A new population of invasive European green crab has been found at Dungeness Spit, near Sequim, Washington, rekindling concern over the potential for damage to local marine life and shorelines. Staff and volunteers from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge, captured a total of 13 European green crab over the past two weeks as part of the UW-based Washington Sea Grant Crab Team early detection program.
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Recognizing the signs of a predator can mean the difference between living to see another day and becoming another critter’s midday snack. All prey animals, whether a swift-footed deer or a slow-moving snail, use cues from their environment to sense the presence of a threat. It’s what keeps them alive — or at least gives them a shot at getting away.
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Earlier this week in Westcott Bay, San Juan Island, a team of volunteer monitors caught an invasive green crab, marking the first confirmation of this global invader in Washington’s inland waters. The volunteers are part of Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team, an early detection and monitoring program to look for European green crab (Carcinus maenas) and collect information on local marine life.
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Middle school students tried their hands at designing and building underwater robots this week during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration science summer camp in Seattle. The remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) project was designed by UW undergraduate student Hannah McConnaughey, who has built ROVs competitively since she was in middle school. “Hands-on science is great because it’s something students are excited about and can interact with personally, and it has real world applications,” she said.
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The fifth West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise is underway, with UW faculty, students, and staff investigating changes to ocean chemistry from Baja to British Columbia.
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