THE UNIVERSITY OFTEXAS AT AUSTtN MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE PORT ARANSAS, TEXAS The MAR 141994· Lazarette LIBRARY Gazette NEWS FROM The University ofTexas at Austin MARINE SCIBNCE INSTITUTE Port Aransas, Texas 78373-1267 Vol. 3, Issue 5, 11March1994 In ~his issue ofLazarette Gaiette Terry Whitledge: Advisory Conncil/Bays & Estuaries Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . cover Clark Hubbs: LONGHORN II -a dugout canoe on Lake Tanganyika .........· 8 Cactus Pryor discovers Moses look-a-like at MSI ............... ~ . . . . . . . . . . 8 John Shaw is new supervisor of MSI Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Regular sections: director's report·-·p. 1, pe.-sonnel-p~ 3, egabrag woes -p. 4, trip reports & travel -· p. 5, marine ·education services· -p. 6, seminars -p. 6, tony's tidings -p. 7, attaboys -p. 7, letters to the editor -p. 8, irish pennants .-p. 8, editor's note -p. 9, Marine Advisory Council Meeting-Our Spring meeting will be held in Austin! We will begin at 9:30 Saturday morning, March 26, at the Thompson Conference Center. Peter Thomas will report on new graduate student recruitment. The Development, Membership and Public Relations Committees will meet to finish out the morning. We will then break_ for lunch at the center. Our afternoon session will have a business meeting, committee reports and possibly a short· report on Marine Science· classes taught by our Austin faculty. We will adjourn in midafternoon. We are planning a social that same evening at the Texas Memorial Museum beginning at 6 with dinner to be served at 7:30, catered by Rosemary of Austin. 6th Annua~ South-.Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting -April 1st will mark the -sixth time MSI. and DMS have hosted the South Texas Bays and Estuaries Meetifig. Every meeting has seen increased participation; this year we expect well over one hundred. scientists and other interested individuals to attend. Our preliininacy agenda, which follows, shows that we will be hard at it from 0800 to 1700. You will be able to tell from this agenda that our sixth annual meeting promi~'es~ ~he..the best ever. I urge you to attend. -Terry Whitledge 6th ANNUAL SOUTH TEXAS BAYS AND :ESTUARIES MEETING Marine Science Institute and Department of Marine Science The University of Texas at Austin Port Aransas, Texas -1 April 1994 PRELIMINARY AGENDA 0800 Registration and purchase lunch tickets SESSION CHAIRMAN: PAUL MONTAGNA 0820 Terry Whitledge, Acting Director, UTMSI -Introduction 0830 Tony Amos, UTMSI -The Upper Laguna Madre & Redfish Bay: Winds, Water Level & Currents 0845 Chris Faucette, TAMU-CC/CBI -Spectral Analysis ofLaguna Madre Water Levels 0900 Jennifer Prouty, TAMU-CC -Karst in Pleistocene Limestone Near Penascal Point:A Record ofHolocene Climate Change 0915 Hudson DeYoe and Curtis Suttle, UTMSI -A Persistent Bloom-formingAlga That Cannot Use Nitrate-nitrogen 0930 Chris Onuf and Jaimie Ingold, USFWS -Continuous Monitoring Records and Gear For Upper Laguna Madre: Light, Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen 0945 Ed Buskey and Cammie Coulter, UTMSI -Why Can't Zooplankton Grazers Control the Brown Tide? 1000 Joan Holt, UTMSI -The Brown Tide and Larval Fish Feeding 1015 Coffee SESSION CHAIRMAN: WES TUNNELL 1045 Jim Kaldy, UTMSI -Seedling Photosynthetic Parameters and Flowering in Thalassia testudinum From South Texas 1100 David Hicks and Wes Tunnell, TAMU-CC -Aspects of Growth & Recruitment of the Recently Introduced Brown Mussel, Perna perna, in the Western Gulf ofMexico 1115 Terry Allison, Joe Kowalski and Stacy Marquez, UT-Pan Am, A Preliminary Study of the Macrocrustacea ofBrazos Santiago Pass and South Bay, Lower Laguna Madre, Texas 1130 Dennis Rocha, TAMU-CC-Comparison ofSummer Growth Rates Between Two Populations ofDonax variabilis roemreri from the Lower Texas Coast 1145 Lee Fuiman, UTMSI -Vulnerability ofRed Drum Larvae to Predatory Fishes 1200 Scott Holt, UTMSI -Preliminary Observations on Spawning Site Selection by Red Drum in the Aransas Pass 1215 Larry McEacheron, TPWD -Red Drum Stocking -Evidence of Success 1230 Lunch SESSION CHAIRMAN: TERRY WHITLEDGE 1330 Richard Volk, Director, CCBNEP -What is the Corpus Christi Bay National Estuary Program? 