9 October 2011 Back in the Lab...

Journal

Back in the Lab

After the team returns from the dive with Dr. Stacy Kim's sampling. There is much work to be done. The process breaks down to three major steps:

Preservation of the cores
Still photo organization and analysis
Video organization and analysis

Preserving the Cores

First, we need to remember that Stacy is interested in studying the organisms that live in the sediment. She does not need all of that sediment, and so we use the same device (called a sieve) that Stephanie and Annamarie used to find the Capitella. Remember, a sieve separates the larger organisms from the tiny sediment particles.

Stacy samples — Stacy unloads the samples from the core rack. Why do you think we keep it in the cooler?

Stacy empties core — Stacy empties the cores onto the sieve.

core in sieve — The cores gets sieved, so that all the mud is separated from the animals that were living in the mud.

Stacy sieving — Dr. Stacy Kim sieves each of the cores.

core inside sieve — Here's the core when it first gets placed in the sieve.

Stacy then adds chemicals to these samples. Those chemicals keep the organisms from rotting and so she can send them to her colleague and they can analyze them for the number of organisms and different species found at each site.

Photo Analysis

The next step in the process is to download all of the still images to a computer. These images will be analyzed. You need to look at the image and count the number of organisms and identify what species they are.

A typical still photo taken during one of Dr. Stacy Kim's underwater surveys. (Photo courtesy of Stacy Kim)

At some dive sites, the photos are very easy to analyze.

typical still photo3 — Some have less going on in them and are easier to count. (Photo courtesy of Stacy Kim)

At some dive sites, the photos are a bit harder to analyze.

typical still photo2 — Some have a lot of different organisms in them and they're harder to count. (Photo courtesy of Stacy Kim)

Video Analysis

As with the photos, the first step is to download the video. The second step is to watch the three transects and to identify and count the organisms that you can see in the video images. It is not as easy as it might seem at first. Take a look....

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