The WFSU Ecology Blog
  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • My Year in Bugs: the 2022 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Kayak and Canoe Adventures
RiverTrek 2021: Five Days on the Apalachicola River
Lower Lake Lafayette: Kayak Tallahassee’s Hidden Swamp
Chipola River Paddling Trail | The Ovens and...
Kayaking Bald Point | Adventure on a Living...
Wacissa Springs Adventure | Kayaking a Wild Florida...
A Geologist’s View of the Apalachicola River |...
Upper Chipola River Kayak Adventure | Ghosts &...
Tate’s Hell & the Apalachicola River Delta |...
Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail
Merritt’s Mill Pond | Kayaking and Spring Caves

The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • My Year in Bugs: the 2022 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
      • Backyard Blog May 2020
      • Backyard Blog April 2020
      • Backyard Blog February and March 2020
      • Backyard Blog January 2020
      • Backyard Blog October through December 2019
      • Backyard Blog September 2019
      • Backyard Blog August 2019
      • Backyard Blog July 2019
      • Backyard Blog June 2019
      • Backyard Blog May 2019
      • Backyard Blog April 2019
      • Backyard Blog March 2019
      • Backyard Blog February 2019
      • Backyard Blog January 2019
      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef

Day 5: October Oyster Push- A Change of Plans

by Rob Diaz de Villegas October 27, 2010
by Rob Diaz de Villegas October 27, 2010 2 comments
Rob Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV

Tuesday, October 26- Tile Team heads to Jacksonville

P1010798_1

The whirring sound, the smell of calcium carbonate dust, the warmth of his face behind the mask and goggles- this is the stuff of David Kimbro's dreams.

IGOR chip- biogeographic 150The WFSU crew stayed the night in St. Augustine to accompany both the Net/ Fish and Tile teams when they headed out at sunrise.  After breakfast, I went out to the lab space (we’re all staying at a research facility very near the reefs they study), and David Kimbro was there, before the sun had made its way out, separating shards of shell with spat on them.  He’d missed all of the field work here up to that point so that this experiment could work.  Until this afternoon, it was all I had seen him do here.  If he was able to focus in on this one aspect of this large an undertaking, it is because Hanna and Tanya have been able to operate independently and pick up the slack.  By the time he actually made it into the field, David followed Tanya’s lead.

Also working hard on this trip are my poor sneakers.  I have an old pair that I designated for my work on this project, shoes I knew I would never wear for anything else.  The reefs in Cedar Key and St. Augustine have torn them up.  I keep stepping in soft mud that hides oysters, or stray clumps cloaked by muddy water.  It might be time to invest in boots.

P1010870_1

There's nothing like the smell of dead fish in the morning.

7:30 AM– Hanna, Tanya, and Cristina went out to retrieve the catch from the gill nets, take sediment samples, retrieve the data loggers, and take some fish stomachs (how else would you know what the predators were eating?).  They also replaced the spat sticks, which were still only attracting barnacles.  Tanya noticed, however, that spat would settle on the rebar below the stick.

A couple of Environmental Scientists from the St. Johns River Water Management System agency kayaked up at some point to watch the proceedings.  They are working with David’s lab to determine why these once commercially viable reefs were overrun and depleted by crown conchs.  The problem seems to be very localized, occurring between Ponce Inlet in New Smyrna Beach and Matanzas Inlet.  David is hoping for more “spinoff projects” like this one, in which he and his lab can use applied science to help specific reef systems.

And while we’re on the topic of predatory snails, Here’s that pic of the Atlantic Oyster Drill:

P1010905_1

Crown conch, tulip snails, and oyster drills heavily populate these Marineland, FL reefs.

2:30 PM– Hanna and Cristina headed to Jacksonville to begin removing clumps of reef with Jacksonville spat on them. But first they were to inspect the house they were renting to see if there was a suitable area to make their Jacksonville spat tiles. That process involves keeping oysters in large tubs of water, prying shells off of the clump, and using a dremel to make the pieces somewhat uniform in size. If I was renting someone a house, I wouldn’t want them doing that in my bathroom. Hanna determined that the house did not have a workable area, causing a shift in their plans. Hanna and Cristina now had to bring the reef segments back to St. Augustine to process. Instead of deploying nets in Jacksonville Wednesday morning, they’ll have to do this in the afternoon after processing the spat all day. And instead of finishing with Jacksonville on Thursday morning, they’ll be there all day (causing David to make his three hour drive home at night).

