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Up to Blog Posts in Field work with Nature Live

Field work with Nature Live

3 Posts tagged with the jellyfish tag
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Welcome to...

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(Click images to see them full size)

 

We are all waking up really early - around 6am when the sun comes up. After breakfast we loaded up the golf carts with spades, sieves and sampling jars and we were ready to go panning for worms. We ventured out to the mangroves on the other side of the island, where we were relieved to find that the wind was much less intense.

 

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Above: Helena is ready to find some worms in the Bahamian sand

 

Once we reached the marina we had to get out to the sampling site and what better way than to kayak. Then we had to do some serious digging, put the muddy sand into a bucket and kayak the samples back to the shore. To be fair, Nick did a lot of the hard work!

 

It was then up to Diva and Helena to sieve through all the mud, this may sound easy but when you’re looking for tiny creatures you have to be very precise and it can take quite a while.

 

 

We found a few large creatures, such as sea cucumbers and a giant anemone, but the really exciting stuff is only visible under the microscope. Helena was really excited as she thinks she has found a new species of the marine worm Ophryotrocha under the microscope! Obviously we can't tell for sure until we get back to the Museum but it's great to think that it might be so.

 

 

Above: Could this be a new species of the marine worm Ophryotrocha?

 

One of the other highlights of the day was that Gill got to see Cassiopeia jellyfish for the first time in the wild!

 

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Above: Cassiopeia made Gill’s day!

 

After lunch (which was rice and beans!) we spent a good part of the day testing REX before we send him into the deep later in the week. Adrian and Leigh set up a mission control in a repurposed bathroom on the beach and we sat and watched REX manoeuvre through the shallow sea grass beds.

 

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Above: Yes, Adrian is sitting on a toilet!

 

Here is when REX met a lionfish…

 

 

On Thu 8 Mar (which is tomorrow for me as I write this) we'll be linking live to the Attenborough Studio so do join us if you can!

1304 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: biodiversity, scientists, new_species, wildlife, sampling, nature_live, attenborough_studio, field_work, science, zoology, jellyfish, boat, worm, water, rice_and_beans, bahamas, nick_higgs, ocean, caribbean, diva_amon, osedax, helena_wiklund, mangrove, kayak, ophryotrocha, cassiopeia, cassiopeia_jellyfish
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The Museum has recently acquired a great bit of kit that allows us to complete our work in the Bahamas. It’s a remotely-operated vehicle that we lovingly call REX (short for Remotely-operated vehicle for Education and eXploration).

 

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It has the ability to go to depths of 200 metres and we’ll be using it to retrieve the experiments that were laid down late last year. It has a robotic arm too and apparently if you can play XBox you can operate it pretty easily!

 

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The really special thing about REX is that it has a HD camera attached to it so we can film amazing footage of the sea and the life within it. It’s important for scientists to observe how animals behave in their natural environment, especially when it comes to creatures like jellyfish, as when you bring them up to the surface they look like amorphous blobs.

 

Like I’ve said before I’m really looking forward to seeing sharks and going by the video shot last year I won’t be disappointed!

 

1766 Views 0 Comments 2 References Permalink Tags: sharks, nature_live, field_work, science, rex, zoology, jellyfish, worm, coral, bahamas, rov, caribbean, osedax, rov_rex, robot, hd_camera, hd_footage
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What do you study at the Museum?

I study string jellyfish, or siphonophores, which are very delicate deep sea species that pass their whole life cycle in the plankton, and are not normally found anywhere near the shore because of turbulence.

 

The only jellyfish that lives on the surface of the water is the Physalia - also known as the Portuguese man of war. Once it has matured it has a massive float which means it cannot sink below the water.

 

What are you most excited about finding/seeing on the trip?

Rarely collected species of siphonophores from the Tongue of the Ocean - several new species were described from the area in the 1980s to 1990s - but have not been found since. I have only ever seen about 2 live siphonophores in my life, as I work on preserved material, so anything will be exciting for me.

 

What do you miss the most when you go on field work?

Probably my husband, who will be at home whilst I’m in the Bahamas. This trip is a first for me because I am a non-funded Scientific Associate in the Museum, and just do my research for fun, not money! This is the first time I’ve ever been offered a place on a Museum expedition, so I am very excited to be going, and grateful for being invited to participate.

958 Views 0 Comments 2 References Permalink Tags: biodiversity, new_species, field_work, fieldtrip, zoology, jellyfish, plankton, bahamas, caribbean, portuguese_man_of_war, siphonophores, tongue_of_the_ocean, physalia, gill_mapstone


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