Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to anthropogenic influences due to increased stresses from climate change and habitat destruction. Fish farming, aquaculture, and the pollutants of antibiotics and organic matter produced by them are one influence that has been observed to affect local marine wildlife leading to increased resistance to bacterial pathogens and increased algae cover. Rocky Intertidal Zones of the Pacific Northwest are environments that are under intense thermal and desiccation stresses. The unique organisms that inhabit these areas have adapted to live under these high stress conditions. I researched the effects of fish farms and oyster farms on the health of rocky intertidal communities, by quantifying shifts in species richness and biodiversity, near the aquaculture sites. The research took place in Barkley Sound between January 26th and February 2nd in 2013 on rocky beaches near fish farms, oyster farms, and control sites away from aquaculture locations. Ecosystem health was determined by evaluating species richness, bio diversity, and presence of keystone predator, Pisaster ochraceus, using standard quadrant surveys. I collected water samples for Solid Phase Extraction and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry to determine concentrations of anthropogenic antibiotics released from fish farms. I hypothesized that the presence of antibiotics will decrease biodiversity and species richness in rocky intertidal communities. Determining what effect and how strong of an impact these influences have on the environment may help define future environmental policies and fish farming protocols.

Exploration of the geological structure of the seafloor is dependent upon acquiring accurate bathymetric data which includes representation of not only depth, but also a characterization of the acoustic backscatter due to absorption by the seafloor. Calibration of the Multibeam Echo Sounder system (MBES) used to acquire these data while the vessel experiences movement in heave, pitch, and roll, provides for accurate and comparative data between vessels and over time. This research investigates the use of the calibration methodology available with new post-processing sonar software prior to data acquisition. A patch test was conducted off the coast of Washington in early 2013 aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson using the Kongsberg EM302 multibeam sonar.  The data obtained from this patch test were used as a case study.  The new post-processing software is predicted to provide a more accurate bathymetric surface representation after the calibration method is performed.  Results and recommendation from the calibration test are presented.

With sea level projected to rise by as much as 2 meters by 2100, understanding historical sea level rise is imperative. This increase in sea level has the potential to displace up to 187 million people globally. Damages will exceed into the billions of dollars and the safety of coastal communities will be at great risk. Improved knowledge of historic sea level rise will significantly help reduce these potential losses. This project reconstructed sea level rise along the continental shelf since the last glacial maximum. Multibeam echo sounder (MBES) was used along with a subbottom profiler to reconstruct a continental shelf boundary adjacent to the coast. Transect lines were composed parallel to each other from 90 to 120 meters using MBES and a subbottom profiler to acquire measurements of the seafloor. These remotely sensed estimates of depth have provided evidence of a lowstand level as well as historic shorelines since the last glacial maximum. As sea levels continue to rise, understanding the history is vital to making a long term forecast for the future. Having this information will provide some insight into the extent and durability of shoreline building processes that must take place. 

This project seeks to better understand climate change corollary to the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the tropical Pacific from the Little Ice Age (~AD 1400-1850) to the present using hydrogen isotopes as a proxy for climate change. During this time, the ITCZ is hypothesized to have reached its most southern location, the consequences of which were evident on a global scale. However, more research is needed to further investigate this hypothesis. Specifically, this study examines hydrogen isotope ratios of the source specific lipids Taraxerol and Dinosterol from Lake Escondido, Isabela Island, Galapagos. Lipids were solvent-extracted from sections of the cores, separated through silica gel columns, and the ratio of Deuterium and Hydrogen (δD) of specific lipids was quantified using a Gas Chromatograph-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer. The combined fluxes of both terrestrially and aquatically sourced δD ratios over time provide a proxy for climate change through the present. Due to the widespread effects of the ITCZ on global hydrology, understanding its movement, and what triggers migration, can provide insight into future climate scenarios.

With the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide, understanding the various facets of the carbon cycle is critical. In temperate coastal systems, the phytoplankton group of diatoms play a key role in the carbon cycle by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere into deep ocean sediments. Many scientists turn to laboratory culturing experiments to make predictions about the response of phytoplankton to changes in climate. But do these laboratory studies serve as realistic proxies for environmental responses? This study will compare growth rates of phytoplankton communities from Barkley Sound, British Columbia using field and laboratory experiments. Field experiments will comprise an in situ community growth rate measured using diffusion chambers in addition to on-ship incubations measuring the community growth rate in response to added nutrients. Field samples will be used to isolate the three dominant diatom species into a mixed-species culture for laboratory experiments. An analogous culture using laboratory isolates of the same species will be created, and the two cultures will be kept in a semi-continuous batch culture experiment tracking the growth rates in response to added nutrients. Comparisons of the growth rates in situ, shipboard, and in the laboratory will indicate how growth rates differ between natural phytoplankton assemblages and laboratory settings. Growth rates will be calculated using changes in chlorophyll a levels, a proxy for cell densities. If growth rates are much higher in the laboratory cultures than in the wild cultures, the implication is that there are limitations to growth in the natural environment that should be factored in when correlating laboratory experiments to the responses of natural phytoplankton assemblages. However, if there is no significant difference in growth rates between the experiments, then the laboratory conditions can provide similar conditions as in the field and laboratory culture experiments and can be easily used to predict environmental responses.

Diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic algae, or phytoplankton, and account for approximately 20% of global primary production. The pennate diatom Pseudo-nitzschia can produce a neurotoxin called domoic acid (DA) that bio-accumulates in the tissues of shellfish when this diatom blooms. DA poisoning causes life-threatening conditions in mammals and humans when these shellfish are ingested. Parameters such as shellfish exposure length and bloom toxicity can be found by understanding what regulates these diatom communities. One mechanism of bloom regulation that we know little about is that of viral infection, despite viruses being the most abundant predator in the ocean. After a toxic Pseudo-nitzschia bloom at Sunset Beach, Oregon was sampled in 2009, the first Pseudo-nitzschia infecting virus (PmDNAV) was isolated by infecting the host P. multiseries Clnn-16. I hypothesize that there are many different viruses that can infect the genus Pseudo-nitzschia in addition to the PmDNAV. Over the past year, I worked to isolate additional Pseudo-nitzschia viruses from three blooms collected in the Pacific Northwest: Penn Cove, Friday Harbor, and Sunset Beach, Oregon. I have identified potential viruses in 12 of 48 infection experiments using these bloom samples. Three strains of Pseudo-nitzschia: GGA2, GGA3, and GGB1, which represent the species P. multiseries and P. cingulata, were infected by putative viruses from two blooms, while many others were only infected by one or none. The data suggests that independent of species, certain strains of Pseudo-nitzschia are more permissive to viral infection than others. As well, in June 2012 I isolated seven new strains of Pseudo-nitzschia from Golden Gardens, WA. I genetically identified these strains by extracting DNA, running PCR, and sequencing the Internal Transcribed Spacer region. I will test these strains to determine how permissive they are, and how effective they will be to use as hosts when working to isolate new viruses.

Some species of dinoflagellates develop into dormant, spore-like structures known as ‘cysts’ that sink to the sediment as a part of their lifecycle. Causes of the production of cysts include changes in water temperature and nutrient concentrations as well as sexual reproduction. Studying the role of cysts as a means of proliferation and expansion of dinoflagellate populations is an important part of understanding their place within the ecosystem. The study of cysts can strengthen our understanding of how dinoflagellate blooms can affect other populations within an ecosystem through their functions as producers and consumers as well as their roles in the global carbon cycle. If the dominant species in these blooms is capable of producing toxins that are dangerous to humans and other organisms, predicting the location and density of the blooms is vital. This study investigates the differences in concentrations and diversity of dinoflagellate cysts within the shallow sediments among Effingham Inlet, Uchucklesit Inlet, and the head of Imperial Eagle Channel in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Sampling took place between January 22nd and February 3rd, 2013 aboard the University of Washington’s R/V Thomas G. Thompson. A comparison of the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages among the basins will be performed through the use of sediment cores, stains, and epifluorescence microscopy. The dinoflagellate cysts will be enumerated using a modified version of the method described by Yamaguchi et al. (1995). Previous studies have found variations in the composition of assemblages of dinoflagellate cysts within these basins that could be attributed to differing circulation patterns affecting the distributions and diversity of the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages. It is reasonable to hypothesize that these differences will be reflected in variations in the relative abundance and variety of cysts found in these locations.

