Tide Bites

Ocean Outbreaks: from Seagrasses to Seastars

Tiny microbes are on the prowl to undermine the health of our oceans. Epidemics of our ocean biota are often unseen beneath the waves,…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Drew Harvell

Pygmy Seahorses – Little Fish With a Big Impact

The family Syngnathidae is a large and diverse group of morphologically unique bony fishes, with 57 genera and 300 described predominantly small-bodied marine species…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Graham Short

River Otters in a Land Without Rivers

We live in an interesting time with respect to earth’s ecology. Several centuries of extreme overhunting by humans – first by European colonials and…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Brent B. Hughes, Postdoctoral Fellow, UW Friday Harbor Labs

Writing Right There

The Marine Biology Quarter at Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) offers a course where students get a chance to write about topics they know matter,…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Eric Morel

The search for the dinoflagellate Azadinium, to protect shellfish safety in the Pacific Northwest

Friday Harbor Labs (FHL) scientists are helping a team of international investigators on the trail of several new harmful algal species in Puget Sound.…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Nicolaus G. Adams and Vera L. Trainer from NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria Friday Harbor Labs

We’re Not Alone…and Neither Are Larval Sea Urchins

In the words of Carl Sagan, “The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Tyler Carrier

Barcoding Seaweeds: the Intersection of Teaching and Research

The best science teaching is intimately related to research, and this is why many researchers also teach summer courses at the Friday Harbor Labs.…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Paul W. Gabrielson and D. Wilson Freshwater

ASKXXI: Arts+Science Knowledge - Building and Sharing in the XXI Century

In 2004, under serendipitous circumstances after my first year of graduate school in UW’s Biology Department, I found myself at Friday Harbor Labs taking…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Fernanda X. Oyarzún

Tide Bites: It's Hard Out There For A Kelp

Worldwide, kelp forests are ecologically important because they provide habitat and a food source for a wide variety of organisms including invertebrates and fish.…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Katie Dobkowski, PhD

Bacterial Responses to Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification, resulting from an increase in atmospheric CO2, is a growing concern as it is projected to impact all ocean regions and affect…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Lisa Crummet Assistant Professor of Biology at Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, CA.

Edward Sylvester Morse, 1838-1925 Part of his Legacy: a Shared Japan/U.S. Scholar Exchange Program at FHL

Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925) was a greatly admired scientist and educator both in the United States and Japan. In the limited time he spent…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by M. Patricia Morse, Ph.D. UW Professor of Biology (retired), Friday Harbor Laboratories

Tide Bites: Hydrogen Sulfide: Bad actor behind seagrass decline?

Zostera marina, commonly known as “eelgrass,” is a submerged flowering plant that grows in many estuarine and coastal regions of the Northern Hemisphere and…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Soren Huber, Fredrick Dooley, and Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria

Exposure History Determines the Response of the Orange Cup Coral (Balanophyllia elegans) to Ocean Acidification

Humans are drastically changing the planet by burning fossil fuels that release CO2 into the atmosphere, which comes into equilibrium with the ocean and…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Joanna Griffiths

What Happens to San Juan Sea Urchins in the Absence of Predatory Sea Stars?

- Investigating the Relationships Between Baby Green Urchins, Coralline Algae, and Crabs Sea urchins (Figure 1) are an important component of nearshore marine food…

Published in Tide Bites
Written by Dara Yiu