Jul 21, 2017

Photograph Friday: Fieldwork Before Sunrise

Blog

“Time and tide will wait for no man, saith the adage. But all men have to wait for time and tide.”

—Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit

 

This saying about the inevitable march of time and the seasons can be traced back to the 1200s, but it felt very relevant at 5:00 this morning when Estuary Program staff and a few stout-hearted and warmly-dressed volunteers ventured out to the beach near Target Rock. There, we began the second round of the small-scale eelgrass transplant project that began back in March.

Before setting the date for work to begin, staff had to monitor the donor and transplant beds. They had to make sure that the season, tides, and times of day would come together just right to support this effort and to help the eelgrass have the best chance of becoming established in the new locations.

This meant a lot of watching and waiting. And—once everyone had their waders strapped on this morning—a lot of eyeing the incoming tide while standing hip-deep along the shoreline.

Below, you’ll find a some pictures from the fieldwork session this morning.

A dark start to the day
Headlamps make it much easier to set up the fieldwork table and organize supplies before sunrise.
Two staff members survey the scene and get ready to section off the work area.
Two staff members survey the scene and get ready to section off the work area in the grey predawn light.
The crew of staff and volunteers harvested eelgrass in their assigned locations as the sun rose over Morro Bay. The crew of staff and volunteers harvested eelgrass in their assigned locations as the sun rose over Morro Bay.
The crew of staff and volunteers harvest eelgrass as the sun rises over the City of Morro Bay.
Ann Kitajima, Assistant Director, counted the eelgrass and sorted it into buckets as the sky was lightening.
Assistant Director Ann Kitajima counts and sorts the harvested eelgrass into buckets as the sky lightens.
The eelgrass rhizomes are stored in bins prior to transplanting them.
The eelgrass rhizomes are counted, labeled, and kept in bins prior to transplanting them–all before 10:00 a.m.

 

For more details on this project, please keep an eye out for our monthly fieldwork blog. The next edition will be published on the first Friday in August.

 

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