Wildlife suffer from many ecological and biological consequences after an oil spill. The use of chemical surfactants to convert oil spills to small droplets has been the source of ongoing debate since little is known about the impacts they have on plants and animals in the ocean. Surfactants are a natural byproduct of many bacteria that are uniquely adapted to the marine environment. Our research assessed surfactant activity of cell free supernatants (CFS) from several cold-adapted bacteria using crude oil. We cultured various bacterial isolates under optimal growth conditions to ensure surfactant production was not missed. Exudates, the chemically benign “leftovers” containing the extracellular surfactants from the bacteria, were extracted from the cultures by gentle centrifugation before filtration of the supernatant through a membrane filter. The oil-spread assay was then used to determine surfactant activity from the exudates of several organisms. CFS was pipetted to the center of a small oil slick and surfactant strength was indicated by the amount of oil displaced. Some organisms with high surfactant ability were identified for further examination as candidates for environmentally viable alternatives to chemical dispersants.

The fact that hydrogen isotope deuterium/protium (D/H) ratios in algal lipids co-vary with their surrounding water D/H ratios is well established. Paleoclimatologists have taken advantage of this relationship in their compound-specific D/H analyses, but little is known about the individual environmental parameters, such as temperature, salinity, light levels, and nutrient concentrations that influence D/H fractionation, or the state of unequal isotope composition. Laboratory experiments conducted with batch cultured green algae, Eudorina unicocca and Volvox aureus, grown at temperatures of 15°C and 25°C suggest that there is increased fractionation with increased temperature. The work presented here aims to elucidate the magnitude of D/H fractionation in a natural population of algae where temperature is the primary environmental variable. To test this relationship, surface water was sampled from Lake Washington once a month for one year, with a surface temperature range from ~8°C in February to ~24°C in August. Phytoplankton were filtered from the water and lipids are extracted and analyzed by gas-chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) to determine the extent of D/H fractionation. We found that there was a positive correlation between temperature and D/H fractionation, in which fractionation increased with increasing temperature. The results from this research, as well as the results of similar experiments with other environmental parameters, will give paleoclimatologists accurate modern-day calibrations to apply to the analysis of lipids extracted from sediment cores in order to reveal climatic variations for the past.

Possession Sound is an estuarine system in Puget Sound’s northeast arm that is influenced by freshwater input from the Snohomish River. The Snohomish River carries sediments from upriver and deposits them in Possession Sound. Over the past three years, Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA) students have collected sediment samples at specific locations within Possession Sound that are analyzed by Everett Environmental Laboratory for concentrations of various heavy metals: mercury, zinc, copper, cadmium, lead, and arsenic. This area’s history of industrial development, including the Asarco Smelter in Everett 1900s, focused our attention on the lead and arsenic concentrations in Possession Sound. The purpose of this research is to discern any changes in concentrations of lead and arsenic observed at three stations within Possession Sound in the last three years. It was hypothesized that the station Buoy would experience greater fluctuations than the other two stations due to its proximity to the Snohomish River. The heavy metal concentrations are expected to be greater in the spring than during the other seasons because of increased river discharge from melting ice in the mountains, which results in increased stirring of benthic sediments. Dolphin 1 is a shallower location near Hat Island that is expected to have similar fluctuations that correlate with ice melt in the spring. Mukilteo is located farther south in Possession Sound, which would lead to a subtler influence from the Snohomish River, if any at all. Other factors that may impact the concentrations of lead and arsenic at Mukilteo include its proximity to the Mukilteo Ferry, a potential source of runoff containing toxins from human sources.