Marine Biology and Ecology Field Course
MSL 450 & 651
Instructor: Katrin Iken
Duration: 4 weeks during summer (21 May-15 June 2017)
Location: Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, Kachemak Bay, AK
Credits: 4 credits
Description:
This 4-week field course held at the Kasitsna Bay Marine Lab (Kachemak Bay) aims at
the advanced understanding of marine organisms in an ecological and evolutionary
context. This course includes daily field trips to different intertidal habitats in the vicinity
of the laboratory, such as rocky intertidal, mudflats, salt marshes, and seagrass beds. A
Boston Whaler is used for some larger-gear sampling in Kachemak Bay, a rubber skiff is
used for exploration of local sites. Emphasis is on familiarization with Alaska’s nearshore
flora and fauna, the ecological function of organisms, and on ecosystem dynamics.
Sampling includes collection and identification of macroalgae, invertebrates and plankton
and relating their anatomical organization to habitat, lifestyle and ecology. Students
employ different field sampling techniques and experimental designs in the various
habitats found around the Kasitsna Bay Marine Lab. Field experiments and collections
are supplemented with lectures on habitat types and organism groups as well as by lab
sessions. This class is taught on the undergraduate and graduate level, graduate students
will perform a research project related to the course subject matter, including a proposal,
a report, and a presentation of the project results.
Assignments:
Graduate credit:
Graduate-level students are expected to develop a project during the first week of class. A
written, 2-page proposal has to be turned in by the due date. During the second part of the
class, time is allowed for students to work on their projects with the assistance of
undergraduate students. Graduate-level students are expected to analyze project data and
to write up a paper/report from the study and turn it in by the due date. A presentation
about the project and results is required.
Schedule:
Arrival at lab: 20 May afternoon/evening
Start of class: 21 May morning
Last day of class: 15 June (final and clean-up)
Departure: 16 June morning
Prerequisite
College course in Biology or Ecology, or permission of instructor
Required Books
“Whelks to Whales” 2nd ed. by Rick M. Harbo, Harbour Publishing, ISBN:
9781550174915
If you have other ID books or an invertebrate zoology book, please bring it,. Several will
be provided by the instructor in addition to lecture notes. for the class is:
Grading
Undergraduates: Letter grade based on one midterm (20%) and one final grades (30%) as
well as participation and performance in lectures (5%), field trips (20%) and lab sessions
(25%).
Graduates: Letter grade based on one midterm (20%) and one final grades (30%) as well
as participation and performance in field trips (15%), lab sessions (15%) and individual
project (20%).
Attendance of all class parts is required unless absence is previously discussed and
agreed upon with instructor.
Grades are not plus/minus grades. Grading scale:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F <59
Support and Disability Services
The Office of Disability Services (203 WHIT 474-7043) implements the Americans with
Disabilities Act and insures that UAF students have equal access to the campus and
course materials. Students with disabilities can be assured that they will be provided with
reasonable accommodation.
Facilities at the lab are disability accessible. The classes include field trips, which are
essential, non-replaceable components of the classes. However, field excursions into the
intertidal region of Kachemak Bay will require students to walk over uneven substrate or
be in small boats for several hours.
Schedule:
date
day
21-May Sun
time
9:00 AM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
22-May Mon
6:00 AM
11:00 PM
4:00 PM
23-May Tue
6:00 AM
11:00 AM
2:00 PM
24-May Wed
6:30 AM
11:00 AM
2:00 PM
25-May Thu
26-May Fri
27-May Sat
28-May Sun
activity
Boating 101
lecture: Phylogeny
lecture: Seagrass
field destination
Kasitsna Bay
2 SKIFFS
field: sponge collections ,
seagrass counts, core collections
lecture: Sponges
lab: Seagrass, Sponges
Lecture: Rocky Intertidal
Jakolof Bay
2 TRUCKS
6:31
1.2
Camel Rock
7:20
-1.1
8:08
-3.2
8:52
-4.9
9:37
-5.8
10:23
-5.9
11:10
-5.2
Elephant Island
2 SKIFFS
11:59
-3.9
Sadie Cove
Whaler - Hans/Mike
12:51
-2.1
1:49
-0.3
field: algal collections, sea star wasting
transect
Lecture: Macroalgae
lab: brown algae, green algae
pressings and ID
field: Cnidaria collections, sea star wasting
transect
