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Fall Online Auction Oct 26 - Nov 1
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Help us kick-off our end-of-year fundraising with our fall online auction! Thanks to our very generous donors, we have an incredible line-up of auction items! Check back often as new items will be added daily.
OPENS: Monday, October 26, 8:00 AM AKDT
CLOSES: Sunday, November 1, 5:00 PM AKST
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Welcome New Board Member, Sylvia Lange
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I am Sylvia R. Lange, born and raised in Cordova where I make my home and work with my husband, Greg Meyer and our three grown children. I am of Tlingit and Sugpiaq heritage on my grandmothers' side, and my grandfathers were German and Danish immigrants. My parents were Mae Hansen Lange, and Fred Lange, also of Cordova.
I am pleased to be on PWSSC board, to lend a local and indigenous perspective. I am especially pleased to help in the ground breaking and opening of the newly planned campus here in Cordova, and look forward to the economic and scientific development this will bring to our community.
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Salmon Egg-Take a Huge Success!
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| | Fertilized eggs being placed in the tank. Photo by Nicole Webster. |
What a wonderful day in the watershed! Last week we invited families to Holbrook Pond to learn about our local spawning salmon and to participate in an egg collection. About 50 people made the trek to learn about the importance of bankside vegetation, the role a redd plays in protecting salmon eggs, and to watch the extraction of eggs and milt from spawning salmon. The eggs we collected were fertilized with collected milt and will be reared in our salmon tank. The tank usually resides in the local elementary school, but this year everyone will be able to view the salmon tank and monitor the development of the young coho!
Want to see how the fertilized eggs are faring or see when the alevin emerge from their eggs? If you are in Cordova, stop by the Copper River Watershed Project window on First Street and have a look! For those that live elsewhere you'll be able to check on them via our "Salmon Stream" in your own home very soon (stay tuned)!
Thanks to everyone who joined us at the egg-take and our partners from the Copper River Watershed Project, the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation, and Alaska Department of Fish & Game for helping us pull this amazing program together! This egg-take is permitted under P-20-021.
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Brow Game On Point
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| | The bird in the bottom photo is a female, see the strong white brow? Photos by Anne Schaefer. |
If you are following along with recent beauty trends, you may have noticed that it is all about the BROW - the eyebrow that is. A bold brow is all the rage and, as it turns out, Semipalmated Plovers are trendsetting style icons; females have significantly stronger brows than their male counterparts.
The white eyebrow of the female Semipalmated Plover is bolder, longer, and much more distinct, whereas the male eyebrow is shorter and often faded. No, we are not researching wildlife beauty standards. Field-markings, such as eyebrows (or "postocular stripes"), are useful tools for sexing birds and these breeding male and female Semipalmated Plovers otherwise look remarkably similar. Therefore, a distinguishing feature like a bold brow allows researchers to differentiate the sex of nesting shorebirds and reduces the need to take blood samples.
Keep an eye(brow) out for our upcoming news story with an in-depth look at how this information is useful to a long-term study on nest site fidelity and survival of these stylish shorebirds on Egg Island.
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Upcoming Event This Sunday!
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The stars are aligning! (The sea stars, that is.) Come tide pooling with us this Sunday, October 18th at Hartney Bay from 9:30 to 10:30 AM. PWSSC educators will be there to help guide exploration of the intertidal zone and its inhabitants.
You can come for a little or stay the whole time! Please wear clothes for the weather and the mud flats.
This is part of our Discover Cordova series, aimed at getting people outside and connected to the place they call home. Keep an eye out for these events all year long on a variety of topics.
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The Science Center is committed to understanding how one place on earth can maintain a reliable economy and natural environment for the long term.
We need your help now more than ever. If you believe in our mission and care about what we do, please consider making a donation today. Every dollar helps us stay stable during these uncertain times.
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