Author Archives: richardcorrado001

MORE DEAD CRABS!

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Did you not get your fill of me finding dead things within other dead things from my last post? Well, you, my dear friends, are in luck! Whilst out on a lovely stroll through Folger’s Marsh in order to assess how my precious bivalves were weathering the storm (coincidentally all I saw was dead shells), I came across a newly deceased S. Reticulatum, colloquially referred to as the purple marsh crab. This was of particular interest to me on this adventure of morbidity because we had just read about these adorable little creatures who, as it turns out, are a large cause of loss of S. Alterniflora in higher marsh zones. I must admit that I was quite pleased with my finding. These crabs are nocturnal, which is why despite our best attempts these past few days to poke them out of every marsh hole my team happened to literally and figuratively stumble across, we found nothing. I only happened upon a solitary crab, so I do not fear any cause for alarm in their population. It just makes me think maybe I should change my name to Thanatos. As a final point, I feel it necessary to add that for such a small decapod it carried a large stink.

Invasive Species?

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This week, I spent some time learning what it’s like to be a shellfisher. I spent about 2 hours shucking the meat out of scallop shells. I then had to clean and dry the shells for lab testing, only to be advised after completing my Herculean task that I would further have to clean the shells (as well as all the other samples I collect) again at the lab. Apparently this was a preliminary cleaning. Through my labor I learned something of great interest. I found a total of three small crabs inside the scallops. At first this scared me, until I realized that these crabs were dead and their pincers weren’t large enough to inflict any damage. Thanks, evolution! Anyway, I now feel the need to investigate the possible symbiosis between scallops and crabs, if one exists. Maybe these crabs had crawled into the shells after they had been dredged. The possibilities are endless!

Sunday, the Week in the Rearview

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Here we sit, late Sunday night, yet again at the tail end of a storm. Apparently we angered Aeolus and have brought unfavorable winds and weather with us. But this has not hindered our learning. This week was the start of hydrology for us, which was appropriately set back a day by last week’s storm. Friday afternoon we actually got a tour of the island from Mark Willett of the Wannacomet Water Company. He showed us water towers, and explained how they work, in addition to showing us Miacomet Pond. Army Engineers used to open up Miacomet into the ocean in an effort to “filter out” the pond when it got too dirty. The pond is no longer opened into the ocean though. Coincidentally, the ocean temperature at that location was around 41F. This was a really interesting look at the island because it was from a vantage point we haven’t really gotten before. Mark showed us how to look at the island’s water supply and think about how to use it without impacting it on an irreparable level. The shellfish team and I also had a meeting regarding the branding of the NBS this week which has been a big leap in my project. I have my work cut out for me, but it’s going to be a fun and educational challenge.

 

Thoughts during a storm

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Firstly, I suppose that I should introduce myself. My name is Richie Corrado. I’m in my second semester for my BS in EEOS. We’ve been on island for about two and a half weeks, and the time here has been amazing. We just wrapped up Ecopoetics with Len Germinara, and I have to say it was one of the best English classes I’ve ever had, and believe me I’ve had quite a few. Len gave us an interesting perspective on how to express our thoughts and emotions on nature, the island, and life in general from a different angle, one that I’ve never seen before. I look forward to running into Len and possibly writing some more for the rest of our time on island. Yesterday evening, I attended the Shellfish Advisory Board meeting with Sophia and Ashley. It was a great opportunity to look firsthand at what some of the issues we will be facing are, and really helped to show us specific areas of concern that we might not have thought of otherwise. We have our work cut out for us, but it’s a welcomed challenge, as long as we can get through this storm!