1345 Paul Krause and Scott Carr, National Biological Survey -Spatial Pattern in Toxicity Around a Municipal IIndustrial Discharge Site in Corpus Christi Bay 1400 Chris Martin and Paul Montagna, UTMSI -La Quinta Channel Environmental Monitoring Project -Benthic Diversity 1415 Beau Hardegree, David Hicks and Wes Tunnell, TAMU-CC -Environmental Impact and Recovery of the Exxon Pipeline Oil Spill and Burn Site, Upper Copano Bay, Texas 1430 Virender Sharma, TAMU-CC -Contaminants in Cayo del Oso Bay, Texas Sediments 1445 Russell Hooten and Duane Chapman, TAMU-CC Flower Gardens Coral Larval Toxicity Testing and Early Life History 1500 Coffee SESSION CHAIRMAN: RICHARD VOLK 1530 1545 Chris Caudle, TNRCC-AnimpactAssessmentofProduced Water Discharges to Nueces Bay Craig Cooper, John Morse and others, TAMU -Offats Bayou-An Anoxic Microcosm 1600 Michael Chambers, TAMU-CC -Offshore Pen Culture 1615 Charles Belaire, Belaire Con_sulting -Status Report: Whooping Crane Habitat Creation Projects, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge 1630 Gary Jeffress, TAMU-CC/CBI -Geographic Information Systems Use in Coastal Studies 1645 E.B. Nuckols, TAMU-CC -The Coastal Oilspill Simulation System -Phase I 1700 Refreshments & Discussion - John Shaw is the new maintenance supervisor at the Marine Science Institute. John is a long time resident of Port Aransas, but his wife, Beth, has only been in the United States and Port Aransas since 1987. Bethis from Mindanao in the Philippines, and metJohn through John's stepmother, who is also from Mindanao. John has two children from a previous marriage, John Russell, 14, and Andrea, 17. John has put together a machine shop at home and builds small live steam locomotives. John's early career was in the Air Force where he ran an arts/crafts hobby shop for several years and spent two years running an Air Force resort on Lake Texoma His other eiperience has included work with Brown & Root as a pipefitter and boilermaker, work as a plumber with Port Plumbing of Port Aransas, and as a maintenance worker for the Port Aransas Independent School District. John became interested in casting objects and eventually built a small foundry at his home. This led to work with Douglas in Aransas Pass where he helped them establish their own small foundry and managed that end oftheir operations. At first Douglas was casting only small parts of a few pounds for their shrimpboat winches, but eventually they were doing custom casting for others ofobjects of two to three hundred pounds. A down turn in the economy and the building of shrimp boats led Douglas to close their foundry. After working for awhile with another foundry in Oklahoma, John returned to Port Aransas and finally a job at the Marine Science Institute running the stores operation and promotion to maintenance supervisor. P.A.I.S.D. -FOURTH SIX WEEKS HONOR ROLLS MS! Employees Proud Parents of • H.G. OLSEN ELEMENTARY A HONOR ROLL second grade: Jack Montagna, Jennifer Seguin fourth grade: Nikki Buskey, Lindsay Moore, JoAnna Jackson, Alex Seguin, Stephanie Tinnin fifth grade: Sarah Seguin • H.G. OLSEN ELE:MENTARY A/B HONOR ROLL second grade: Dani Buskey, James Cantu third grade: Lauren Kalke fourth grade: Tess Montagna, Brince Abel, Karli Dunton • BRUNDRETI' MIDDLE SCHOOL A HONOR ROLL sixth grade: Nathan Dunton, Chris Kalke, Kate Montagna • BRUNDRETI' MIDDLE SCHOOL AIB HONOR ROLL sixth grade: Daniel Allen, Patricia Tinnin • HIGH SCHOOL AIB HONOR ROLL eleventh grade: Jill Thompson I MAINTENANCE The f"uture -On the masthead, John Shaw's technical manuals and computer hint at the future while the crescent wrench reminds us ofthings that remain the same. It's not that the maintenance department is going into fixing computers big time (although John Shedd in the maintenance department has fixed quite a few), it is that in a few years a computer program will track the maintenance request forms MSI folks write in profusion, and, more importantly, generate preventive maintenance schedules and work orders. John Shaw, who computerized the stockroom operation during his stint there, is certainly the one to make it happen. In the year 20 B.C. -Before we add MSI maintenance to the information superhighway, let's take a look at the deep ruts and potholes where MSI maintenance used to spin its wheels, B. C. (Before Clanton). First there was Herman Moore, a good carpenter/cabinet maker. But in the 50's MSI acquired a boat, and Director Gunter said, Moore, you are a Boat Captain now. Mr. Moore continued in a dual capacity. Drs. Parker and Wohlschlag will attest that Herman could build about anything if it was for The Director . and-more important--ifhe was provided a new sawblade. Jesse Esparza was a good general worker, but more skilled as a rear gunner on a dive bomber (he barely survived WWII, spending over a year in the hospital when his plane was hit and caught fire). ·Jesse is dead now but I think his beer drinking record for MSI beach parties still stands. It was C. E. Williams who first established the can do spirit which prevails in the MSI maintenance crew. C. E. was greatly experienced as an electrician and airconditioning/refrigeration mechanic. A small man in his early 60's, C. E. would take on anyjob, including moving heavy equipment--all it took was his come-a-long winch and a little time. C. E. trained a young man to take his place, Jerry Clanton. 4 J.C. and other characters -MSI's maintenance department grew and needed a supervisor. 9lanton was ·offered the job and declined. Having refused the job, Jerry then trained supervisor, Dick Fry, and later supervisor Tommy Winningham, finally taking the job on the third offer. For a few years maintenance was split into two areas, with Clanton's mechanical section and FrankTompkins' carpentry and paintingsection. Frank was a WWII Marine, a Port Aransas City Councilman, a retired Chemist, an ordained minister, a a conscientious and hard worker, and for sure a real character. In the office we sharpen our pencils on The Frank Tompkins Memorial Pencil Sharpener, so known because it was a Christmas gift to me from the maintenance crew, but we found out later Frank had strongarmed several somewhat reluctant donors for the money. Frank's crew included Fred Farley. Fred established records which will probably never be reached by anyone: craftmanship (he was a boat builder), hard work (all clay every day), silence (clays on end without saying a word). Then there was the electrician known as Goat-roper. Goat-roper is mainly remembered for the speed with which he left Port Aransas shortly (minutes) after one of his water front buddies put several forty-five slugs in another one of his waterfront buddies. A mechanic known only as Willy could fix any problem with any vehicle, even when sober. Bill Ulch worked for MSI two different times. Bill was an expert in air conditioning and refrigeration as well as a good electrician. He was also an expert on grabbing a shovel or other tool from someone, usually Donald Gutsch, about two seconds before the supervisor came around the corner, leaving Gutsch-who had really been hard at work-empty handed when the boss arrived. Then there was the Stores Clerk known to the crew as Crazy Bill, there is no space to relate his weird actions, only to note that he blamed it on swallowing too much tobacco juice. -John Thompson Travel ending between Febru,ary 26 and March 11 +Tony Amos, February 23-25, Washington D.C., attend meeting of the commitee on shipborne wastes of the National Academy of Sciences. (left out last issue) +Ken Dunton, February 19-. 25, San Diego, California, present paper, Inter-annual variations in surface and underwater irradiance: effect on benthic macroalgal production in the High Arctic, at the AGU/ASLO/NOSM meeting. (left out last issue) +Curtis Suttle, February 20-27, San Diego, California, present paper, What is the impact of viruses on marine Synechococcus?, at the AGU/ASLO/NOSM meeting. +Joan Holt and Scott Holt, February 26-March 4, Miami, Florida, consult with scientists at the University of Miami and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution to plan future research concerning the larval fish transport study. +Rick Tinnin, March 4---7, South Padre Island, conduct-in service training for SEDL--Blue Planet Leadership Team. +Dean Stockwell, March 5, Houston, moderate session at the annual meeting of the Texas Academy of Science and present paper, Brown tide bloom in Nueces Bay, South Texas 1993: initiation and termination. Oceanography Day -Written work on the first six requirements for the Oceanography Merit Badge is arriving in the mail every day from Boy Scouts all over Texas. And one Scout is making a special trip from Pennsylvania to attend Oceanography Day. The patches which will be provided to participants have been received (pictured here). The deadline for submittal of the written work is April 1. Between three and four hundred Boy Scouts are expected to attend a full day of activities at the Marine Science Institute. Financing for Oceanogrq,phy Day has been provided by special contributions from members ofthe MSI Advisory Council. • Dr. Roger Green, University ofWestern Ontari.o,Appli.cation ofpower analysis in environmental studies, January 14. • Andrew Czerny, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, TheV!ffects of in situ light reduction on two subtropical seagrasses: Thalassia testudinum and Halodule wrightii. January 21. • Dr. Dan Childers, National Marine Fisheries Service, Galveston, Habitat interactions in estuarine ecosystems and coastal landscapes, January 28. • Dana Garcia, Southwest Texas State University, Pigment aggregation in the retinal pigment epithelium: a cAMP story with a twist, February 4. • Dr. Meinhard