Science for Everyone

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Hurricane-made Passive Drifter Deployed!

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Constructing the drifter in the HIF workshop

Transporting the completed drifter to American Promise

The passive drifter that students from our Marine Biology program made this summer has officially been deployed and is on its way collecting data on currents in the Gulf of Maine! If you want to track its progress click here. Our drifter started its ocean journey with our friends The Rozalia Project aboard their sailing vessel American Promise. They were generous enough to take the drifter out of Hurricane Sound to deploy it in an open water area. The drifter was deployed August 23rd at 43 20.649N, 70 08.923W in 368' of water.

All of this would not have been possible without help from Jim Manning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). His advice and expertise about all parts of the drifter-building process were incredibly helpful, and if you are interested in building your own passive drifter to contribute to research on currents, and current modeling you can find all of the information you need here.

Hickory the dog looks out at the drifter-- now its path will depend on wind, tide, and currents!

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Researching Down Under​

Post by Bailey Moritz, Scallop Research Intern

The boat is loaded and we’re reading to hop in the water!

Scallop survey dives in and around Muscle Ridge have begun! Cait and I have gotten out on a lobstermans boat several days so far and more days to come. Meeting our captain and his lobster boat at the dock at 7am, we step over bait totes and down the steep metal ramp with our scuba tanks and equipment. Ideally, 4 dives get done in a day. Once we reach the dive site, a 100m transect is laid down with cement blocks and buoys on either end. Fighting against our awkward fins and the rolling of the boat to maintain balance, we hit the water and descend on the transect, down the length of which we will record the number of scallops and crustaceans we see, We’ll also collect the scallops we encounter in collection bags to be brought topside for tissue sample processing and later shell analysis. The bags can get heavy if the site is rich in scallops, so we have to control our buoyancy accordingly.

As it may sound, the survey methods themselves are quite straightforward. Lay out a 100m transect on land and the task is rather simple. But as this has been my first experience with underwater research, I’ve learned that there are definite complications to take into consideration as you descent for a scientific dive.

Jim, the fisherman who took us diving, demonstrates how to shuck a scallop. We’ll keep the adductor muscle for sampling, which is the part people eat. 

Barnacles and seaweed often cover the top of the scallops. This one is a female, indicated by the pink, egg filled gonad.

One of the critical factors for underwater research are the limitations that come with diving. We can only stay down as long as we have sufficient air in our tanks, so the scope of data collected has to fit within that timeframe. As anyone who has gone for a swim in Maine lately can attest to, the water is not warm and since we are diving in wet suits, we eventually get too cold to stay underwater. Tides impact the depth at which each site sits, changing multiple times a day. Some days, the tide and currents are moving strongly and we can get carried off to the side of the transect or just carried right over the top without time to collect any data! The other day, we attempted to do a dive survey, but storms the night before had kicked up a lot of mud and sediment, and the bottom was just too dark and murky to see your hand in front of your face, let alone any scallops. Visibility becomes one of the biggest factors in this type of research.

Another challenge underwater is the ability to write. Fun fact; pencils can write underwater! Because of this helpful perk of the yellow No. 2, we are able to use “writing cylinders” on our wrists, which are a segment of PVC pipe with waterproof data sheets and a pencil taped on, to collect data. Since hand signals can only go so far, they also allow us to write notes to each other if there is a change in the plan or a point of confusion.

Scallop dive surveys will continue into the fall, and we’re crossing our fingers for some sunshine and good visibility going forward!

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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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