Tatoosh!

Last week the interns spent two nights on Tatoosh Island! They spent each morning exploring the intertidal with Dr. Cathy Pfister and Dr. Tim Wootton from the University of Chicago, retracing the steps of Bob Paine and participating in data collection for new studies.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and spent the rest of the day settling into the bunk house, exploring the trails around the island, snorkeling, and watching the sunset. Seactis was especially enthusiastic about snorkeling, and even spotted a school of surf perch, a California sea cucumber, some juvenile rockfish, and a small Giant Pacific Octopus in one of the rocky coves!

The group spent the time before dinner chatting with Tim and Cathy’s students – Casey and Maddy – and playing cards, while Seactis snuck down to Simon’s Landing to go fishing in a spot he had scoped out with Zach on the ROV a few weeks ago. That night we enjoyed burritos with fresh-caught black rockfish. Yum!

For sunset, the group headed to the boom platform and watched the otters eating along the edge of the kelp bed, the seals surfacing below, and the sun disappearing behind the rocks.

The next morning started early in order to get down to the low tide on time. The interns crawled out of bed, ate some breakfast, and packed a PB&J (crunchy pb on white) for the trail. We followed Tim out to the Glacier and got to business measuring the intertidal zonation. These measurements have been taken in the same places for decades and measure the changing relationships between macroalgae, mussels, sea stars, and barnacles. They also enjoyed learning about an experiment to test whether sea palm population health is affected more by lack of genetic diversity or environmental factors. This group is enthusiastic when it comes to understanding the effects of inbreeding, so this was a hit. Aunjraya enjoyed exploring the colors and textures of the intertidal, and was especially excited to find a pink sculpin (far right photo)!

On the way back from the Glacier, Tim pointed out some gull and cormorant nests and a new baby oystercatcher chick!

Next we headed to the Finger and Tim got out his ROV while Seactis fished nearby. The interns took turns driving the ROV and exploring the kelp and the rocky seafloor. They hoped to get footage of Seactis catching a fish, but that ended up being more challenging than they planned.

Before lunch, the interns headed over to explore the cave! They navigated the slippery seaweed, large boulders, and tight quarters like pros. While in the cave, they checked out the orange cup corals and 100+ year old railroad debris.

After lunch, Seactis and Aunjraya headed out for a snorkel from the Main Beach. It was sunny and warm, and everyone on the island was soaking up as many rays as they could. Mya headed over to the boom to relax and enjoy the view over the strait.

Once everyone was showered, dry, warm, and snacked, the interns headed back down to the beach to collect mussels and boots (gooseneck barnacles) for dinner! Aunjraya and Tim boiled them up and the whole group chowed down on some delicious seafood. After dinner we hiked down to Simon’s Landing to explore and watch Seactis fish. Seactis hooked into a ton of fish, including a cabezon and a lingcod, which we filleted up to eat for lunch the next day. While out there, we heard an elephant seal and Mya and Aunjraya ran over to the elephant seal cave to look, navigating the large drop and climb with ease. Aunjraya’s excitement was too large to fit in any photo, but the ones below are a good start!

By the time we finished admiring the seal and filleting the fish, the sun was going down and it was time for bed.

The next morning dawned gray and misty. We followed Tim and Casey into the field to use the laser level on some of his mussel experiment plots. By the time we finished, it had started raining, and in another hour it was pouring. The interns stuck it out and stayed engaged through the damp while we hiked over to Simon’s Landing to run the ROV on some urchin barrens with Tim and Maddy. Mya and Aunjraya wandered over to the cave to check on the seal, but it had vacated in the night.

Once we finished in the field, the only thing left was to cook up the ling for lunch, pack up everything, and head back down to the beach for pick up. That last hour is always chaotic, but they handled it well, and we were off the island at 1:00 exactly. What a fun couple days with a great group of interns!