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 Home | Image Galleries | Emergency Response
Mearns Rock Time Series
A photo time series of Mearns Rock, a large boulder located in the intertidal zone at Snug Harbor on Knight Island, Prince William Sound, Alaska.
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Mearns Rock 2002
What You See
In 2002, the boulder is dominated by barnacles, creating a 50% cover. A few large, old Fucus plants on the upper section of the rock make up a 10%-15% cover. None of the green algae that was present along the mid section of the rock in 2001 is present this year. A small amount of green "sea lettuce" (Ulva) (much less than in 2001) is visible in the lower left section of the boulder. In 1993/94, when the rock last appeared quite bare, many mussels covered the boulder; however, none are present now. Overall, the boulder location is a somewhat desolate landscape this year, with more bare rocks exposed than in previous years.
What's Happening
The die off we anticipated in 2001 is now occurring in 2002. Like in 1994/95, there is an absence of juvenile Fucus plants, but unlike 1994/95, the mussels are not returning. Perhaps they will in 2003?
(07.01.02, Snug Harbor, Knight Island, Alaska)
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Overview of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Includes links to many related resources, including photo galleries.
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- Graphing Changes in Marine Life Abundance Try your hand at some marine biology! Follow these steps, designed for middle and high school students, to make a study of the marine life occupying a section, or quadrat, of Mearns Rock.
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- Mearns Rock Time Series How does marine life recover from a major, one-time stress, such as an oil spill? As you will learn here, the answer is not simple.
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- Northwest Bay Study Site Photos of one of our study sites, a rocky beach on an islet in Northwest Bay, shortly after high-pressure, hot-water washing in 1989, and again in 1998.
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- Response to the Exxon Valdez Spill Within hours after the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, a team of NOAA OR&R scientists arrived on-scene.
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