5:00 PM– David and Tanya retrieve the small fish traps.  A couple of the fish they catch are pretty colorful, I suspect they’re something that once lived in a saltwater aquarium.  They also deployed the tiles into which so much effort had been expended.  It’s a major part of this study, and David is happy to get started on it just five months after that first day in Alligator Harbor.  And it’s still early enough in this three year study that they can tweak the experiment and try it again next year (experiments of this nature don’t always work the first time).

After all the work was done, Tanya made a tasty four-bean vegetarian chili, and everyone enjoyed a relaxed dinner before convening again at 7:30 AM to process more spat.

P1010994_1

David finally makes it out into the field.

Tide Times and height (ft.) for Saint Augustine, October 26, 2010
Low- 8:oo AM (0.3)
High- 2:17 PM (5.2)
Low- 8:41 PM (0.7)
Tide Times and height (ft.) for Jacksonville, October 25, 2010
High- 5:56 PM (0.5)
We’d love to hear from you! Leave your comments and questions below:
Facebook Comments
biogeographiccoastal ecologycrown conchFlorida State UniversityFSU Coastal and Marine Labmarine biologymarine ecologyNational Science FoundationnatureNSFoysteroyster reefoyster spatperiwinkle snailsroctoberpushSaint Augustinescience
2 comments
0
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now he spends time exploring north Florida's forests, coasts, waterways, and the endlessly fascinating ecosystem that is the backyard garden. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

previous post
Day 4: October Oyster Push “Sweet Boat”
next post
Day 6: October Oyster Push- Home Stretch

Related Posts

Pea Crab Infestation!

March 22, 2012

Fingers crossed (7:37 AM, August 23, 2011)

August 23, 2011

Apalachicola Oyster Research: SHARK WEEK

August 10, 2013

The River, the Bay, and the Army Corps...

October 24, 2012

Scared hungry?

September 28, 2011

Two Poems

August 25, 2010

Notes from the Field: From Technician to Tourist

March 18, 2013

Oyster reefs. Huh! What are they good for!

September 13, 2012

The Making of a Softshell Crab

October 4, 2010

The Biology / Art Intersection

June 19, 2012

2 comments

Oysters in the news October 28th, 2010 | The Daily Blog Awards October 28, 2010 - 8:10 pm

[…] Day 5: October Oyster Push- A Change of Plans […]

Carroll Garland October 30, 2010 - 7:32 am

Reading about your adventures both culinary and biology related is fascinating! Makes the rest of us armchair biologists learn something. Thanks for keeping Hanna’s family informed! Carroll Garland

Comments are closed.

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive more outdoor adventures, and an in depth look at our local forests and waterways by Email.

If you do not receive a verification e-mail, check your spam folder.

Category

WFSU-FM Environmental Stories

  • Tallahassee’s latest urban reforestation effort brings new trees to Governor’s Park
  • Hurricane Ian’s estimated damage to Florida agriculture tops $1B
  • America’s largest underground springs gets even bigger with the discovery of another cave connection
  • DeSantis outlines second-term environmental plans
  • Deep freeze breaks pipes, creates water crisis across South

Twitter

Tweets by wfsuIGOR

iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

iNaturalist


View robdv’s observations »

Most Recent

  • The Wakulla Springs Wildlife Survey- a decades long look
  • Welcome Liesel Hamilton to the WFSU Ecology Blog!
  • My Year in Bugs: the 2022 Backyard Blog
  • Timberlane Ravine: learn to love dead trees (and trillium!)
  • The strange and dangerous love lives of zebra longwing butterflies

Archives

October 2010
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Sep   Nov »

WFSU Ecology YouTube

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
  • Youtube

@2017 - PenciDesign. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign