Fresh Sheet - June 3, 2009

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.


Philippines June 3, 2009

9 Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
8 Ideopsis juventa (Wood Nymph)
100 Idea leuconoe (Paper Kite)
7 Pachliopta kotzeboea (Pink Rose)
10 Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
10 Papilio palinurus (Banded Peacock)
15 Papilio polytes (Polite swallowtail )
16 Papilio rumanzovia (Crimson Swallowtail)
80 Parthenos sylvia philppensis (Blue Clipper)

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Tidepool Disaster Averted

Wednesday May 27, Pacific Science Center animal caretaker Dan Warner had five minutes between a staff meeting and lunch time, and decided to check in on our Puget Sound Saltwater Tidepool animals. It turned out to be a smart decision that saved the animals from hours of stress, and might have saved some of their lives.

When Dan checked the tidepool, the water looked "wrong". He didn't see the patterns of ripples that indicate it is being circulated. The animals were oddly motionless. Checking the recirculating water pump, Dan found that it appeared to be barely functioning. Instead of recovering, it failed completely when he tried to restart it.

A replacement pump must stand up to saltwater, and must operate 24/7 without problem. Our old pump was just about perfect, but wouldn't you know, they don't make it any longer. The new pump fits all the criteria, and should last us for many years. The old pump is being sent back to the manufacturer who offered to make repairs so that it can become our backup system in the future.

Facilities Technician Kirk Vanfossen knew as well as Dan did that this was an emergency for the animals involved. He was cleaning the ponds, but dropped his pressure washer and met Dan and Life Sciences Manager Sarah Moore in the tidepool back room within minutes, where it was quickly determined that the pump was no longer operable.

Because they are intertidal, our animals can tolerate more extremes of temperature and water conditions than deep water animals. But the combined stress of being handled, residual chemicals from products that do not rinse off of visitor hands and a broken pump would be too much for them. Without circulation to bring deliver oxygen, filter out contaminants and bring the temperature down, the animals would quickly become stressed and eventually die.

Don Sundgren, Maintanence technician, was able to adapt the system to the new pump, and we started it up.

Once the new pump was in place, we ran it for 24 hours to make sure there were no problems, and to let the water chemistry settle down after slower circulation caused some drag on the natural biological filter. The water was then tested, appeared to be in good condition and the animals were examined and found to be healthy and ready to go.

The healthy, happy tidepool was reopened for visitors to enjoy!

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June Butterfly of the Month

Prepona omphale

Range: Mexico to Amazon Basin

• In the wild, Prepona omphale rarely go to the forest floor, even feeding on fruits in the canopy section of the rain forest. However, in our Tropical Butterfly House they are happy to eat at the fruit dishes near the floor.


• With a unique flight pattern, Prepona omphale's wing muscles are powerful allowing it to make very fast, aggressive swoops when chasing rivals (the male considers nearly anything except female P. omphale to be a "rival") or fleeing danger, yet its normal flight is slow and forceful.


• Although little is known about their lifespan in the wild, we find Preponas to be one of the healthiest butterflies to keep in captivity. Preponas are unfussy, emerging without complication. Although displaying for visitors, they rarely land on people or fly around faces. Best of all, Preponas almost never try to hitchhike out on people.


• Preponas have two colors of blue on its wings, one lighter powder blue and one almost cobalt - which is rare. On the underside the wings are camouflaged and sport false eyes. Can you think of other butterflies that have false eyes on the outer sides of their wings?
  

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On the Beach

Taking advantage of the remarkably low tides recently, a group of Science Interpreters, Discovery Corps members and Life Sciences staff visited Discovery Park's North Beach on an extended lunch hour. Discovery Park is Seattle's largest park, has a City Park Marine Reserve, and is a close drive from Pacific Science Center. he purpose of our field trip was observational and educational. Because our Saltwater Tidepool Model features Puget Sound animals, we wanted to see them in their natural habitat. Furthermore, we become better spokespersons for their care and wellbeing and bring added insight to our interpretation. With firsthand knowledge, we can help our visitors practice their tidepooling manners for the next time they visit the beach.

　

As we carefully stepped along the sandy shore, we observed colonies of aggegating anenome (Anthopleura elegantissima) congregated within a couple of feet of each other. Scientists have studied warring behavior between aggregating anenome colonies of different genetic composition.

Upon closer inspection, Science Interpreter Gail noticed that the anenome tubercules were covered with tiny bits of shell and sand. This debris protects the anenome from sun damage and helps conserve moisture when the animals are exposed at low tide.

We also noticed an abundance of "clam shows," a dimple in the sand that indicates where a clam has withdrawn its siphon. The pressure from our footsteps on the sand set off a lot of "spitting" from the bivalves buried below. Along the lowest edge of the tide line we noticed a long line of exposed geoduck (Panopea abrupta) siphons. We could only imagine how far beneath the sand these giant clams rested - or how large they must be.Unfortunately, we did not see any sea stars or sculpins on this sandy beach. But at the high tide line boulders were covered with seaweed, kelp, mussels, barnacles and more anemones.The exceptional find of the day was ayoung harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) haul out. Observing this protected marine mammal gave us an incentive to learn about their behavior. Our encounter was a reminder that humans are just visitors to the beach. Seashores are homes to many sea creatures, large and small, which all need our respect when visiting their habitat.

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