Hatchery field day at Point Whitney May 16 2024
This post details activities at Point Whitney from 16 May 2024 trip.
Overview
Today I went at Point Whitney to check on projects, receive new oysters from the USDA, and conduct weekly stressors.
To do list for today
- Take weekly pH/temp/salinity measurements
- Pulse feed all tanks
- Take fluorometry measurements
- Conduct 30 min heat stress
- Conduct 30 min fresh water stress
- Receive new adult oysters and put in a tank
- Clean all tanks
- Collect growth meausurements for all LCO oysters
- Check Apex profiles
Take pH/temp/conductivity measurements
I took pH (NBS scale), temperature (°C), and conductivity measurements (psu) in the left, middle, and right tanks as well as the trays outside. Measurements are in notebook images below.
Here are measurements from this week and last week:
| tank | date | time | temp.C | pH.nbs | sal.psu | initials | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| left | 5/6/24 | 13:40 | 15.8 | 8.14 | 29.84 | ash | Orion Star A325; calibrated pH with nbs and conductivity with standards today; pH slope =100.9%; avg cell cal conducitivity = 0.487 |
| middle | 5/6/24 | 13:40 | 14.5 | 8.16 | 29.74 | ash | |
| right | 5/6/24 | 13:40 | 14.5 | 8.18 | 29.8 | ash | |
| outdoor_tray | 5/6/24 | 13:40 | 12.4 | 7.89 | 29.02 | ash | |
| left | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15.3 | 8.17 | 29.99 | ash | tank |
| left | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15.5 | 8.11 | 29.82 | ash | silo |
| left | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15.5 | 8.11 | 29.6 | ash | silo |
| middle | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 14.6 | 8.12 | 29.83 | ash | tank |
| middle | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 14.5 | 8.1 | 29.87 | ash | silo |
| middle | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 14.5 | 8.16 | 29.92 | ash | silo |
| right | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15 | 8.16 | 29.83 | ash | tank |
| right | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15.2 | 8.09 | 29.93 | ash | silo |
| right | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 15 | 8.18 | 29.85 | ash | silo |
| outdoor_tray | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 16.6 | 7.75 | 29.06 | ash | large POGS |
| outdoor_tray | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 16.6 | 7.72 | 29.05 | ash | large POGS |
| outdoor_tray | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 16.9 | 7.83 | 29.82 | ash | small POGS |
| outdoor_tray | 5/16/24 | 11:30 | 17 | 7.88 | 28.88 | ash | small POGS |
Pulse feed all tanks
I added about 1/3 of a 5 gallon bucket to each tank for pulse feeding. I also filled the feed reservoir tank.
Take fluorometry measurements
I took fluorometry measurements before and after pulse feeding. Measurements are below in the notebook images. Measurements were about 1-4 before feeding and 80-120 afterwards.
Conduct 30 min stressors: fresh water and temperature stress
I conducted 30 minute stress exposures of the following groups:
- Large POGS 2023 seed fresh water - fresh water for 30 min
- Large POGS 2023 seed temperature - 25 °C for 30 min
- Small POGS 2023 seed temperature (2 trays) - 25 °C for 30 min
These exposures were done as we have in previous weeks. Animals were exposed to stress for 30 minutes. Fresh water exposure was done in a bucket filled with fresh water. I took salinity and temp and pH measurements during these stressors with values below in notebook images.
Trays were then returned outside and bags were put back in their respective trays.
Here are the measurements from the stress conditions:
| tank | date | temp.C | pH.nbs | sal.psu | initials | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fresh stress | 5/16/24 | 13.9 | 8.51 | 0.057 | ash | |
| temp stress | 5/16/24 | 22.0 | 7.62 | 29.35 | ash |
Receive new adults from USDA POGS program
We received 20 adults from each of 5 families (100 total animals) from the USDA today. Here are images and the family identifying numbers. All were large and healthy, about 100-180 mm in length. I put two bags in the left tank and 3 in the middle tank.
Here are some images of the families with a size scale for reference.
Imported with shellfish permit (WDFW) 24-3073.
Here is the information from Neil on stock selection.
Families were randomly chosen from the OSU molluscan broodstock program Cohort 27. Families are :”27_009”, “27_025”, “27_039”, “27_052”, “27_014”. 20 oysters per family will be sent to UW.
Estimated breeding values are for Tomales Bay field survival (low value = predicted poor performing). Additive relationship values (a_val) represent twice the inbreeding coefficient of offspring when the two families are mated. All families can be mated with each other without significant concern for inbreeding effects.
| fam_1 | fam_2 | a_val | ebv1 | ebv2 | ebv_mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27_009 | 27_014 | 0.0493164 | -0.2889117 | -0.1554662 | -0.2221890 |
| 27_009 | 27_039 | 0.0498047 | -0.2889117 | 0.0401442 | -0.1243838 |
| 27_009 | 27_025 | 0.0876465 | -0.2889117 | 0.1606434 | -0.0641342 |
| 27_014 | 27_039 | 0.0185547 | -0.1554662 | 0.0401442 | -0.0576610 |
| 27_014 | 27_025 | 0.0854492 | -0.1554662 | 0.1606434 | 0.0025886 |
| 27_009 | 27_052 | 0.0476074 | -0.2889117 | 0.3082037 | 0.0096460 |
| 27_014 | 27_052 | 0.1313477 | -0.1554662 | 0.3082037 | 0.0763688 |
| 27_025 | 27_039 | 0.0981445 | 0.1606434 | 0.0401442 | 0.1003938 |
| 27_039 | 27_052 | 0.0493164 | 0.0401442 | 0.3082037 | 0.1741740 |
| 27_025 | 27_052 | 0.1008301 | 0.1606434 | 0.3082037 | 0.2344236 |
Clean tanks
I drained and rinsed all tanks from 12:30-13:30. After cleaning I rinsed all of the oysters in bags and silos. I also thoroughly cleaned the new adults. Everyone was added back in the tanks at about 14:00. I added more food again after cleaning (about 1/3 bucket per tank).
Check Apex profiles
Temperature profiles look good - Apex and heaters working as expected.
LCO growth
I took all LCO growth measurements and will enter them on the LCO GitHub. I took images of the spat that I will analyze via ImageJ.
Notebook images
To do
- Enter weekly measurements on GitHub and set up scripts to analyze these
- Enter and analyze this round of LCO growth measurements
- Prepare experimental design for survivorship curves
- Prepare experimental design for outplanting
- Prepare experimental design for spawning and larval work
- Prepare experimental design for next round of seed
- Receive next round of USDA seed in early June