Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_12 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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Budding Scientists: Teens Join Cutting-Edge Research By Ann Green Photographs by Michael Halmlnski
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K Lristi Herzer stands knee-deep in the Pamlico Sound near Oregon Inlet, using a vacuum-like hose to suck up aquatic creatures from sea-grass beds. "After you finish the sweep, use the dip net to make sure there are no more jumping crabs," yells Lisa Etherington, a North Carolina Sea Grant researcher and NC State University graduate student. With the help of NC State researchers, Herzer, a Manteo High School senior, dumps the collection on board a small boat. Then she examines the samples — from juvenile crabs as small as a quarter to tiny shrimp. Herzer finds her first field research experience "fun and exciting. I didn't realize there are so many living creatures in sea-grass beds." From August to October, Herzer and 26 other budding scientists from Ocracoke School and Hatteras, Manteo, Mattamuskeet and East Cartaret High Schools gather samples each day for North Carolina Sea Grant researcher David Eggleston's study on juvenile crabs. "It is interesting to find results that might be in a textbook some day," says Manteo High School senior Chucky Ellison. Since 1995, Eggleston has been involving high school students in his ongoing study on the recruitment of juvenile blue crabs. The study is funded by the National Science Foundation, North Carolina Sea Grant and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The integration of high school students has been a "win-win situation" and "critical to the success of this large-scale study," says Eggleston, associate professor of marine sciences at NC State. "With their help, we have identified unique and until now undocumented nursery habitats for early juvenile crabs, as well as the role of hurricane storm surges and northeasterlies on transporting large numbers of settlement-stage blue crabs into the Pamlico and Croatan sounds," he adds. "After Hurricane Dennis, we had a huge peak in blue crab settlements at Englehard in Hyde County. Through this experience, the students gain hands-on experience in the scientific method and increase their knowledge of coastal resource issues." The students collect samples on docks as well as in sea-grass beds in Pamlico Sound and seven other coastal locations. On the docks, the students pull an artificial settlement habitat out of Oregon Inlet. By using air-conditioning filter material to collect the crabs, the scientists are simulating a natural habitat. Then the students rinse the samples, strain the water and put the samples — which are sometimes as small as fleas — in jars that go to a lab. "The data will give researchers information on the number of crabs moving through the water column," says Eggleston. "Blue crabs are the dominant predator in North Carolina's estuary system" and the state's top commercial fishery species. During the collections, the students develop camaraderie with researchers and get a close-up of marine life. While standing on the sea-grass beds, Etherington guides the students in the research process and quizzes them about the different stages in a crab's life cycle. Continued COASTWATCH 13 Kristi Herzer looks on as Chucky Ellison peers through a spectrometer to check the salinity level, while David Eggleston watches water activity.

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