Our last cruise for the DeZoZoo project is coming up quickly, but I won’t be able to make it. I’ll actually be at an ICES conference in Gdansk, Poland during the cruise but our intrepid team is going to be out there collecting samples and data.

I’m disappointed to miss it because it should be an interesting cruise. Hurrican Irene and Tropical Storm Lee dumped massive amounts of rain into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and mixed up the water. When I say “mixed” I mean literally mixed it; the high winds drew water up from the bottom and send surface water down deep.  There are some indications that the hypoxia went away shortly after the hurricanes, but it may have reestablished by now, so we will find out. There are some great images from the NASA satellites that are available on the web, including from the MD DNR Eyes on the Bay website.

In other news, we are putting on an Open House at the Horn Point Lab on October 8, from 10-3. Come on down and check out all the different things we do, including a fascinating display on zooplankton from the Chesapeake and some folks talking about hypoxia. There will be t-shirts for the kids, a hay ride, a tour of our Research Vessel the R/V Rachel Carson, a tour of the Oyster Hatchery, food, and a touch tank, among lots of other things. If you are athletically minded or just want to go for a nice walk with 150 other folks, we’re also having the Spat Dash, a 5K run/walk on the lab property, starting at 8:30 that same morning. Registration is available everyday including the day of the event, but sign up by September 15th to be guaranteed a Spat Dash hooded sweatshirt. There is even a promotional video:

Hope to see you there.