What's Happening at Gulf Specimen? |
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Gulf Specimen Marine Lab: Biological Supply
Busy, busy, busy! With school finally starting back after COVID closures, professors and educators are getting their curriculums together and starting to place their orders for their research and laboratory courses. This process involves calling us to place orders for specimens, so what does that mean for us? |
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During the fall season, school gets back into session and teachers begin preparing their curriculums for their research projects and lab courses. This is one of Gulf Specimen's busiest times for collecting and shipping out specimens. After we receive the order from the school, university, lab or aquarium, we begin our process of making sure we have the specimens the order needs.
The first step is collection. We do this in many different ways such as using shrimp trawls, seining the nearby beaches, setting crab traps and even snorkeling or scuba trips. After the initial collection, the animals are transported back to our lab and immediately put on oxygen and begin slowly acclimating them to our seawater using a dripline system. If the specimens are set to ship out the same day that we receive them, we will leave them on the drip until it is time for packaging. If the specimens are next day-next week, we will find a place for them in our aquarium for guests to enjoy until their ship date.
The second step is packaging up the specimens for overnight shipment. To ensure that your order contains everything needed, we first put every single specimen that your order contains on our drip system to keep everything organized. After the specimens are collected, we begin bagging them up. We use water from our systems, or treated water if the organism requires it, and fill it up about 1/4-1/3 full of water and then pump it full of oxygen and tie it tight. All of our organisms are double bagged for precaution and some organisms, like sponges, don't require the same amount of oxygen so the bag will be filled with more water to keep the specimens covered.
After the specimens are bagged, the last step is packaging them up. We use Styrofoam coolers included with bagged liners and ice packs to ensure the specimens stay cool.
As a biological supply marine lab, we are able to provide specimens used in many different research projects, educational courses and PHD programs. One of our most popular specimens to ship is our Lytechinus variegatus, the short-spined sea urchin.
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On Monday, August 2 we officially began our walkthrough of our new nature trail to begin the identification process of all our native, exotic and invasive species in our surrounding woods. Using the guidance and knowledge from Dr. Loren Anderson and Ray Busby, we were able to identify over 56 species of palms, vines, grasses and others. Now, we begin our process of cleaning up the trail and making identification signs for visitors to follow through the trail and identify the species firsthand.
Our goal is to have signs located throughout the walking trail with common and scientific names for each plant as well as QR codes to access an online source of additional information researched and put together by Gulf Specimen to aid in self-identification of the species.
The nature trail is predicted to be open to the public very soon. |
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Meet Our New Aquarist: Nick Campisi |
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Nick is from Oklahoma and went to college at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. There, he received his BS in biology and natural science. Immediately after graduating, he began his career as a biologist/aquarist at the Medicine Park Aquarium and Center for Natural Science where he worked for a little over a year and a half. Shortly after becoming employed at the Medicine Park, he received his open water scuba certification.
“My passion has been and will always be marine biology so I am super excited for my future here at GSML where I hope to further my knowledge as much as possible. My favorite part of the lab so far has just been the opportunity to learn more about and take care of the many species we have here.” |
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What to Know About Hurricane Season and Marine Life |
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| Hurricanes are fueled by warmer waters and extra moisture in the air. Waves can form up to 18.3 meters high and the currents can be up to 91.5 meters deep which will bring up colder, less oxygenated waters from the deep, affecting majority of coastal marine life. Additional rain reduces water salinity, while turbulent waves and currents can stir up the sand blocking out the sunlight for UV-reliant organisms such as corals and seagrasses.
Some fish, such as grey triggerfish and blacktip sharks, can sense that a storm is coming and will migrate into deeper waters. Some larger animals, like dolphins, whales and larger sharks, might search for less turbulent waters to wait out in. Slower-moving fish, turtles and shellfish beds are often not as lucky to survive the storm due to intense undercurrents and rapid temperature changes and salinity. Strandings, both on land and further out at sea, are also very common for marine life and can be deadly.
Coastal seagrass beds and coral reefs are utilized for a natural storm barrier for coastal communities, but are often damaged during stronger storms leaving many juvenile fish and invertebrates without shelter from future storms. |
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After a hurricane, there are many factors that are damaging to marine life. Flooding of coastal towns can lead to runoff of toxic pollutants directly into the water as well as trash runoff due to damage of infrastructure. An increase in toxin runoff can lead to an increase in the red tide algae, Karenia brevis, due to increased nutrients (phosphorous and nitrogen) entering the warm waters.
