These tiny guys are anywhere from 0.1 to 2 cm in height. By rapidly clapping their shell halves together, they can propel water and thus swim to the surface of the jar I collect them in. Check out Hurricane Islands Instagram for a great video of this phenomenon! My swimming jar of baby scallops has been an excellent show and tell for visitors and students pulling up on the dock. In addition to their cute little performance, juvenile scallop shells have colorful and varied patterns worthy of being called art.

An invasive form of encrusting tunicate forms orange and black mats on the mesh. The little white shapes are clams!

Baby scallops come in a beautiful array of colors and patterns that they’ll eventually lose in adulthood.

Mesh spat bags are not selective. Any larvae floating in the water column can enter the bag and start to grow. While there are upwards of 500 scallops in each bag, there are usually more than 5000 little clams filling the bag as well. Thank goodness I’m not counting clams! The spat bags came from different locations in Penobscot Bay, and you can tell. Each spat bag displays distinct characteristics from the others. One might have lots of healthy juvenile mussels hanging on tight with their byssal threads. Another may have only larger scallops compared to bags with handfuls of practically unseeable small ones. A number of bags contain starfish, thought to be a predator to the scallop, which might be the cause behind a number of empty, crushed shells. I have seen 7 species of beautiful sea slugs, called nudibranchs, and am now well acquainted with tunicates and sea squirts that find the thick blue mesh a perfect point of attachment. I won’t say the number of times I’ve accidentally squirted myself (or others) in the eye trying to peel them off the bags.

Over the course of the past month witnessing the ebb and flow of the tides from my workspace, I have come to appreciate the diverse and unique ecosystem that is a spat bag. What may at first appear to be a mess of muddy shells, shrimp, and slime, actually holds a snapshot of a coastal marine world in an early stage of growth. I still have a few more spat bags to pick through. But with the dock as my office and swimming baby scallops to keep me company, I really can’t complain.

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Mushroom Buoys and Beyond

Post by Jacque Rosa, Science Education Intern

Just yesterday, Island Ecology students were given a line of 16 buoys to deploy off the coast of Hurricane Island that are going to be monitored over the next few months. However, these weren’t your typical lobster buoys. These buoys were made of mushrooms…does it get any cooler than that?

This story begins with two engineering students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who invented “Mushroom Material” as part of a senior project. This product, now manufactured by their company Ecovative, consists of 100% plant based farm waste and fungal mycelium (root structure of a mushroom). After testing, Mushroom Materials proved to be strong, insulative, flame-resistant, and buoyant. With the help of Sue Van Hook, now chief mycologist of Ecovative, their business has taken off, and aims to reduce the use of petroleum based plastic foams.

Sue explains how the idea behind Mushroom Materials came about

Sue Van Hook, whose grandfather was a lobsterman in nearby North Haven, grew up painting wooden buoys and witnessed the transition to foam buoys. Van Hook saw the potential of Mushroom Materials to replace foam buoys and reduce the overall amount of debris entering the marine environment. Currently, 80% of plastics in the ocean can be traced back to landfills, and 25% of that is Styrofoam. Van Hook is utilizing stations in Maine (like Hurricane Island) to test her products in the field. Van Hook visited Hurricane Island yesterday while acting as guest scientist aboard the American Promise, the home base for the Rozalia Project, which focuses on ocean health through education, marine debris cleanups, and research. Her presentation on Hurricane blew us away. As a community that finds hundreds of buoys washed up on our shores, we were incredibly excited at the prospect of a natural solution.

Taking a closer look at our trial buoys. The brown buoys have the resin coating.

So how are Mushroom Materials made? Its simple: mushrooms are collected from the woods, cloned in a lab, and then grown on plant waste where their mycelium penetrate the material and create a strong mass by gluing the material together as they digest it. Unlike plastic and Styrofoam, Ecovative’s product requires a fraction of the energy to manufacture, contains no toxic chemicals, and is completely biodegradable. You can even crumble it up in your garden as compost! Mushroom Materials can also be grown into variety of shapes and sizes in only a few days.

Mushroom buoy field trials are currently taking place in Boothbay and here off Hurricane Island. The trial buoys we received were either coated with a silica-based paint or a 40% biowaste resin, which is resistant to marine decay. Hurricane Island staff and students will monitor the buoys weekly, by weighing them and checking for any damage, mold, or algae growth. This project presents an opportunity for students to participate in research project that supports a shift away from plastics. Ecovative is certainly headed in the right direction, and we more than happy to be a part of the movement to a healthier, happier ocean.


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