Excursion Report 2nd Semester

Giridhar Sawhney

Event name: Field Trip: Horn Point Laboratory & Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Event time and place: April 20th, 2024, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Research, Cambridge, MD

The first conservation/environmental issue that the Horn Point Laboratory is dealing with is restoring the Chesapeake Bay and conducting its own research on this area. The Chesapeake Bay is one the most important bodies of water for the Eastern Shore as it provides economic benefits and is home to countless organisms. The Chesapeake Bay is one the largest estuaries which means that it encompasses various organisms that wouldn't normally coexist. It is also a very productive fishery for the East Coast. Over the last century, the water levels have continued to rise in the Chesapeake Bay as a result of climate change. This effect can be seen not only in the Chesapeake Bay but globally as well. Another effect that has been noticed in the Chesapeake Bay is the differences in salinity. As discussed with our tour guides, there is a wide range of salinity levels in the Chesapeake Bay which make it an estuary. One thing that they are studying with this is the effect of the increased rainfall on salinity levels in certain areas of the bay and how this affects the organisms that would normally live there. Another tool that the scientists at Horn Point used for this was the Striper which is the name of their Storm Glider. This tool is helpful for them in their combat against climate change because of its ability to track water temperatures at different depths and report back data to them. This allows scientists to predict hurricanes and other natural disasters in the oceans. Another tool that is similar to this is the Bay NOOA Chesapeake Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS) which is Another way that they have combatted these effects is through the creation of man-made islands in the form of Tidal Wetlands. Poplar Island is a small stretch of land in the Chesapeake Bay that provides habitat for wildlife species such as aquatic organisms (fish and crabs), small mammals (muskrats), and birds both migratory and resident.

The second conservation/environmental issue that the Horn Point Laboratory is dealing with is the decline in the population of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. As discussed with the tour guides, oysters are a vital part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem as they provide filtration of excess nutrients such as nitrogen from the water. They also provide homes for organisms and are a food source which helps the economy of this area. Furthermore, Oyster populations are monitored by the Horn Point Lab by using surveys of the area. The biggest contribution that the Horn Point Lab has made towards restoring the Chesapeake Bay is through their Oyster Restoration Hatchery. This is an in-depth process in which the scientists at the Horn Point Lab have been able to spawn oysters and have deployed over 1 billion oysters spat into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay over the past decade.

The third conservation/environmental issue the Horn Point Laboratory is dealing with is harmful algal blooms. Very briefly, our tour guide discussed her "cruises" in Florida in which they would study the harmful effects of algal blooms and how to minimize the effects. These have 3 effects which are, ecosystem disruption, fish-killing, and toxicity to humans. Firstly, high biomass-producer type blooms can cause anoxia/hypoxia and gill irritation/clogging for organisms in the ecosystem. They can also increase underwater shade which may result in a change in the local aquatic ecosystem, specifically which organisms are present in that area. Secondly, toxin-producing blooms can poison fish and other marine life. Several harmful algae species are hemolytic while others produce icthyotoxins (fish-killing toxins). Thirdly, shellfish can accumulate toxins in their organs when they eat harmful algae and eventually, when humans consume them, it can cause a serious health issue. Scientists at the Lab are studying these effects by analyzing the physiology of harmful algae such as growth rate and photosynthetic rates with changes in temperature, and nutrient concentrations. They have also been working to develop mathematical models to track and predict harmful algal blooms. Along with the development of these models through data analysis, the Horn Point Lab is combatting this issue by educating the public through guided tours.

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refugee's mission/function is to protect and manage habitat for migratory birds, threatened and endangered plants and animals, and other native species, as well as provide appropriate and compatible wildlife-dependent recreation. They also use conservative practices to manage service lands and waters to help ensure the survival of wildlife species.

The Wildlife Drive around the Refugee helps as a form of outreach to educate the public about the local environments by immersing them in scenery and providing them with information at each stop. Since this is a self-guided tour, the drivers can pace themselves and take their time at the individual spots as long as they aren't holding up too many cars as the trail does go on a smaller two-lane road. This gives the individuals the luxury of learning on their own. The main aspect that we noticed in the local wetlands that was representative of the effect of the tides was all of the dead trees within the wetlands. This shows that the sea level was lower not too long ago and the marsh contained more trees further out into the marsh than what appears today.

Last modified: 1 May 2023