POV Volunteer ScienceAmbience: TidepoolWhat’s it like to be a volunteer doing field work on a scientific expedition? Put on your earphones and have a listen. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.Pregenzer: As we look for the abalone and sea stars, we have to look underneath rocks and underneath the golden rock weed, which is a seaweed growing almost on everything. You can’t just look on the surface, you have to move things around and search in all the crevices. Arian Pregenzer is a member of an Earthwatch team on Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, CA. She’s working with field biologist Vivian Kim to survey the ecosystem of the island’s intertidal zone the area of a coastline between high and low tide.Pregenzer: The terrain here is very rocky and all the rocks are covered with little barnacles, which are called pink thatched barnacles. The little tiny whites that are called – these are common acorn barnacles or buckshot barnacles. .This is what field biology is like. After gathering information, the volunteers observations get entered into a database that informs the questions that scientists are asking, which might relate to climate change, land use or the survival of an ecosystem. Pregenzer: There are some owl limpets here. Temperature. Do we have a temperature? Kim: I’m going to get that as soon as you guys get started.Pregenzer: OK, salinity.. Vertical transect. We’re on the 10 meter. Kim: YesPregenzer: How long is your transect to the water’s edge? Kim: If you look at the wheel..Pregenzer: It’s basically 5 meters. mm-hmm. Our thanks to Earthwatch. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
Shoreline Research
An immersive glimpse of the intertidal zone, in binaural stereo.
Air Date:05/04/2020
Scientist:
Transcript:
POV Volunteer ScienceAmbience: TidepoolWhat's it like to be a volunteer doing field work on a scientific expedition? Put on your earphones and have a listen. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.Pregenzer: As we look for the abalone and sea stars, we have to look underneath rocks and underneath the golden rock weed, which is a seaweed growing almost on everything. You can't just look on the surface, you have to move things around and search in all the crevices. Arian Pregenzer is a member of an Earthwatch team on Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, CA. She's working with field biologist Vivian Kim to survey the ecosystem of the island's intertidal zone the area of a coastline between high and low tide.Pregenzer: The terrain here is very rocky and all the rocks are covered with little barnacles, which are called pink thatched barnacles. The little tiny whites that are called - these are common acorn barnacles or buckshot barnacles. .This is what field biology is like. After gathering information, the volunteers observations get entered into a database that informs the questions that scientists are asking, which might relate to climate change, land use or the survival of an ecosystem. Pregenzer: There are some owl limpets here. Temperature. Do we have a temperature? Kim: I'm going to get that as soon as you guys get started.Pregenzer: OK, salinity.. Vertical transect. We're on the 10 meter. Kim: YesPregenzer: How long is your transect to the water's edge? Kim: If you look at the wheel..Pregenzer: It's basically 5 meters. mm-hmm. Our thanks to Earthwatch. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.