Simon, University of Constance, Germany, Microaggregates in Lake Constance, February 11. • Special presentation of ASLO participants, February 18-Ron Benner: Concentration and composition of dissolved organic matter in the Mississippi River Plume; Steve Opsahl: Longtermdegradation patterns ofvascularplant tissues; Rainer Amon: Bacterial utilization ofhigh and low molecular weight dissolved organic matter in different aquatic environments; Dean Pakulski: Microbial metabolism and nutrient cycling in the Mississippi River Plume; Curtis Suttle: What is the impact ofviruses on marine Synechococcus?, Matt Cottrell: Strain specificity ofMicromonas pusilla viruses in seawater; Killian Hennes: The dynamics ofphage proliferation in a Mesotrophic Lake. • Dr. Mike Gee, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, England, The size structure of a benthic community in relation to the fractal dimensions of its habitat, March 4. • Dr. Connie Oliver, Office of Naval Research, Role of gangliocides in modulated receptor function, seminar room, Friday, March 11, 3:45 pm. 6 Weather Report-February 21-March 6, 1994 -LynnAmoo 111181111!!!1!1!111111\!IL • A hearty thank you to John Shaw for ensuring that the renovation ofthe old laboratory wing proceededwithout too much disruption of our work. John's responsiveness to our needs and concerns while thecontractors were replacing the air conditioning allowed us to continue our research. Thank you for solvinganother long standing problem in the laboratories which now have adequate lighting. While we are on thetopic ofrenovations John, have you heard about my newest plans?.............(From Peter Thomas; John Shaw and John Thompson hope he is joking about "newest plans" -he's probably not.) • The new windshield wipers were greatly appreciated when we crossed the mountains outside San Diego.We encountered pouring rain, pea soup fog (<100 ft. visibility), 40 mph crosswinds, a 6'1o grade (up anddown) and bumper to bumper traffic at 65 mph. I made it, but it certainly wasn't the milk run I hadexpected in "sunny" southern California. (From Dean Pakulski following trip to ASLO/AGU; plaudits to Charlie Hutchins who put the MS/ van in shape for the big trip.) • While making preventive maintenance rounds (that's what I do), I spied this subject slumped over amicroscope unaware that there were other living creatures in her midst. It was dark and cold (which is why I was there) in this little room where research studies were being made. I quietly asked "how are you" andshe responded, '1 am cold." (Which I rectified with a repair.) Little is said about whatgoes on in these littledark cold rooms, but they are as much a part ofresearch as a trip to China, a seminar, etc. etc. How manytimes have you passed one of these rooms and wondered, "what's going on?" How many times have youasked? How many times have you said, ''job well done?" Well done, little dark cold room workers!(Anonymous with anote suggesting comments be written to "letters to the editor". Anonymous, but definitely not fromMfil He 3Hae M;sounds more like Barnacle to me-Editor.) 7 • I have enjoyed the various issues of the LazareUe Gazelle and the last issue stimulated this response. I well remember our first visit to MSI in early 1950. At that time the only way to drive(?) to PA was alongthe one way (with turn outs) wooden causeway. The facilities were not very different from the "chicken house" fioor plan on p. 6. I agree that the floor plan precedes 1959 but suspect it was in 1956. Bill McFarland had not yet joined the faculty and Tom Hellier was a graduate student. Those two workers would help fix the date. I know that in 1957 George Drewry and I used much ofthe pier laboratory for our research. Neal Armstrong (U. T. Engineering Professor) and Mill Tandy (U. T. Ph.D. later) were high school trainees and attended my ichthyology class. I did not teach there again for nearly 30 years. I suspect you may not know of the LONGHORN II. It was a dugout canoe we used on Lake Tanganyika. Its name resulted from a long ago football rout ofA & M by U. T. My student opted for LONGHORN II and his Aggie colleague preferred REVILLE II. Thanks to D. Royal and his troops, it was a cinch to be LONGHORN II. I have more favorable memories of riding on LONGHORN II than on LONGHORN I. I could see the water cobras and did not receive blue crab aggression as in the muddy waters ofthe Laguna Madre. (Clark Hubbs, Regents' Professor Emeritus) • ...I have been here now for four months, although much ofthe time I have been traveling. I Jwve an office right by a beautiful little Jwrbor. There is an open air fish market that I walk by every day on the way to work, and