Giant Japanese Spider Crab

I went to the library and read a book about shells.  I learned that the giant Japanese spider crab is the biggest crustacean in the world.  It can get up to about 12 feet across when stretched out.  The shell can reach up to 18 inches.  When we got home, we measured 12 feet and 18 inches.  We marked it with rocks.  Then we did more research online.  We learned they can live to 100 years old!!!!!  We also learned that they are omnivores.  An omnivore is an animal that eats plants and animals.  They eat dead animals and pry open mollusk shells.  They are super duper cool.

This is an interesting video about Japanese spider crabs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8P_OV8DFSk

Can you find the sea creatures?

Can you find the four sea creatures hiding in the sand?  

You can watch this video to find out what they are. 

Techniques for Catching Sea Creatures

Last Thursday and Friday I went to Menemsha.  I have two new techniques to teach you.  One technique is sand sweeping.  You drag a net along the sandy bottom of the ocean to pick up a lot of sand.  While holding the net in the water, you wiggle it back and forth until all of the sand falls through.  You will probably find lots of creatures in your net. This technique helped me catch a lot of baby lady crabs.  The other technique is picking up big clusters of sea plants laying on the sand in the water.  You pick through the plants to find creatures.  We caught 31 crabs between the two days.  We mostly caught baby crabs.  We caught lots of different species of crabs including: spider crabs, black fingered mud crabs, a baby horseshoe crab, Asian shore crabs, lady crabs, and hermit crabs.  Menemsha is fun because there are lots of cool creatures to catch.

This is a baby lady crab.  You can see the paddles on his back legs. You can also tell this is a lady crab because it has spots.

This is a baby black fingered mud crab.  You can see the black tips on his claws.  They also have yellow on their claws.

This is a baby horseshoe crab.  This is the first time I personally caught a horseshoe crab at Menemsha.

This is a black fingered mud crab.  To flip over he pushed back and pulled forward.

We caught a 3 1/2 inch baby flounder or fluke.  They are hard to catch because they blend in with the sand.  

Fluke and founders are both flat fish.  Both of his eyes are on one side of its body.  

This is the back of the fish.

This is a video a fluke or a flounder and baby lady crab swimming in a bucket.  You can observe how they move in the water.

This fluke or flounder is swimming in very shallow water.  They swim on the bottom so they can camouflage with the sand.  

Biking Around Martha's Vineyard

This is a picture me at my cousin's house.

There are many places to bike on Martha's Vineyard.  I biked with my dad to Stonewall Beach.  We found flat rocks and skipped them.  We biked around my cousin's house.  Before going home, we did a big loop around Stonewall neighborhood.  I like spending time with my dad.  

Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary

On Wednesday Amanda and I went to Felix Neck.  Suzan, the director at Felix Neck, helped us identify what is probably a sea squirt and a fish.  Then we went to the beach and caught a female fiddler crab.  We knew it was a female fiddler crab because it's claws were both small.  We caught a baby black fingered mud crab.  It was so fun because we finally caught a fiddler crab.

This is a female fiddler crab.

This is a male fiddler crab.

A Trip to Menemsha

On Tuesday Amanda and I caught creatures at Menemsha.  We were so excited that we caught a sea star. We also caught a small bright green minnow, a green crab, a lady crab, two spider crabs, a hermit crab, and a fish.  Suzan, the director at Felix Neck, told us it was probably an oyster toadfish.  

The sea star's suction cups sucked onto my hand and won't let go. 

This is a video of a hermit crab.

We found a bunch of these attached to the dock.  When we got home, we dissected it to help us learn about the animal.  We found small animals and plants on it.  There was orange stuff in the inside.  Suzan, the director at Felix Neck, helped us identify it.  It is a sea squirt.  We learned that is an invasive species.  She did not know that they were there.  Another example of an invasive species is the Asian Shore Crab.      

This is a mussel we found on the sea squirt. 

This is a video of a krill that we found on the sea squirt. 

This is what we found inside.

Long Point Wildlife Refuge

On Monday I went to Long Point with my mom and my friends.  We couldn't find any blue crabs, but we caught creatures that looked like eels.  We think they might be black rock gunnels, which are eel-like fish.   We got one big eel and several smalls ones.  They were super slippery.  We caught the biggest black fingered mud crab I ever saw.  We also caught three Asian shore crabs.  We saw a bunch of live oysters almost too big to eat.  It was a fantastic day.

The following photos were taken by: Jana Bannan mkPhoto

Kayaking Trip to Menemsha

This is the path that we took.  

This weekend my family, friends, and I went kayaking at Quitsa Pond.  We caught scallops, and they opened and closed while we were holding them.  They squirted water at us.  I also touched a horseshoe crab.  I was in my own kayak all the way to Menemsha in the wind, rain, and against the current.  After kayaking, I felt proud of myself.  When we got to Menemsha, we met a fisherman named Dave.  He had tons and tons of creatures on his boat.  He had a sea robin fish, a lot of large rock crabs, very big spider crabs, lots of skates, and he had one big shell.  It was about 6 inches across.  Dave said that there was still something alive in it.  It was a hermit crab.  It was in the biggest moon snail shell I ever saw.  There was also flounders.  Fisherman Dave was very nice.

 

What do you think?

How are these rock sticking together?  Make a guess.  To find out, scroll down and watch the video.  Don't tell anybody the answer after you watch.

Scallops

Scallops can have 60-100 blue eyes.  They are not like our eyes.  They can only detect motion, light, and darkness.  They also use their feelers to notice attacks from predators, like sea stars.  They are filter feeders. They eat small organisms.  Depending on the species, scallop shells can grow up to 4-9 inches.  

This is the inside of a scallop. 

 The arrows are pointing to the eyes.

Wave Blaster

Scallops move by squirting water out of their shells, and this helps them escape attacks.  I had an idea for an invention called the Wave Blaster.  It helps you escape waves.  The wave blaster helps you escape the current if you are going in the opposite direction of the current.  The wave blaster is generated by a light weight water wheel.  The water wheel generates electricity while you paddle, even when it is calm.  The Wave Blaster boosts you by sucking in water and pushing it out.  When it gets windy, you can turn it on for an extra boost.  

Camel I

Camels have an extra eyelid that is clear.  It helps block sand and protects the eye.  I used this adaptation for this invention idea.  Camel I is a drop that you put in your eye.  It forms a protective layer.  It will protect your eye from water, sand, snow, and sun.  To remove the protective layer, you use another drop.

Introduction to Biomimicry

This year in science I learned about animal adaptations.  An adaptation is a special body part that helps animals live in their environment.  For example, camels have extra long eyelashes to keep the sand out of their eyes.  And poisonous dart frogs have bright colors to warn other animals not to eat them.
This summer we are going to observe animals in nature and look at their adaptations. Then we are going to think of inventions that can help make our lives easier.  This is called biomimicry.
"Bio" means life and "mimic" means to copy.  Biomimicry is copying nature's adaptations to make things better.  I hope you enjoy reading my blog this summer.