The Wrack

Reporting on 12+ years of larval fish research in the Gulf of Maine at the 45th Larval Fish Conference.

A warm-water crab found in a plankton sample from Wells Harbor in 2019 is a rare record for the Gulf of Maine.

eDNA methods and traditional plankton-net surveys are complementary ways to investigate estuarine fish assemblages. Which methods to use depend on what question we ask.

Two industrious research volunteers keep a key project on track by setting up a remote science lab on their kitchen table.

Introduction to the larval fish monitoring done by reserve scientists at Wells Harbor.

I'm interested in the relationship between human communities and their environments. That is, how human activities have impacted watershed environments, coastal ecologies, and others and how environmental changes such as climate change and sea level rise are affecting human communities especially in coastal regions.

Jeremy Miller embraces the long view. His projects depend on it. As lead technician for our system-wide monitoring program (SWMP), as state coordinator for monitoring marine invasives (MIMIC), and as lead scientist on the reserves larval fish study, Jeremy adds pieces to puzzles without predefined shape. He knows that patterns begin to emerge only after years of methodical, meticulous data collection.

Its been 7 years since we started collecting larval fish and 3 years since our last update (See Team Larval Fish at the Wells Reserve) so its time for another look at the wonderful world of larval fish! Weve had some exciting developments over that time and attended some professional meetings where we have made connections with other researchers working on early life stages of fishes.

Fellow Research Intern Tim Dubay and I have been working with Jeremy Miller this summer to expand the Wells Reserves ongoing larval fish project. We're "Team Larval Fish!"

In the summer of 2009, Marissa Hammond came to us as a wide-eyed freshman with little experience in research science. She has blossomed into a NOAA scholarship award winner who has been accepted into a highly respected graduate program in fisheries management and policy.