12-19-2013

Shellton WA
Oyster Bay
Clear
Mid 30's F
Start Time 12:00 PM
Finish Time 4:00 PM

Assisted by L. Christine Savolainen in breakdown, photography, processing, and rebuild of trays.

Sampling followed a protocol similar to that of Fidalgo Bay. We broke down the trays and evenly spaced them out. I cleaned the trays, christine photographed the trays then counted conspecifics and removed them. I collected the dead oysters and organized the trays. Christine then counted the living oysters in each tray. Finally I collected 8 Living oysters per tray and we rebuilt the hanging devices.

Field Notes as written:

Hatchery owner/biologist mentioned argonite index dropping below 1.5. Oyster shells very delicate. Heavy Sponge Growth on ALL trays.

Trays had many sea stars, urchins, seaweed, mussels, chitins, and anemones associated with them. Luckily no sea stars or urchins were within the trays. The tables below give the live counts for each tray as well as full counts for conspecifics in each tray. Most mortalities found were caused by oyster drills as almost all the shells had the characteristic drill mark on them. Also an orange sponge was found overgrowing the bottoms of nearly every tray and on several of the oysters. It cemented the oysters to the tray which was broken off while counting live animals.

Population
NF



Total
AVG
Population
HL



Total
AVG
Tray
1N4
1N5
1N10
1N16


Tray
1H4
1H5
1H10
1H14


Live
104
110
108
111
433
108.25
Live
92
106
104
109
411
102.75
Dead




0
0
Dead




0
0
Total




0
0
Total




0
0
Missing




0
0
Missing




0
0
Conspecifics






Conspecifics






Crab
0
0
1
4
5
1.25
Crab
1
4
1
1
7
1.75
Shrimp
47
40
21
18
126
31.5
Shrimp
7
216
66
30
319
79.75
Barnacles
1
0
0
0
1
0.25
Barnacles
0
9
1
0
10
2.5
Needlenose (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Needlenose (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Tunicate
0
0
0
0
0
0
Tunicate
0
0
0
0
0
0
Slippershell
0
1
0
0
1
0.25
Slippershell
0
0
1
0
1
0.25
Scallops/Clams
0
0
0
0
0
0
Scallops/Clams
0
0
0
0
0
0
Anemone
2
8
3
3
16
4
Anemone
1
6
6
1
14
3.5
Cucumber
0
0
0
0
0
0
Cucumber
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hermit Crabs
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hermit Crabs
0
1
1
0
2
0.5
Drill/Snail
0
0
0
1
1
0.25
Drill/Snail
0
1
2
0
3
0.75
Gunnels (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Gunnels (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Sculpin
0
0
2
0
2
0.5
Sculpin
1
0
0
0
1
0.25
Flatworm/worm/Mudworm
0
0
1
0
1
0.25
Flatworm/worm/Mudworm
0
0
0
0
0
0
Mussel
0
1
3
0
4
1
Mussel
2
1
0
0
3
0.75
Feather Duster
0
0
0
0
0
0
Feather Duster
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pipefish
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pipefish
0
0
0
0
0
0

Population
SN



Total
AVG
Tray
1S4
1S8
1S11
1S16


Live
103
103
89
101
396
99
Dead




0
0
Total




0
0
Missing




0
0
Conspecifics






Crab
2
1
2
1
6
1.5
Shrimp
104
27
74
52
257
64.25
Barnacles
4
12
4
100
120
30
Needlenose (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Tunicate
0
0
0
0
0
0
Slippershell
0
0
0
0
0
0
Scallops/Clams
0
0
0
0
0
0
Anemone
3
1
2
1
7
1.75
Cucumber
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hermit Crabs
1
0
0
0
1
0.25
Drill/Snail
1
0
1
0
2
0.5
Gunnels (fish)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Sculpin
0
0
0
0
0
0
Flatworm/worm/Mudworm
0
0
1
0
1
0.25
Mussel
1
0
1
0
2
0.5
Feather Duster
0
0
0
0
0
0
Pipefish
0
0
0
0
0
0

HoboLogger Temperature Data
HoboLogger Temperature Data



All pictures captured by L. Christine Savolainen unless otherwise noted.

Tray Photo
Tray Photo

Sea Stars found on top of the trays
Sea Stars found on top of the trays

More sea stars including the super cool multileg one.
More sea stars including the super cool multileg one.

For Size References (Pictured L. Christine Savolainen)
For Size References (Pictured L. Christine Savolainen)

Oysters in the tray (Spot the Crab)
Oysters in the tray (Spot the Crab)

Oysters growing on the tile
Oysters growing on the tile

Awesome Shrimp Species not found at any other site
Awesome Shrimp Species not found at any other site

Top view of cool Shrimp Species
Top view of cool Shrimp Species

Anemones in tray
Anemones in tray

Anemone attached to the bottom of the tray previously attached to an oyster.
Anemone attached to the bottom of the tray previously attached to an oyster.

Drill Mortality Mark
Drill Mortality Mark

Sculpin found in Tray
Sculpin found in Tray

Sculpin Tray Camo
Sculpin Tray Camo

Orange Sponge Growing on Oyster
Orange Sponge Growing on Oyster

Crab found in tray.
Crab found in tray.
Flatworm Planaria Biggest one found. 2 inches in Diameter.
Flatworm Planaria Biggest one found. 2 inches in Diameter.

Bottom of Flatworm. Nervous system visible. Possible Nudibranch.
Bottom of Flatworm. Nervous system visible. Possible Nudibranch.

Intrepid Scientist at Olympia Oyster Company sign.
Intrepid Scientist at Olympia Oyster Company sign.