Day 5 @ MBL
november 15, 2019
This morning, we got to process the confocal microscope images of the various embryos that we stained earlier in the week using a software program. Dr. Nipam Patel led us through the process, and everyone was able to create beautiful 3D images and rotating videos of their stained embryos (cuttlefish, fruit flies, and zebrafish).
We continue to monitor our fish tanks, testing the water quality (pH, ammonia, nitrites/nitrates) to ensure all of our marine organisms (hermit crabs, sea urchins, and small fish) are able to survive.
After lunch, we got the chance to see the axolotl and zebrafish labs, which were both incredible! Then, we got to learn about another group of marine animals: the cephalopods! Bret Grasse, the Manager of Cephalopod Operations here at MBL talked to us about the amazing abilities of cephalopods, like camouflaging themselves in so many different ways and why they are such a cool organism to observe and learn from. For example, he talked about the Hawaiian bobtail squid, which has a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria so that it can camouflage itself in moonlight during nocturnal feeding and mating. He then took us over to the MBL Cephalopod Initiative, where we got to see the various cephalopods that he had just discussed. We were amazed at how much smaller they were than we imagined and how quickly they can move.
We are researching more about the various topics that we've learned about this week to present tomorrow afternoon. Another awesome day @ MBL!
We continue to monitor our fish tanks, testing the water quality (pH, ammonia, nitrites/nitrates) to ensure all of our marine organisms (hermit crabs, sea urchins, and small fish) are able to survive.
After lunch, we got the chance to see the axolotl and zebrafish labs, which were both incredible! Then, we got to learn about another group of marine animals: the cephalopods! Bret Grasse, the Manager of Cephalopod Operations here at MBL talked to us about the amazing abilities of cephalopods, like camouflaging themselves in so many different ways and why they are such a cool organism to observe and learn from. For example, he talked about the Hawaiian bobtail squid, which has a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria so that it can camouflage itself in moonlight during nocturnal feeding and mating. He then took us over to the MBL Cephalopod Initiative, where we got to see the various cephalopods that he had just discussed. We were amazed at how much smaller they were than we imagined and how quickly they can move.
We are researching more about the various topics that we've learned about this week to present tomorrow afternoon. Another awesome day @ MBL!