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

Yes We Did!

by David November 11, 2010
by David November 11, 2010 6 comments
Dr. David Kimbro FSU Coastal & Marine Lab

IGOR chip- biogeographic 150The following is the first of three or so videos on the big October oyster trip.  In this one, you get a long busy day in the field condensed into two minutes (it’s much less exhausting that way).  We’ll have videos in the next couple of weeks on David’s co-collaborators (including video of the Georgia/ S. Carolina team and all the sharks they caught) and a video on David’s own team.

P1010986

The "October Oyster Push" had many objectives, but none took as much time to implement than the tile experiment. Seeing how these baby oysters- spat- grow over the next few months will give David an idea how oysters typically fare at each reef over the course of their lives.

I spent most of this past week feeling pretty darn good about having just finished our October sampling and experimental objectives out on the oyster reefs.  Of course, this glow continued into the weekend as my football team pulled out a W in Tallahassee.

But back to the science.  Although Rob chronicled each day of our crazy road trip, I want to relive it once more just to give the trip from my perspective.  So, here are my top-ten thoughts:

Number 1: Planning the details of the road trip (housing, which team is going where and when) as well as figuring out how to set up the tile experiment (see video) was pretty stressful.  Thank goodness I had Tanya around to bounce scheduling ideas off of.  Because I kept chaning my mind, I think Tanya made like 6 different versions of our schedule.

Number 2: I talked the NC and SC/GA teams into doing the aforementioned experiment with oyster spat to examine how actual predation and the fear of being eaten affects oysters up and down the coast.  I successfully convinced the teams partly because I  emphatically claimed that the additional work load would only be five hours of more work at each site.  Well, I got that wrong.  It was probably triple that estimate.  That’s one of my flaws: I always underestimate how long research tasks take, which is bad because you constantly feel behind as a result of being over-scheduling.  Rule of thumb: always multiply my work estimates by at least 2.

Number 3: I never want to see a dremel again.  With dremel in hand one evening at Saint Augustine, I had only extracted ¼ the spat I needed for the experiment but the time spent on this task had already surpassed my previous estimate.  That’s when coffee and the ability to lose yourself in the task become extremely important.  I guess I took it one oyster spat at a time.

P1010835_1

(L to R) Tanya, Hanna, and Cristina pick up the slack while David dremels away back at the lab space.

Number 4: I could not have lost myself in the task of setting up the experiment if it hadn’t been for Tanya, Hanna and Cristina.  Knowing that they were fully trained to carry out the sampling objectives, I did not have to busy myself with those numerous tasks, such as setting gill nets and traps (and retrieving the catch), taking sediment and water samples, etc.  In fact, after finishing the sampling objectives and follow-up lab work, they would immediately begin helping me with the experiment by cleaning adult oysters and identifying spat for me to extract with the dremel.  With that help, I was able to focus solely on dremeling.

Number 5: Dremeling 1080 spat out of adult oyster shell stinks.  Did I already say that? Well, this task deserves two spots on the top-ten list.  In tact, I probably attempted to extract over 2,000 oysters because I would often slip with the dremel and accidentally kill the oyster spat that I had spent five or so minutes on.

Catfish of Alligator Harbor

Hardhead and sail catfish seem to be the dominant predator of the Florida Gulf sites. By eating mud crabs that predate oysters, these fish perform an important function on oyster reefs.

Number 6: we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  In fact, I think there were some temperature records being set.  Despite these warmer than usual temperatures, there was about ½ the diversity and number of predatory fish on our reefs.  So, going against my expectations, these Florida sites are experiencing some seasonality in the assemblage of predators.  Interestingly, all teams were catching red drum on their reefs; guess it’s their time of year.  The red drum mostly had smaller fish in their stomachs.  The SC/GA team was still catching lots of sharks.  And catfish was still the most abundant predator on our reefs.  Those slimy things are definitely major players on southern oyster reefs because they had lost of mud crabs (who eat oysters) in their guts.  Final detail about the Florida sites is that my northern locations (Alligator Harbor on Gulf and Jacksonville area on Atlantic) had more predatory fishes than did the more southern sites in Florida…. intriguing.

Number 7: We had to change plans at the end of the week and this mid-course change actually went smoothly.  This change came about because the housing space near our Jacksonville site was not conducive for setting up the tile experiment.  Luckily, Hanna and Cristina ventured up to Jacksonville to figure all of this out for me.  This “divide and conquer” strategy allowed Tanya and me to finish up the sampling and experimental objectives in Saint Augustine, while Hanna and Cristina began sampling in Jacksonville to keep us on schedule.  And rather than resting up in Jacksonville, Hanna and Cristina ripped up oyster habitat and drove it back down to Saint Augustine.  They looked pretty rough upon that later return to Jacksonville.  But after a good dinner and a few hours of sleep, their oyster delivery allowed us to work on the materials for the Jacksonville experiment in a much better laboratory setting.