lecture: Cnidaria
Lab: red algae, pressings and ID
tide time
Low tide
2 TRUCKS
Hesketh Island
2 SKIFFS
7:00 AM
field: zonation patterns, algal review, sea star
Outside Beach
wasting transect
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
lecture: Ctenophora
field : Cnidaria collection
field : Cnidaria external and dissection
2 TRUCKS
Jakolof Dock
7:30 AM
field: Sanddollar, echiuran, polychaete
collection
McDonald Spit/
Elephant/ Anisom
Pt
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
3:00 PM
lecture: Nemerteans, Nematodes
lecture: Echiura, Sipuncula, Priapula
lab: Echiura, Sipuncula dissection
2 SKIFFS
9:00 AM
field: crab, ophiuroid collections, sea star
wasting transect
1:00 PM
3:00 PM
5:00 PM
lecture: sampling design
lecture: Polychaeta
lab: polychaetes external and dissection
9:00 AM
field: clam, urchin, cucumber collections,
Gulf Watch clam collection, sea star wasting China Poot
transect
Little Tutka
2 SKIFFS
Whaler - Hans/Mike
29-May Mon
2:00 PM
lab: sort and measure clams, enter clam and
sanddollar data
9:00 AM
lecture: Gulf Watch Program
2:00 PM
field: Gulf Watch Sampling - zonation, Gulf
Watch clam collection, sea star wasting
transect
30-May Tue
9:00 AM
10:30 PM
PM
31-May Wed
all day
1-Jun Thurs
9:00 AM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
lecture: salt marsh
field: salt marsh counts
study time
study time, proposal writing time
MIDTERM
Student proposals due
bird watching, Homer visit
Gull Island
Whaler - Hans/Mike
date
day
2-Jun Fri
activity
FREE TIME, RELAX
time
9:00 AM
11:00 AM
2:00 PM
lecture: Plankton
field: plankton, physical measurements
lab: plankton identifications
4-Jun Sun
9:00 AM
11:00 PM
2:00 PM
lecture: Mollusca 1
lab: Chitons, limpets dissections
lab: gastropods external and dissections
5-Jun Fri
9:00 AM
11:00 AM
3:00 PM
lecture: Mollusca 2
field: trawling
lab: bivalves external and dissections
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
field: grabs
lab: inspect grab catches
4:00 PM
analyze seagrass, salt marsh, sand dollar
data
present data analysis results
7-Jun Sun
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
4:00 PM
lecture: Crustacea
lab: Crustacea external and dissection
meet to discuss field projects
8-Jun Mon
7:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
4:00 PM
field: sampling technique comparison
lecture: Bryozoa
lab: Bryozoa external
analyze sampling technique data
9-Jun Tues
AM
1:00 PM
3:00 PM
AM
2:00 PM
4:00 PM
3-Jun Sat
6-Jun Sat
10-Jun Wed
field destination
tide time
Low tide
Jakolof Bay
2 SKIFFS
Tutka Bay, Kachemak Bay
Munson - Hans/Mike
7:39
0.4
8:15
-0.6
Elephant Isl
2 SKIFFS
8:49
-1.3
field: project work
lecture: Echinodermata 1
lab: Asteroidea external and dissection
TBD
(skiffs/trucks)
9:22
-1.8
field: project work
lecture: Echinodermata 2
lab: Ophiuroidea, Echinoidea external
TBD
(skiffs/trucks)
9:55
-2.0
Kachemak Bay
Munson - Hans/Mike
11-Jun Thur
AM field: project work
3:00 PM lab: Holothuroidea external and dissections
TBD
(skiffs/trucks)
10:29
-1.9
12-Jun Fri
AM field: project work
3:00 AM lecture: Urochordata
4:00 PM lab: Ascideacea external
TBD
(skiffs/trucks)
11:03
-1.5
11:40
-0.9
13-Jun Sat
all day work on projects, analyze data, study
14-Jun Sun
AM work on projects, analyze data, study
2:00 PM present project, project reports due
15-Jun Mon
9:00 AM FINAL
PM clean, good-bye dinner/leave
16-Jun Tues lastest in AM leave
Detail information on the class
Arrival: Arrival day is 20 May, preferably in the afternoon or early evening. Please let
me know your arrival date and time. The lab will be occupied before that, so please don’t
plan on coming earlier than the 20th.
You are responsible for your own transportation to the lab. The best way to get to the lab
is to get to Homer (either fly with Era Aviation from Anchorage or drive there). From
Homer you can take a water taxi over to the lab. The taxi we usually use is Mako’s Water
Taxi, (907) 235-9055, but there are a few others you can use. I believe Mako charges
~$75 RT (mention that you are with the lab), which is pretty much the range that you will
look at with other options, too. He will drop you off right at the lab. It may be good to
coordinate the trips of multiple people with Mako so he doesn’t have to drive too many
times (they will try to pool trips anyway). There is also plane service going from Homer
to Seldovia, either with Homer Air or with Smokey Bay Air. If you decide to fly, you
need to let me know since I would need to try to arrange a pick up for you in Seldovia.
The third option is the ferry between Homer and Seldovia, which does not go every day.
