Department of Natural Resources Boat Data Collection
On April 18, 2019 at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on James Island, SC, from the time of 12:30pm to 3:00pm (2 1/2 hours). I made observations through the iNaturalist app and posted them to my account. Having already been out to the Grice Marine Laboratory, which is also located on James Island near the DNR, I had a general knowledge of some of the species that lived in the Charleston harbor. While I had a general understanding of inhabiting species, I wasn't able to fully immerse myself into the environment, that of which I was able to do with the DNR boat ride. On that Thursday, it was sunny with a temperature of 79 degrees. While it may seem like it was unbearably hot, it was actual cool due to the breeze blowing throughout the harbor. Being on the boat, the goal was to cast out a weighted net, much larger than the one used at Grice, and observe and identify what would be brought up. The net was controlled by "doors," two wooden planks that would open and close net. Before pulling up the net and viewing what was caught, it was made clear that any shrimp or squid caught was to be kept and collected for specimens located at the research facility back on James Island. From that point on, I did what was requested in regards to any shrimp or squid caught and began identifying the marine life found in the Charleston harbor.
The net was thrown out multiple times but each collection was differentiated by the area that it was done. That being said, the trip was divided into two sections, the "muddy" area and the "coral" area. These two sections refer to the areas of the harbor where there is typically more sediment or mud, and typically more hard rock-like structures, or coral. The first net casting was in the "muddy" area and brought up a lot of different marine life such as brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus), Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), spot croaker (Leiostomus xanthurus), windowpane flounder (Scophtalmus aquosus), and searobins (Triglidae). From these many sea creatures that I identified only my observation of the spot croaker and windowpane flounder was deemed research grade. Out of all of the animals found during this catch, the brown shrimp was the most interesting. While shrimp doesn't seem like an exciting animal, it's quite the contrary. The brown shrimp is a species of marine penaeid shrimps found around the east coast of the USA and Mexico. They are an important commercial species in the USA. From the image of the brown shrimp, you can notice its substantially large size, this is due to the fact that Charleston didn't experience a cold winter. Due to this fact, the shrimp were able to continue to feed and grow, that of which resulted in larger shrimp.
While the net casting in the "muddy" area was productive, the catch in the "coral" area was even more interesting. From this area there were a lot of diverse species caught such as striped burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfii), ocellated flounder (Ancylopsetta ommata), common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), northern puffer (Sphoeroides maculatus), tounguefish (Cynoglossidae), Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), Atlantic sea pork (Aplidium stellatum), mantis shrimp (Subclass hoplocarida), and a common sea star (Asterias rubens). In addition to this, while not necessarily caught from the net, I observed a laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) and a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). From my identifications, those of the striped burrfish, ocellated flounder, northern puffer, Atlantic horseshoe crab, laughing gull, Atlantic sea pork, and brown pelican were all deemed research grade observations. Out of all my observations from the area, the northern puffer was the most interesting. The northern puffer is a species in the family of pufferfishes, found along the Atlantic coast. Unlike many other pufferfish species, the flesh of the northern puffer is not poisonous, making them edible and a delicacy in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Overall, the DNR boat experience was like no other. I was able to gain a better understanding of the marine life that lives in the waters of the Charleston harbor. The are proves to be a home for a lot of plant and animal diversity. From the net castings, not only was I able to identify species of animals but I was also able to observe how the difference of areas in the harbor affects the species found and collected.
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