Number 8: Team morale and will to finish objectives hit a low point once we reached Jacksonville.  The lodging for the first evening was haunted with cockroaches: this is Hanna’s kryptonite.  Luckily, Tanya whipped us up some good pasta to help keep our minds off of the roaches.  The next morning, cockroaches began to seem not so bad.  When we got to the boat-launch and found there to be no wind, I knew it was trouble because this site had the reputation for being particularly buggy.  So, we headed into the mouth of our creek and hit the first reef.  Not too bad… actually, no fish in the nets.  Only a few bugs and two free hands to swipe them away.  But as we ventured further into the belly of the creek/bug hell and found tons of fish in our nets, I began to worry about mutiny.  As I was exhorting the crew to extract tons of fish from the next set of nets, I realized that freeing this many fish would take twice as long because we needed to spend an equal amount of time cursing the no-see’ums and keep them out of our ears and noses; kind of hard to do with fish in your hands.  While taking fire from the no-see’ums, we then began sustaining additional injuries from other natural agents.  I suffered my first good-sized oyster cut.  Hanna got her finger nearly cut off by a large stone crab.  For the pain finale, a decent sized catfish stabbed my hand with the barb of its dorsal fin.  I don’t blame it, but daggum that hurt.  At this point, the unpleasantness was almost comical.  Note to self: buy hats with bug nets to combat no-see’ums.

Number 9: All of the pain and stress of that week is now good fodder for the lab to laugh about and bond over.  That’s one of the perks of conducting research as a team.  And that’s one of the reasons why Big Jon, Randall and I are still collaborating.

P1020003

David walks away from the tiles he and his team spent so much time putting together. He won't know how successful the experiment was until he travels back to these sites.

Number 10: Now that we have all caught up on sleep, have relived our stories, and have begun to look at the data, I now stress about whether the tile experiment will actually work.  Like most experiments I conduct, I put a lot of effort into something that has a 50% chance of not succeeding.  For example, the spat that I extracted and adhered to tiles may have been overheated by the dremel/extraction process…are they dead already?  And then, oh boy…what if the glue doesn’t hold?  That’s what really keeps me up at night.

Till next time,

David

Facebook Comments
Alligator Harborbiogeographicbiogeographic oyster studyCedar Keycoastal ecologyFlorida State Universityforgotten coastFSU Coastal and Marine Labgulf of mexicohardhead catfishmarine biologymarine ecologymud crabsNational Science FoundationNSFoysteroyster reefoyster spatroctoberpushSaint Augustinetile experiment
6 comments
0
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
David

previous post
Writing about a bygone era of fishing.
next post
The Dirty Work

Related Posts

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

August 23, 2011

The Benefits of Coastal Living

November 8, 2012

The Story of 2012

January 3, 2013

Hello Irene! (10:54 PM, August 22, 2011)

August 22, 2011

What are those new images that are popping...

April 5, 2011

How much is a salt marsh worth?

May 25, 2011

Summer Chaos and The Tower of Cards

August 25, 2011

Notes From the Field, Apalachicola: Measure Twice, Cut...

May 8, 2013

Paddling for Oysters

September 4, 2012

Pea Crab Infestation!

March 22, 2012

6 comments

Polly Perkins, The Florida Aquarium November 16, 2010 - 10:52 am

Hi David,
Thanks for sharing your photos on Flickr! I’m researching images to use in an oyster reef and toadfish exhibit here at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Would you allow us to use a couple of your oyster reef images in our exhibit graphics? I’m thinking of the tulip snail and mud crab on the oysters. I can provide a photo credit as you wish, and download from Flickr.
Do you have any images of oysters underwater? That’s been a very hard shot to find!
Hope to hear from you, and thanks…
Polly Perkins
Exhibit Developer & Copywriter
PH: 813-273-4000 x4251
701 Channelside Drive
Tampa, Florida 33602
The Florida Aquarium is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit environmental organization whose mission is to entertain, educate and inspire stewardship about our natural environment.

Rob November 18, 2010 - 2:07 pm

Hi Polly,

Of course you can use them! And for anyone who doesn’t know what she’s talking about, we have hundreds of photos of oyster reefs, salt marshes, and research in action. Visit our flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29590765@N08/ or join our flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/ingrassonreef/

Rob

The Dirty Work | November 19, 2010 - 1:04 pm

[…] increase in the no-see-um population at dawn and dusk was not so pleasant however, as David has duly noted. The dawn low tide at Jacksonville brought the worst swarms we’d ever encountered in the field. […]

WFSU In the Grass, On the Reef August 15, 2012 - 12:34 pm

[…] explain the intricacies of the experiment when we post those videos in January.  Or, you could watch our coverage of that first experiment, conducted in the fall of 2010.  Watching that video and then watching […]

WFSU In the Grass, On the Reef February 6, 2013 - 2:31 pm

[…] (either from the field, which can be pretty difficult -as you can see from the first round of our tile experiment, or from a hatchery), and gluing them to portable sections of “reef” (ceramic tiles […]

WFSU In the Grass, On the Reef March 2, 2013 - 2:52 pm

[…] that from the shell they settled on. (If you don’t remember and want to check it out, go here.) Two of our oyster "families" in the water tables at Whitney Marine […]

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

  • Is birding better at Lake Jackson when it’s dried down?
  • 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!)

Archives

November 2010
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Oct   Dec »

WFSU Ecology YouTube

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
  • Youtube

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