superb!!! and it reminds me of that summer between 11 and 12 grade when I had a National Science Fellowship "gig" at Scrips Institute of Oceanography (Now another campus of UCSD?), i was assigned to the Kelp Project, run by Dr. Wheeler J. North (this was 1960, I was at SD HIgh School). even that long ago they were looking at why the kelp were diminishing. They had transects laid out on the ocean floor, at the tip of Baja California, and there were matts, kind of like the potholders kids make. The matts were affixed somehow and kelp "planted" in them - their "holdfasts" held fast, apparently. the divers would go down, assess them and all. Very cold water, very far down. I just hung around people watching -- I have a whole one of my stories that I perform about this time, done for the big Vancouver Science World. but did get a chance to talk with the scientists, learn some things about how they went about their work, even did a small project myself, with another student whose father was a famous physicist there, on the food preferences of the sea hare. A great experience, and prescient in its way. Thanks for all your posts, Walter!!!
We aim to please! Glad you like my posts. BTW, Scripps is institutionally part of UCSD, but a separate campus, much like you experienced, down on the beach.
Hey Walter. Turtle grass in local marine systems are dominant plants in nearshore gulf coast waters. They are flowering plants as is eel grass in clear spring fed rivers. Not all marine plants are algae.
Yes, another colleague pointed that out as well. I did not mean to imply that all marine plants are algae, only that flowering plants have not "conquered" the ocean.
yeah, I know - but when I was there it wasn't a part of the UC system as far as i knew then. certainly no other buildings around it-- mostly homes for the well-off LaJolla-ns, etc. then Mirarmar down the road - where Scripps bio people could collect in the tide pools, in that they were utterly untouched (the pools, that is). we went there once, at 0300 and it was miraculous. there were tide pools at Wind 'n Sea, but nothing like those!!! The kelp unit was in WWII "huts" and i think there was just one multi-story Institute building. Latter had a rescue room for divers who were in trouble (not bariatric, I think). i somehow remember shower heads coming from all directions. and one metal table. I was there once, having gotten hyperthermic in trying to swim all the way out around the very long pier, and effectively collapsing from the cold. the "partner" took me in the life-saving carry grip, got me in and then they took me to the table, on which i bounced for awhile. but recovered, never to swim that far in that cold again. Stuck to body-surfing. Not strong enough for scuba.
Yeah, that Pacific Coast water is cold. I remember wading in calf-deep at Pt. Reyes--- man it hurt! I was not tempted to swim. Hypothermic coma comes fast in cold water. Survival suits are designed to prevent that, but I guess you had not access to one, eh? (wink)
The answer to that is kind of complicated. Here is a Wikipedia link to the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictyostelid. Slime molds are considered social amoeba, and have both sexual and asexual reproduction. They are sort of on the boundary between cells and organisms, and have attracted a lot of research as a result. Colonial animals such as corals, bryozoans, hydroids, etc. increase colony size by cloning their units, but are also capable of sexual reproduction, the product of which is usually a new colony.
superb!!! and it reminds me of that summer between 11 and 12 grade when I had a National Science Fellowship "gig" at Scrips Institute of Oceanography (Now another campus of UCSD?), i was assigned to the Kelp Project, run by Dr. Wheeler J. North (this was 1960, I was at SD HIgh School). even that long ago they were looking at why the kelp were diminishing. They had transects laid out on the ocean floor, at the tip of Baja California, and there were matts, kind of like the potholders kids make. The matts were affixed somehow and kelp "planted" in them - their "holdfasts" held fast, apparently. the divers would go down, assess them and all. Very cold water, very far down. I just hung around people watching -- I have a whole one of my stories that I perform about this time, done for the big Vancouver Science World. but did get a chance to talk with the scientists, learn some things about how they went about their work, even did a small project myself, with another student whose father was a famous physicist there, on the food preferences of the sea hare. A great experience, and prescient in its way. Thanks for all your posts, Walter!!!
We aim to please! Glad you like my posts. BTW, Scripps is institutionally part of UCSD, but a separate campus, much like you experienced, down on the beach.
Fascinating
Hey Walter. Turtle grass in local marine systems are dominant plants in nearshore gulf coast waters. They are flowering plants as is eel grass in clear spring fed rivers. Not all marine plants are algae.
Yes, another colleague pointed that out as well. I did not mean to imply that all marine plants are algae, only that flowering plants have not "conquered" the ocean.
yeah, I know - but when I was there it wasn't a part of the UC system as far as i knew then. certainly no other buildings around it-- mostly homes for the well-off LaJolla-ns, etc. then Mirarmar down the road - where Scripps bio people could collect in the tide pools, in that they were utterly untouched (the pools, that is). we went there once, at 0300 and it was miraculous. there were tide pools at Wind 'n Sea, but nothing like those!!! The kelp unit was in WWII "huts" and i think there was just one multi-story Institute building. Latter had a rescue room for divers who were in trouble (not bariatric, I think). i somehow remember shower heads coming from all directions. and one metal table. I was there once, having gotten hyperthermic in trying to swim all the way out around the very long pier, and effectively collapsing from the cold. the "partner" took me in the life-saving carry grip, got me in and then they took me to the table, on which i bounced for awhile. but recovered, never to swim that far in that cold again. Stuck to body-surfing. Not strong enough for scuba.
Yeah, that Pacific Coast water is cold. I remember wading in calf-deep at Pt. Reyes--- man it hurt! I was not tempted to swim. Hypothermic coma comes fast in cold water. Survival suits are designed to prevent that, but I guess you had not access to one, eh? (wink)
How then do colony animals like slime molds reproduce?
The answer to that is kind of complicated. Here is a Wikipedia link to the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictyostelid. Slime molds are considered social amoeba, and have both sexual and asexual reproduction. They are sort of on the boundary between cells and organisms, and have attracted a lot of research as a result. Colonial animals such as corals, bryozoans, hydroids, etc. increase colony size by cloning their units, but are also capable of sexual reproduction, the product of which is usually a new colony.
Thank you! I've long been fascinated by this type of life.
Lovely and so insightful! I know the great attraction of kelp. See my photos on dfhphotographs (on instagram)
And for your comment, ML