SoundHAB: FW: North Hood Canal bloom update

Tue Aug 28 14:53:15 EDT 2007

Here is the note from Nicky Haigh from Last years bloom off Vancouver IS and
those who worked it up in BC..

From: soundhab-bounces at whoi.edu [mailto:soundhab-bounces at whoi.edu] On
Behalf Of Nicky Haigh
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 5:16 PM
To: soundhab at whoi.edu
Subject: SoundHAB: Coccolithophorid bloom in June, Vancouver I,for ref
to Hood Canal bloom

We did manage to get a sample of the coccolithophorid bloom off
Vancouver Island that happened in late June, (from my concerned fish
farmers in Nootka Sound), and sent it to IOS to get ID'ed, but I haven't
heard back about that.  We could see if it was the same species if you
get an ID from the Hood Canal species.  The bloom stretched almost the
entire length of Vancouver Island down to the Washington coast - I'm
attaching the image from the NASA "image of the day" website for anyone
who hasn't seen it.  I'm also attaching a composite of a few cells that
I took pics of from the bloom sample.  Cells appear to be about the same
size as the ones in Ralph's photo (sorry no scale bar!) - my
measurements of cells ranged from ~6.5 - 7.5 um.

Nicky Haigh
Harmful Algae Monitoring Program
Rm 205, Building 373
Malaspina University College
900 Fifth Street
Nanaimo BC V9R 5S5
CANADA
Ph: (250) 740-6354
Cell: (250) 537-7176
haighn at MALA.BC.CA <mailto:haighn at MALA.BC.CA>

P Becker

-----Original Message-----
From: Rita Horner [mailto:rita at ocean.washington.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 8:12 AM
To: Jan Newton
Cc: Vera Trainer; becker at olympicaquafarms.com; 'Jack Rensel';
soundhab at whoi.edu; Carla Stehr; Brian Bill
Subject: Re: SoundHAB: FW: North Hood Canal bloom update

At Jan's recommendation, I rechecked the website using % instead of the 
name to get the E. huxleyi v. corona pictures.  I actually know the Jordan 
who was one of the describers of the variety!

No one responded to my message that I had 6 liters of unpreserved sample 
if anyone wanted it.  However, Renee Rose has a small sample preserved in 
Lugol's iodine that she is willing to donate if anyone wants to do the 
SEM.  One caution here is that Lugol's is usually acidic and is not 
recommended for preservation of coccolithophorids.

Vera, if your group still wants to SEM it, I will have Renee send the 
sample to you.  Let me know.

Rita

On Mon, 27 Aug 2007, Jan Newton wrote:

> Rita,
> I played with the website a little...and got it to "work"...
>
> If you go to Image access,
> then select Group:  Coccolithophores
> Age: Living
> Genus Name:  %
> Species Name: %
> Ocean Area: all oceans
>
> For some reason if you put "Emiliania" in the Genus and/or if you put 
> "huxleyi" in the Species Name, then you don't get anything back.  But if
you 
> put "%" in both, which returns all, you get a long list, but you can
scroll 
> down and it includes 4 categories for Emiliania huxleyi.
>
> I think it would be interesting if someone did an SEM.
>
> best,
> Jan
>
>
> Rita Horner wrote:
>> 
>> I've looked at my literature on coccolithophorids and find no reference
to 
>> a "coronal variety" of Emiliania huxleyi.  I also checked the website 
>> mentioned by Peter B. and tried to find something there with no luck.  I 
>> did get some SEM pictures of cells from the North Pacific, no mention of 
>> where the cells were from, and got a No Results when I queried the
coronal 
>> variety.
>> 
>> My literature suggests that E. huxleyi from different water masses can be

>> different depending on water temperature with an increase in
calcification 
>> in colder waters and there can be all gradations in the amount of 
>> calcification.  A couple of recent papers (1991) suggest that there may
be 
>> different types of E. huxleyi depending on their coccolith morphology and

>> immunological properties of the coccolith polysaccharide.  However, not 
>> very much is known about this yet.
>> 
>> I still have the unpreserved water that Jim Postel brought in back in
early 
>> August - it has been sitting in a sort of culture chamber with low light
at 
>> about 12C.  I have no idea if there are any cells still present. Even
when 
>> the sample was fresh, there were few live cells, most had sunk to the 
>> bottom of the container and lost their coccoliths.  There is about 6
liters 
>> of water and if someone wants to come by and filter it that's fine.  Just