This would allow you to bring your car over if you don’t want to leave it in Homer for
the time of the field class. You cannot leave your car for an extended time at the Homer
Spit, so you would have to arrange to park elsewhere and then take a cab to the spit.
Departure: You should plan on leaving the lab latest on the morning of 16 June, or you
can leave the late afternoon/evening of 15 June, but not before not everything in the lab
has been cleaned and packed. There will be a final plus cleaning the lab and dorm space
on 15 June, so plan on being there through most of that day. Do not plan on staying at the
lab past 16 June since there will be other groups arriving and needing the space.
Class content: The emphasis of the class is on marine organisms and on where and how
they live in the marine environment. We will be looking mainly at macroalgae and
invertebrates, at both of them in quite some detail since they are in many aspects making
up the bulk part of nearshore marine ecosystems. We will try to look at organisms in an
ecological context and understand their role in different ecosystem types but also the way
they function in these ecosystems. The Kasitsna Bay lab is located on the south side of
Kachemak Bay where rocky shores and gravel beaches dominate. But we also find
seagrass beds, salt marshes, and mudflats.
The class consists of mainly four parts: First, we will go out nearly every day to a site and
look at the organisms we find, what they are and where they live, practice sampling
techniques, etc. The second part is a lecture on either one of the ecosystem types or an
organism group. The third is to bring some organisms back to the lab and look at them in
more detail. This will also include dissections of invertebrates to see and understand their
internal organization. The last but not least is to enjoy and have fun while we learn
something! Now some more details about these parts:
Field trips: The lab has several rubber skiffs, which we will use most of the times to go
out for our trips. To some places we go by truck or use the larger Boston whaler. During
the first days we will go over boating and how to use these skiffs, everybody (unless you
explicitly state that you don’t want to for a good reason) will get a boating lesson so that
everybody will be familiar on how to operate them. You will have to pass an online
boating class before you come to the lab and bring your printed certificate. Many
boating safety courses can be applied. One specific for Alaska is located at
https://www.boat-ed.com/alaska/. If you have a boating certificate from a different state,
please bring that – it does not have to be specific for Alaska.
We will go to the intertidal sites during low tide. Be aware that this often means getting
up very early because low tides may be early. Bring your alarm clock! In the intertidal we
will look for certain groups of organisms, look at distribution patterns, do quantifications,
etc. We will also collect selected organisms and take them back to the lab. We will start
to make an “organism” list with the more abundant organisms and I will ask you to learn
the names of these organisms. We will repeat them often in the field, so it will be actually
quite easy to start learning these names. We will also do some non-intertidal work. We
will do some plankton tows, some benthic trawls, benthic grabs, and some bird watching
(bring your binoculars).
Lectures: Most days we will have a lecture, maybe even two. These will either cover an
ecosystem or an organism group. These lectures will be the background for the
dissections during lab work. Lecture notes will be provided to you.
Lab work: Lab work will usually deal with an organism group that we covered in lecture
and the field trips. There will be dissections of many invertebrate organisms to see their
internal organization and to better understand how they feed, excrete, reproduce, respire,
move, etc. In most cases everybody will do their own dissections but occasionally we will
share organisms (we do not want to take too many of any rare ones). I will ask you to
make drawings of your dissections, so please bring an unlined notebook.
Projects: Graduate students (enrolled in MSL651) will have to do an independent project
during the second half of the class. You will have to come up with an idea, write a small
proposal about the rationale and hypotheses and objectives (due on 1 June), do the project
in the field or lab, and then write a short report about your findings and give a short
presentation to everybody else (14 June).
What do you need to bring:
Field trips:

good rain gear (pants and jacket)

hip boots or waders (some places are not accessible without at least hip
waders, the sturdier the better!!! Rocks are sharp!!!)

sometimes knee boots may be useful, but it is ok if you don’t have those, we can
use hip waders all the time

hat or cap (for cold weather, rain and sun)

bring layers of cloths instead of just one really thick sweater

gloves for cold weather

optional: rubber gloves for intertidal work (some people get really cold hands and
fingers, it may be good to have some rubber gloves: You can either buy large
dishwashing gloves and use them with a pair of liners underneath, or you can get
some lined rubber gloves, which are more durable but more expensive. Or you can
ignore cold fingers and don’t use gloves)
Lectures:

lecture note print-outs will be provided
Lab work:

Notebook with white (unlined) paper for drawings and sketches

Several pencils

Eraser

Dissecting kit (they can be bought in university book stores or ordered online, they
usually are ~$15). You need at least a scalpel with several blades, dissecting scissors,
forceps.
Books:
There is one book required for this class:
“Whelks to Whales” by Rick M. HarboHarbour Publishing, ISBN: 1-55017-183-6
It is a “picture ID book”, which is not exactly for our region but there is decent overlap
and I find it a pretty useful book to have for IDs.
An algal ID book that is very useful is:
“Field Guide to Seaweeds of Alaska” by Lindeberg and Lindstrom, SeaGrant Alaska
ISBN: 978-1-56612-156-9
I will have several of those available, but if this is a topic that interests you, this is a good
book to have
A second book that would be useful is an invert zoology book. I don’t require it since
there are several at the lab you can use. If you have one, you can bring it but may not
really be needed. The one the lectures will be based on mostly is the following:
“”Invertebrate Zoology” by Ruppert and Barnes, Thomson Learning, 6th edition,
ISBN: 0-03-026668-8
If you have an older version of this book, or another invertebrate zoology book, than that
will work just as fine.
Housing:
We will be located at the dorm at the lab. Rooms are shared with 2-3 people. There are
linens, towels and blankets, so you don’t need to bring any of this, unless you prefer to
sleep in your own sleeping bag. There also are washer and dryers; we will provide
detergent as only liquid detergents are allowed.
Food: We will bring food to the lab for you. There is no store close to the lab to buy
anything. When we run out of veggies and fruit, we will have to do without them (i.e.
work with frozen stuff). Please be aware of this as people always complain about it. If
you want to make sure you get specific vitamins, you may want to think about bringing
pills. Once in a while there will be the opportunity to get fresh food from Homer but it
will be irregular and you cannot count on it at a certain time. Don’t worry, nobody has
starved there yet, there will be enough food around and it will be pretty great. I will need
to know from all of you if you have any special dietary needs or constraints. We try to
accommodate as much as we can, but if there are very special things (or vices…) you
need to bring them yourself. Please send me an e-mail with information on:
a. Do you eat meat? If yes, what kind (white, red, chicken).
b. Are you lactose intolerant?
c. Any other food issues/allergies I should know about?
d. Are you eating/drinking lots of a particular item? (Just as an example, some
years we have people who drink about half a gallon of milk every day – I
need to know this so I can plan – or let you know to bring your own)
If you don’t answer to this information request, I don’t want to hear any complaints about
the food! ;-)
We will take turns in cooking in the evenings, so be prepared to get out your cooking
skills, but don’t plan on fancy dishes because we may not have those supplies. Pasta with
sauce should be a regular dinner item; we just need somebody to be responsible every
day!
Entertainment:
Class will usually go to late afternoon. There will usually be joint dinners. The lab is very
remote from everything else, so there is no town or movie theatre nearby. You can go for
walks, runs and hikes, but be aware that there are black bear in the region. Bring books to
read, DVDs to watch on your laptop, or games to play.
Diving is NOT part of the class. If you are an AAUS-certified diver and want to dive
during the time we are at the lab, you need to let me know well in advance. You will be
responsible to bring all your own gear. Any diving activity will strictly be outside of class
time and only if you let me know in advance so I can put you on a dive plan.
On Thursday, 1 June, we will go for a bird watching trip after the midterm. After that, we
will stop in Homer for supplies or you can go out to eat or shop. Friday, 2 June is a free
day. You can spend it at the lab, or you can stay in Homer on Thursday and then come
back on your own on Friday. Please note that you cannot have friends come and stay at
the lab. If you plan on camping or fishing (with license), you need to bring your own
gear.
Contacting the lab:
Since most people have cell phones by now, contacting you will likely not be much of an
issue. They work in the general vicinity of the lab.
If you need things sent to you while at the lab, the mailing address is:
Kasitsna Bay Lab
Drawer G
Seldovia AK 99663
The lab has wireless internet, but the connection can be slow and we do not allow any
streaming. Please use the internet solely for e-mail, literature searches for your proposal
etc.