Thursday, October 1, 2020

Stories from the Seaside at Panacea - an E-Newsletter from the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab

SEPTEMBER 2020
Hurricane Sally Update:
Hurricane Sally brought in a heavy downpour and strong winds across the Big Bend region. Thankfully we only experienced a minor tidal surge. The waters receded as soon as the storm passed and the aquarium and dock has remained unaffected.
New Murals by Andrea Whitin
A big thank you to our intern, Andrea Whitin, for painting these beautiful murals for us. They represent life at different parts of the ocean; intertidal, benthic and pelagic. She is a gifted artist and her murals have perfectly captured the beauty of all our sea life around us. We wish Andrea the best as she returns to her final year as an Environmental Science major in Nottingham. Come check her murals out in our Mother Ocean room and see if you can spot some of our local sea creatures.
New Segment: Jack's Adventures
Jack Rudloe, founder of Gulf Specimen has had a life full of adventure throughout his work with marine life. Every month we will be featuring a story about some of his accomplishments and adventures over his 60 year career in marine biology.

In 1991, Jack Rudloe decided to embark on a journey across the Pacific to figure out one of Asia's most well-kept secret; processing watery blobs of jellyfish to crunchy, firm, delicious strips. This short paragraph is from an article written by Jack 20 years ago as he recounts his first taste of cannonball jelly also known as cabbage-head:

"One day while beach combing, I came upon a fresh cabbage head which was still alive, and decided it was time to try it. I cut off the oral arms, known to contain the stinging organs leaving the umbrella which did not. Then, screwing up my courage, I cut out a cube of transparent quivering jelly with my pocket knife and scrubbed over and over again to get rid of any chance nematocysts-- the nasty little stinging cells that make jellyfish so unpopular. Then with great trepidation I gave it the teeniest touch of my tongue...
UPDATE: The Anne Rudloe Memorial Education Center (ARMEC)
Visit our new page dedicated to the Anne Rudloe Memorial Education Center. Learn more about Anne as an insightful naturalist, a brilliant scientist, a compassionate Buddhist, and the woman behind Gulf Specimen. Follow this page for updates, future plans, drawings and new information about the center as we start building.
Call (850) 984-5297 or send us an email at gspecimen@sprintmail.com to reserve a time for your group now!
Book a Marsh Tour!
Come spend the entire day with an aquarist at the aquarium. Join us for a three hour aquarium, dock and marsh tour. Feed some sharks, learn to bait crab traps and experience specimen collection with us! Use a beam trawl and seine net for the first time to collect common estuarine specimens like blue crabs, grass shrimp, and sea nettles. Learn about important keystone species that live and depend on salt marshes and witness the different juvenile stages of our local game fish in the wild.

If you would like to learn more about our different guided tours, click here:
Meet Our Fall 2020 Interns:

Every semester, Gulf Specimen offers a unique college internship program. This program has helped many young college students experience on-the-job type training that explores the field of biological supply, aquarium husbandry, sea turtle rehabilitation and marine life education.

Libby Sutton
Libby is a Biology major at Florida State where she will be graduating in December. She is a Wakulla native and has spent a huge part of her life boating and fishing. Her favorite part about being an intern is getting close hands-on-experience with different kinds of sea life. Libby is a proud "plant mom" of ten succulents, cacti and more. After graduation, she plans to work in marine education outreach and rehabilitation. Her favorite marine animal is the stingray.
Seneca Randolph
Seneca is currently a sophomore in Florida State where she is also a Biology major. She has been diving since she was 12 years old and has spent a large part of her childhood in Southeast Asia where she scuba dived in Timor Leste, Myanmar, and Thailand. Her favorite part about being an intern is experiencing the behind-the-scenes of aquarium husbandry and specimen supply collection. She plans to go into renewable energy research after graduation.
Wonders of the Gulf:
Creature Feature
North Florida is gifted with an amazing array of diverse animals where we find fascinating creatures almost every week. Our exhibits change with the seasons. Check out some of the amazing finds we've had this past month.
Shrimp Eel
Ophichthus gomesii

This silvery slender eel can be found abundantly in sandy bottoms near the shore. Their name comes from shrimp trawlers that often catch them as by-catch in their trawl nets. They are usually discarded or released by shrimpers because they are of no commercial value. As an aquarium display, they are very active and make interesting marks in the sand.
Short Bigeye
Pristigenys alta

This year, Hurricane Sally brought us an unusual little gift from the deep. This red fish was brought in by local fisherman, Dylan Clark. Adult Bigeyes are usually found in rocky bottoms around 300ft to 700ft deep. In their natural habitat, bigeyes lose their brilliant red color and will appear to be completely black. Not much is known about the Bigeyes because they are rare to come across.
Gulf Specimen Marine Lab | (850) 984-5297| gulfspecimen.org



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