Chris's Blog Post for 5/24 and 5/28/11

Aloha From The Magnificent LAIP Intern Team,

Here is my blog for 5/24/11 and 5/28/11. On Tuesday 5/24 we had a productive day in the sun
brushing loads of sediment off of Megsie's cages, placing small algal quadrats in them to collect data about the amount limu present. We also recorded the sediment content in each quadrat square and if there were spongy mangrove mats. In the first picture on the right side, Kirsten, Megsie, Arthur, and Sawako talk about our awesome discoveries while Judy, Leila, and Martin keep busy with cage brushing.

On Saturday 5/28 we had a good work out during the POH work time in the morning. There was a lot of rock lifting and terrific bonding with the pond 's volunteers and refreshing beauty. During the afternoon we had more fun conducting research in the pond's depths. In the second picture to the left, Megsie leads Martin, Sawako, and Leila to start their work. They used small quadrats in Megsie's cages to check algal cover. Their data collection also included sediment content and if mangrove mats were present.

On the other side of the pond, Sherril, Arthur, Kirsten, and Chris were busy at work. They did algal cover sampling with larger quadrats to measure biomass and took sediment cores to measure chlorphyll. In the top right picture, Sherril(our fearless boat driver), Arthur, and Kirsten get our field equipment ready for action. Chris, pictured at bottom left, works away at reporting the number of quadrat squares for each algae species. He also measured the canopy depth in each algae bunch and collected samples. Arthur, pictured at top left, rises from the thick sediment where he also used large quadrats to collect sediment samples for lab analysis.

That's all for now fishpond pioneers. More excitement to come soon!

Makawalu

May 7th, 2011

The first part of this day we had an awesome lesson from Aunty Donnie.

Makawalu: "8 eyes"; chiefly mana; infinite knowledge; multiple of 4s, lucky number.

Hawaiians have known 'infinite knowledge' way before they were even discovered. If you put your hand close to your face, thumb up, palm to the side, place your pinky on the horizon, you can tell what time it is. This is how the Hawaiians used to tell time. They even had names for the location of the sun relative to time. Every cloud, wind, and rain had a name.

In the Kumulipo, Hawaiians believed that there were 3 houses of knowledge:
1. Papahanaumoku
2. Papahulilani
3. Papahulihonua

Each of these houses of knowledge are all connected just like every element in life.


The second half of the day we went out into the pond and placed out the marker's for the MegsPEX cages (:

Cage Done, Cores Done, Everything Did

I am pleased to announce that the first bout of sampling is DONE! We took 66 infauna cores, 27 bead cores (each sectioned 10 times), and caught and measured upwards of 80 crabs. Thank you everyone for all your help with sampling, cage-building, and gathering preliminary data. I hope everyone is excited for the next round of sampling in July!

Pictures of working in the fishpond

Early Polynesian Founders

Rinsing Sediment Cores

Taking Sediment Cores

"Come on man, get in!"

Fishpond Water Transportation
5 dollars per person per circle

Taking cores in the fishpond

Hi everyone, I am so glad we set all our cages and no cages in the fishpond. Last week, we spreaded beads into certain cages and took sediment cores as well as bead cores from the cages and put them into the labelled bags.

In order to take a sediment core, we need a large plastic core and a cap used as a stopper. After we took a core, we need to set the sample core on a iron standing whose top part is a small rubber platform to push the sediment upward. As the sediment sample was pushed close to the edge of the core and all the water ran away, we put another 5-centimeter-high plastic ring on the upper edge of the core. When the sediment was pushed to the upper edge of the 5 cm ring, we use a small shuffle to cut through the space between the plastic ring and the core. Therefore, the top 5 centimeter sediment from the fishpond bottom was taken for lab analysis.

Another interesting experiment was the bead experiment. The bead is fine, white powder that is not dissolvible in the water. The purpose of this experiment is to test how deep infaunnas can burrow into the sediment. We take cores from the randomly selected position in the cages and take sediment samples from each centimeter and count the bead we can see. In order to minimize the inaccuracy, the bead must be spreaded evenly in each cage area. Later, we took cores just like we did for the sediment cores, and take samples from each centimeter depth and put them into labbeled bags. One thing about the sample is we have to measure the volume of the sediment by putting them into a plastic graduated cylinder. When all samples go to lab, we can count the bead under microscope.

It was a very productive and exciting week in the fishpond. I have learned how to design an experiment, how to layout different cages, and how to take cores from the fishpond.

NEW & EXCLUSIVE!!! PREDATOR CAGES AVAILABLE SOON!!!

Ever wonder how those predators have so much control over your ecosystem’s dynamics??
Feeling at the bottom of those top-down effects?
Thalameda got you in a crabby mood over missing enfauna?
Are pesky tilapias burrowing into your sites something that you JUST DON’T DIG?!
Introducing the new MegsPEX cages!! Handcrafted in Hawai’i and now available in sets of 72*.
These cages are guaranteed to produce HARD CORE results! MegsPEX cages can measure density, abundance, diversity, and biomass!!**They can help you determine top-down effects of crabs, eels, and fish on your local enfauna! What’s the CATCH?! NOTHING!!!
But wait, there’s more!! Order now and you’ll also receive 24 limited edition CAGE-CONTROL CAGES (CC Cages)! guaranteed to let you know if the presence of the cage itself actually makes a difference!! Simply compare these CC cages to your empty plots and if there is a significant difference in biomass, YES! The presence of your cages DO have an effect on predation! But if these CC cages produce similar biomass results to your empty plots, the presence of these cages DO NOT have an effect on predation!!
Hahahaha…how corny is this
P.S. Sherril and Kirsten began constructing markers out of three foot poles to sample sites for Sherril’s project at Coconut Island. She will use a twelve-sided dice as a random number generator to randomize direction on numbered discs, in order to find out the variability across the landscape. She intends to measure levels of pH and dissolved oxygen in various canopies (Gracillaria, Padina, and bare canopies) and sediment to determine the differences in the type of canopy or the significance of a canopy’s presence.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
-Chris and Tiana clearly have come to grips with their craft, while panel member Leila screens for quality (top-down) control
-Martin, are you cutting corners again to get the job done? Seasoned veteran Sawako has already earned her stripes in LAIP cage matches
-If this picture was worth a thousand words, here are but a few appropriately fitting morsels: pre-meditating, parsimonious, turquoise (3x), hidden random number generated directional disquette, and polarity (27x)

*Sets of 72 includes 24 “no cage” cages i.e. empty plots, an essential component of MegsPEX cages instrumentation.
**results are subject to laboratory measurements. lab instruments not included.

Healing Day

wow. Crazy weekend past,
today was the one of the best healing session for me. when I arrived and saw the pond, my feeling was bright and happier.. can not describe with words. Through cage making, laughing, talking and chanting, everything gave me power to try and do my best to move on with my head up.

now I am excited because I can get to experience more and more!!