it reminds me ofmy link to MSI every time I pass. They really have spectacular shrimp and fish here. Also, the water in the harbor is very cold and very clear. It occasionally gets a bit ofice on top. Along.the sides, there are incredible collections of large anemones -white and pink. I do not know how they survive the cold. I can't wait for the temperatures to warm so I can dive. Tell John Thompson that I see the most incredible selection ofsailing boats here. Some are working boats, some are pleasure craft. All sizes, makes, and sail configurations. The Norwegians are real sailors. I also get to see a lot ofNavy and Coast Guard vessels, and working ships ofall kinds. I haven't enjoyed a place this much since I left Port Aransas... (Mark Northam, Ph.D., 1981 and MS/ Advisory Council member; letter to Terry Whitledge) Tony Amos and Cactus Pryor-Many Austinites will have received a copy ofthe Inside Texas Almanac, produced by Cactus Pryor and the staff of Austin radio station KLBJ-AM. It's a nicely done publication with Texas expressions, gardening tips, and information on everything from Fort Davis to John Connally. All of page 56 is devoted to Port Aransas, but actually it is about Tony Amos. Cactus is a Tony Amos fan and quotes him at length. Maybe we should send Cactus the Lazarette Gazette so he can read more of Tony's work. Here is his description: Tony looks like Moses ...long hair ... fiowing beard... tall ofstature...as he walks barefoot down the beach, you would not be surprised to see the sea part to make way for him. Guess who and Texas Monthly-An advertizement by the Port Aransas Chamber ofCommerce appears in the current issue of Texa8 Monthly. For the third or fourth time it uses the picture of a gray haired old codger showing a fish to two youngsters. This is the closest I have ever come to going fishing. And ifyou look carefully you will see that I wasn't very close. The fish looks stiff because it just got out of someone else's deep freeze. -John Thompson 8 .. I had a dream-I looked out over the sea as the sun made a spectacular appearance on the horizon. Colors ofreds and orange pierced the black sky. Sails of an old merchant ship appeared. She was a three-master carrying full sail. Sultry looking men were scampering about her weathered decks. Lines were being readied for land fall. A tall weathered old man stood at her wheel. She gracefully slid through the water with only the sounds offlapping canvas and waves beating against her planked hull. Her paint had been eroded away through many passing years, yet her beauty shone through. Below the eroded paint could be seen the grain of exotic wood from countries afar. She was truly a beauty to behold. Listening from her decks could be heard the sweetest of all sounds. The sounds of the sea. Ripples dancing across the surface of the water. Raging waves crashing one upon another. The distant splashing ofa playful dolphin. Raindrops caressing the surface. Winds howling of a coming storm. I had a dream... P.S.: when I get my new refrigeration van....ifyou refuse to drive the old one .... get the picture??? -Barnacle Jerry Clanton has the honor of training three maintenance supervisors (see Egabrag Woes). UT's VP for Business, Jim Colvin, long since retired, once said to me, John it looks like myjob is to train new presidents and your job is to train new directors. And I replied, yes and neither one of us seems to do a very good job. (Note to ex-presidents and ex-directors reading this: we meant the other guys, not you). When I read Cactus' description of Tony Amos (see Irish Pennants) I first thoughthehadgonetoofarwiththe Moses analogy. ButM:c! He 3HaeM toldmehedidn'thavea problem with a MSI-Moses, after all it's only been some years ago that MSI had a Director who thought he was God. rm not writing this irreverent stuff because of an intent to retire tomorrow (better bet: it's these backache-pain pills). Bill Wallace, who retired as Director of the personnel office after over 39 years,·visited MSI Friday, and I decided to beat his record There is no danger Tony, who is used to publicity, will get a big head over Cactus' article, because equal space is given to the mutts Rick and Cameron Pratt have at the lighthouse. Thanks to Bob Beyers for sending us a current address for Frank Little (Ph.D., 1963). And I especially appreciate Clark Hubbs letter confirming the chicken house floor plan inthe last issue ofthe LazGaz and LONGHORNII on Lake Tanganyika. Thanks for help with this issue of the Lazarette Gazette to Terry Whitledge, Bill Piepmeier, Peter Thomas, Tony.Amos, Lynn Amos, Kathy Quade, JoAnn Page, Linda Yates, and Patty Baker. -John Thompson