Zostera marina is a seagrass species, commonly known as eelgrass, that is found on both coasts of the United States, as well as in Europe. Unfortunately, Zostera is disappearing all over the place, including right here in New York. This could have devastating impacts on animals that rely on eelgrass as foraging grounds, or, as is the case with scallops, use it as a refuge from predation. This is its story, as seen through the eyes of an aspiring graduate student...

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

New Photos and update!!!



Well, it has been a while... I have been busy finishing up the mats, finishing up writing an EPA report, moving, among other things, but I have also been in the water quite a few times since the last update... As is already says, I did win the best student poster award at the National Shellfish Association meeting... I also recently found out my first manuscript was accepted by the Marine Ecology Progress Series, which is exciting... I also finished my grass mats, and put them in the water 2 weeks ago and revisited the site today... Saw some cool things - tons of blue crabs (see the slideshow), also baby flounder, hundreds of silversides and grass shrimp (all of which were gone once i got the camera, of course)... Then we went over to the longlines hanging in Orient Harbor, NY, where they keep scallops in nets to spawn, where I tried to take some pictures, but of course they didn't come out at all... I did get some pictures of scallops out of the nets, which we sample for gonads, which is how we tell when they spawn... Anyway, things are going well right now, and I have a lot of different projects going on, so anticipate more photos for the summer... Oh, and check out my picasa web album for today here if the slideshow doesn't work out...