Alaska SeaLife Center Partners to Monitor Marine Invaders

Posted on: June 16, 2009 | Todd Rennie | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:

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NEWS FROM THE ALASKA SEALIFE CENTER

The Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) recently received an Alaska Coastal Marine Resources Grant through the National Park Service Alaska Region to launch a marine non-indigenous species monitoring program in Resurrection Bay. The program also supports a complementary education curriculum.

“Non-indigenous species” are plant or animal species typically introduced by humans into a habitat outside of their natural, historic range of distribution. Those that cause economic, ecological, or environmental harm are termed “invasive species.” Species of specific concern to the Resurrection Bay project are the European green crab and several varieties of tunicates.

The European green crab is native to the Atlantic coastal waters of North Africa and Europe, but its tolerance for a broad spectrum of temperatures and salinities make it adept at wide range survival and ideally suited to act as an invasive species. Green crabs can prey on or out-compete local species for resources, resulting in the destruction or dramatic decline of native populations of commercially important bivalves and crustaceans in Alaska and other regions. Invasions can also impact shorebird populations that have a diet similar to what green crabs eat.

Twenty-four crab traps will be placed in the Seward harbor area. Throughout the school year, student groups will regularly monitor green crab collection sites and record data such as species observed, water temperature, and salinity. The information will then be uploaded to internet based databases. This opportunity will expose students to scientific fieldwork while monitoring for threatening species. Matt Gray and the staff at Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance, will alternately deploy traps and collect samples with ASLC staff and local school classes.

Tunicates are small, filter-feeding invertebrates commonly called “sea squirts.” They are known as fouling organisms, which means they grow on hard substrates like rocks, boulders, and gravel as well as artificial substrates like boat hulls, docks, pilings, and aquaculture equipment. Alaska has a number of native tunicate species, but invasive tunicates in large numbers can out-compete or suffocate native filter feeding bivalves like oysters and mussels. They are also destructive to the marine industrial or recreational equipment upon which they settle.

Tunicate sampling will be conducted with a network of participants across Alaska, overseen by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Tunicate sampling plates are simply 5 inch squared PVC plating attached to masonry bricks via zip ties. The weighted plates are then suspended to floating docks, where tunicates and other small invertebrates can settle. Keep an eye out for them roped to the ends of float docks in the harbor.

“We’re grateful to Harbormaster Kari Anderson for helping to select the best possible sampling sites in and around Seward Harbor and in getting the word out to its users,” said Howard Ferren, director of conservation at the Alaska SeaLife Center. “And we also thank Peter Armato of the National Park Service for securing funding to develop exhibits highlighting the threat of invasive marine species while advising the public of specific, regional threat species and proper courses of action.

The project is a collaboration of the Alaska SeaLife Center, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve (KBRR), Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance, City of Seward Harbormaster Kari Anderson, and Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD) teachers Carlyn Nichols and Robert Barnwell.

If you have any questions about the marine invasive species program, please contact Howard Ferren, ASLC Director of Conservation, at howard_ferren@alaskasealife.org.

For additional information or to arrange interviews, contact:
amy_haddow@alaskasealife.org
Phone: 907-224-6304, Fax: 907-224-6360

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The Alaska SeaLife Center is a charitable, non-profit marine science facility dedicated to understanding and maintaining the integrity of the marine ecosystem of Alaska through research, rehabilitation and public education. The Center’s research facilities and naturalistic exhibits immerse visitors in the dynamic marine ecosystems of Alaska. The Center is currently open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Learn more at http://www.alaskasealife.org.

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