Shannon Point

This last week I visited the Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes. I think the most interesting thing I learned about was both the immense smuggling operation of abalone that happened here, rendering them functionally extinct until assisted restoration and about the diving jobs that are available to Fish & Wildlife crews. A cool observation worth noting was the nematocysts found in the crushed sample from the anemone's arm. It was cool seeing up close under extreme magnification what it was that stings you when you touch an organism such as a jellyfish that has a whole bunch of these tiny things packed with strong venom.


The class also got to learn about the ongoing study of the mutualism between unicellular alga such as the dinoflagellates and the cnidarians like the sea anemone. They share a slightly similar relationship to that of Mycorrhizae and plants. The dinoflagellate provides the host with photosynthetically fixed carbon while the host gives the alga protection from predators and provides nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur.

The lecture at the end about the history of scientific diving was pretty interesting as well. I didn't realize that by loose definition, underwater exploration has its origins all the way back to Alexander the Great around 330 BC!

spacecollective.org

Special Thanks to Nate & Dean and Gwen