Hurricanes are inevitable natural occurrences in the Gulf of Mexico, but continuing to increase our carbon footprint and ignoring global warming and climate change will continue to increase the intensity of these storm systems and will continue devastating both marine life as well as coastal environments and communities. |
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2021 Sea Turtle Nesting Season |
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 | Sea turtle nesting season in Florida occurs from May-October with peak season in June and July. During this nesting season, a single female sea turtle can nest several different times depositing about 80-120 eggs per nest.
The most common nesting species seen in the Florida Panhandle are green sea turtles (endangered) and loggerhead sea turtles (threatened). More southern counties may see some leatherback turtles (endangered) but we rarely see them in our nesting zones.
After the eggs are laid, it can take between 50-70 days for hatchlings to emerge. |
| | | During the 2021 season so far, we have collected the following statistics from turtle patrol organizations for surrounding beaches:
-Alligator Point: 4 nests
-St. George Island: 250 nests
-Little St. George Island: 145 nests
As we enter hatchling season, the sea turtle patrol organizations begin the process of evaluating each nest. If there are signs of emergence, they will typically do an evaluation 2-3 days after, but if no emergence is seen they will evaluate on the 70th day after the eggs were laid.
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Thanks to our sea turtle grant from Sea Turtle Grants Program, our new sea turtle display is almost finished. We have our signs ready to be sent to the printers, and we have our makeshift, operational sea turtle "wheel of fortune" up and running. |
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A Letter From Our Volunteer: Nichole Doroshenko
Every semester, Gulf Specimen speaks with hundreds of clients over the phone, but rarely get to meet them face to face. Once every few years, someone will come visit or volunteer, and we get to put a face to the name.
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"My name is Nikki Doroshenko. I am the Head Technician in the biology department at Colgate University, a small liberal arts college in New York situated between Syracuse and Utica. I have a wide range of job responsibilities, but the bulk of my work when classes are in session is to order and prepare materials for laboratory courses. The classes I work on tend to cover topics in introductory biology, field ecology, evolution, and plant & animal diversity.
My relationship with GSML began about twenty years ago, when I began ordering living specimens from them for an invertebrate biology course. Over the years I have ordered just about every type of organism they supply. I didn't think I would ever have the opportunity to visit the lab in person, but this summer my daughter secured a three-month internship at GSML, and that gave me the perfect excuse to travel to Panacea, FL. I was able to volunteer at the lab over a two week period during July and got involved in all three facets of the lab -- aquarium work, specimen collection, and sea turtle rescue/rehabilitation/release.
The aquarium work included feeding organisms, cleaning tanks, interacting with patrons and leading tour groups. The specimen collection involved pulling traps at the dock and going out on the boat. My sea turtle experience consisted of helping care for the lab's permanent resident loggerhead Lil' Herc and the Kemp's Ridley turtle "Vicki" who was recently released.
I honestly enjoyed the entire experience and would be hard pressed to choose one favorite moment. I loved interacting with tour groups and curious patrons who never failed to ask all sorts of great questions. The highlight of the guided tours was almost always the feeding demonstrations at the shark and ray tanks. I was thrilled to go out on the boat and sort through the materials that had just been pulled up from the bottom of the gulf. We found scallops, conchs, sand dollars, and even a small flounder and sea robin. Lastly, having the opportunity to help care for the sea turtles was an amazing and humbling experience. They are truly beautiful creatures.
I would like to thank everyone at GSML for giving me the opportunity to experience working at the lab. Everyone was extremely welcoming, gracious and friendly. I look forward to future collaborations, both from my home up north and at the lab -- I will definitely be traveling to Panacea again!" |
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Wonders of the Gulf: Creature Feature |
| North Florida is gifted with an amazing array of diverse animals where we find fascinating creatures. Our exhibits change every season. |
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Leopard Toadfish Opsanus pardus
This species is found further offshore than the oyster toadfish. It is found closely associated with rocky sponge and gorgonian bottom habitat. If you look closely, you might find these toadfish wedged in between rocks, corals and shells on the ocean bottom. |
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Olive Snail Oliva sayana It has a smooth, elongated and polished shell. Dwells on sand bottoms just under the surface. However, when a piece of shrimp is dropped in the tank, the snail thrusts its siphon up and emerges, dramatically upheaving the substrate and pouncing on the food. |
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Welcome to Our Fall 2021 Interns |
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As we get into the fall season, we are pleased to announce that we have six new interns working at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab! These interns will spend the semester learning how to upkeep marine tanks, work in the field to collect specimens, and gain general and scientific knowledge of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. |
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