>> let me know when you want to come.  I agree with Vera that the SEM should

>> be done by the same people who did the original work that Peter mentions.
>> 
>> Coccolithophorid blooms off the WA coast are not that uncommon.  There
was 
>> a huge bloom about 1996 or 1997 when Jim Postel was on one of the
Macarthur 
>> cruises.  That was first reported by Jim Gowen from IOS.  I don't think
it 
>> came into the Strait or Hood Canal.  The first one I know of in Hood
Canal 
>> was last year.  I don't know if there was a bloom off the coast then or
if 
>> there was one this year before it came into the Canal.
>> 
>> Rita
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, 27 Aug 2007, Vera Trainer wrote:
>> 
>>> Hello Peter
>>> We at NWFSC can do the SEM within the next couple weeks if we can
receive 
>>> a sample.  If someone else wants to do it, that's ok, too.  Perhaps the 
>>> same group that ID'd the outer coast species should do this one?  We'd 
>>> need assistance from someone (Rita?) in IDing the coccolithophorid. 
>>> Sincerely, Vera Trainer
>>> 
>>> becker wrote:
>>>> Good Morning.
>>>> 
>>>> It would be interesting to get an SEM on the samples as the critical 
>>>> thing
>>>> is not Genus and species but form. The bloom off Vancouver Island that
we 
>>>> (
>>>> physical oceanography community) hypothesize was the source for this 
>>>> bloom
>>>> was E. huxleyi coronal form...an unusual variant. The bloom off
Vancouver
>>>> Is. in late Aug., early Sept of 2006 on La Perouse Bank was positively 
>>>> ID'
>>>> with SEM as this form alone. ( see this www site for further info on
>>>> Vancouver Is. Species ID: http://www.emidas.org/  E. huxleyi coronal
>>>> variation)
>>>> 
>>>> Note that on calling around to actual resident observers of Dabob and
>>>> Quillicene bays for the last 60 years (back to 1952 anyway), no such 
>>>> bloom
>>>> of E. huxleyi has ever been observed, so it is unique. ( Personal
>>>> communications with Richard E. Burge Ph.D. retired Director of WDF&W 
>>>> Brinnon
>>>> Lab and co workers who pre date him.)
>>>> 
>>>> The  a couple of scientists in the GLOBEC group has confirmed that the 
>>>> late
>>>> August west wind event (2006) was of sufficient duration and intensity
to
>>>> move coastal surface waters into and through the straits to the
entrance 
>>>> of
>>>> Admiralty Inlet. Event mechanisms for getting the coastal surface water

>>>> into
>>>> Hood's canal are fairly easy to propose and could be confirmed
>>>> experimentally with surface drifters...no one has ever tried.
>>>>  If indeed the 2006 bloom from Vancouver Island made it into Hood's
Canal 
>>>> we
>>>> may need to review the assumptions about the isolation of Hood's Canal 
>>>> from
>>>> effects from oceanic waters and species. It is also clear that a
species 
>>>> of Vibrio long known to occupy the coastal
>>>> waters that is toxic to shellfish at the larval stage and early setting
>>>> stages made its way into Hood's Canal in 2006 ...and is still
there...it
>>>> also was not previously noted by observers at Brinnon over 60 years.
>>>> 
>>>> Just how long would it take to get SEM of the Hood's Canal bloom done
>>>> anyway?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> P Becker
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: soundhab-bounces at whoi.edu [mailto:soundhab-bounces at whoi.edu] On 
>>>> Behalf
>>>> Of Jan Newton
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2007 2:07 PM
>>>> To: Jack Rensel
>>>> Cc: soundhab at whoi.edu
>>>> Subject: Re: SoundHAB: FW: North Hood Canal bloom update
>>>> 
>>>> Please see:
>>>> http://www.hoodcanal.washington.edu/observations/bloom_fishkill.jsp
>>>> for more info on this bloom.
>>>> 
>>>> Jan
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>
>

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

Rita A. Horner                        373 Marine Science Bldg
School of Oceanography
Box 357940                            Phone:  206-543-8599
University of Washington              Fax:  206-543-0275
Seattle, WA  98195-7940               rita at ocean.washington.edu

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---