Oceanography Class Field Trip to Port Aransas and Padre Island

The group of seven students and Dr. Pittman left Lamar on Thursday afternoon, November 13, and arrived in Port Aransas, where they checked into the dorms at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. In the evening the group enjoyed seafood at a local restaurant called Moby Dick's.

At 7:30 Friday morning the group met John Williams, of UTMSI, who gave an orientation and safety lecture, before all climbed aboard the RV Katy, a shrimp boat converted for education. Captain Stan took the boat out of the harbor and up the ship channel to Redfish Bay, an extension from Corpus Christi Bay. The trip, which lasted more than four hours, included a bottom sample with a Peterson grab sampler, bottom trawls with the otter trawl, at the deepest depths in the ship channel, over 50 feet, and at 12 feet deep in Redfish Bay, and a surface plankton tow. With each activity, specimens were brought on board for examination and discussion.

Students onboard the RV Katy watch dolphins surface in the ship channel on the way out to the sampling area in Redfish Bay. Dolphins like to ride the bow wave of the Katy.

John Williams, of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, shows the results of a plankton tow. The group then viewed specimens of diatoms, copepods, and other plankton under the RV Katy's microscope system in the cabin.

Among the bigger animals caught was a Gafftopsail Catfish. Numerous "Hardhead" catfish were also caught.

Bonnie Roberts kisses a sting ray. (just kidding).

John Williams demonstrates how to hold a blue crab.

Several species of shrimp came up  in the trawls, including this whopper white shrimp.

Mud from the bottom sample was full of broken mollusk shells and other shell fragments and various living organisms. These were viewed under the microscope, which has a camera and computer attached for on-screen viewing.

The camera and computer attached to the microscope allow close-up views. This clam extended its muscular foot and then retracted it. Arms of brittle stars and worms are also in view here.

Brown pelicans were numerous in Port Aransas. Here one does a close fly-by of the RV Katy near the ferry.

Dr. Pittman put up his spotting scope to get great views of the moon, a few days past full, and huge when just coming up above the horizon over the ship channel. Most students had digital cameras, and some were able to get good photographs through the telescope, by simply holding their camera to the eyepiece (digiscoping).

Saturday morning the wind was so bad, with the passage of a cold front during the night,  the visit to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi was moved forward a day. Exhibits and presentations were seen about dolphins, birds and other animal life, and feeding sessions in the large aquarium.

Saturday afternoon the group visited Padre Island National Seashore, first enjoying a presentation at the headquarters by park personnel, who showed examples of items that wash up on the beach there. They explained how there are huge piles of debris down the beach that washed in after Hurricane Ike.

Before examining the tidal flats around Laguna Madre, the group hiked a nature trail through the vegetated sand dunes on the grasslands of north Padre Island.

The group returned to the Lamar campus in Beaumont on Sunday, after a sideline trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the way home, where a pair of whooping cranes were seen in the distance through the spotting scope, along with several javelina and other wildlife.