Sally's Bend

For those of you who aren't aware, my supervisor, Sally Hacker, has a very intimate connection with a nook of Yaquina Bay baring her name. The name of the spot, Sally's Bend pre-existed her, but I think she can now rightfully claim the namesake based on the number of hours she has spent emerged in in its muddy depths. You see, Sally has been conducting an experiment on the two species of mud shrimp that co-occur here for the past 2+ years. Granted, she has had some help in the mud, but its only through her perseverance, fortitude and gumption that the experiment has persisted. Most sane people would have given up after day 1, but not Sally or her students - they are a bit nuts and very hard core. Here are some reasons why:

1) you can't walk in mud: no you have to do a special strut with lots of forward momentum to go anywhere. some people have it, some people learn it, others wallow. alternatively, and especially near the end of the day, you can crawl or try the back-crawl. it takes awhile to perfect these techniques and some people lose it trying to take a step.

2) early mornings and long days: its not so bad waking up really early for fieldwork, there's always a lot of coffee to get you going, but the early hour tends to catch up with you once you've been out on the mud flat for 6 hours digging, strutting and hauling things around. I joined Sally and Jer on day 7 or 8 of the experiment take-down. At 5-6 hours a pop that makes for a lot of hours in the mud! Given the coffee consumption at dawn one undoubtfully has to take a break at some point. The guys are lucky, the girls have to head for shore.....

3) mud is yucky: which brings me to the next point. you get used to being covered in dirt and grime while in the mud. waders keep you nice and protected and you begin to sport mud flecs on your face as war wounds. However, some bodily places are just not made for mud, and it is really disgusting to get it in your ears, nostrils and other places that get exposed when you have to make that bathroom break - yuck!

4) mud sucks you in: for this experiment we use a giant metal core as a sampling unit (it can fit a child inside it). we dig out all the mud within the enclosed core area. one person is in charge of digging out the core, while the others go through the pallards of mud and collect all the shrimp and clams for later analysis. as you sit there digging or picking you gradually sink into the mud. this doesn't seem like a problem until its time to move or your foot goes numb. at this point you have to dig yourself out. you're on your own for this one - doesn't working well digging others out. so you have to do a dance, a wiggle back and forth motion with all sorts of twists and turns thrown in to extricate yourself. being limber might actually be the best attibute of a mud worker!

5) gross creatures lurk in the mud: you never know what you're going to unearth in the mud... for the most part we get harmless shrimp who are pathetic once you get over the size of their claws. but occasionally you find ginormous (apparently now an official dictionary word) worms. if you see or touch one of these beasts, most likely a Nereis spp. you can't help but squeal. even the most macho of guys can't help themselves. their undulating parapodia give anyone the heebee geebees.

I hope I've convinced you that this work isn't for everyone, but haven't deterred anyone too much. You're curious right? Everyone should try it at least once, its fun stuff, but a warning that it can be addictive for some unknown reason (perhaps the sulfur fumes?). All in the name of science you could say..... Do the two morphologically different species, Upogebia pugettensis and Neotrypea californianus compete? Do they bioturmate and change the sediment in difference ways as they burrow about? What structures their marked zonation in the mudflat? But there's got to be more ....... Its an excellent work out with market potential as the next exercise/diet craze - both quads, upper body and abs all at once, coupled with a menu of giant pizza slices, cupcakes and cinnamon roll bread pudding (with vanilla sauce) afterwards. Most of all though, its the feeling you have when its all over, re-hashing the morning's events in the coffee shop with your mud-mates, still speckled in salty earth, but relishing the fact that very few people could ever fully comprehend what you've already experienced that day.