An up-close look at the rocky intertidal

May 16, 2016 • 12:41 PM UTC

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Carrie Boyle

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Hi again! Carrie here with more foldscope adventuring to post about. As you may have seen in other posts, our graduate marine ecology class here at CSU Monterey Bay recently took a trip to the rocky intertidal habitat at Point Pinos on the Monterey Peninsula.

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The beautiful rocky intertidal at low tide. I found some fish eggs attached to a rock, which one of our classmates’ coworkers identified as sculpin eggs:

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We were armed with our foldscopes so we decided to take a closer look. This was my first time using the foldscope in the field and it worked out surprisingly well!

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I brought my little LED light + battery, which made it very easy to set the scope down on a rock and attach my phone to it so my friend and I could take a look at the same time.

I’m guessing that these are eggs in early development. I’m not sure what the bubble is in each of them – I had taped them down so the bubble could have been outside of the egg, but it was difficult to tell. Maybe someone in the Foldscope community knows what we’re looking at? Either way, it was very cool to be able to take this close of a look right there in the field! I felt completely comfortable setting the Foldscope on a wet, algae-covered rock to snap those pictures.
I also took some algae home to take a closer look:

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Preparing a little slide of Microcladia coulteri (I think) I believe this red algae is Microcladia coulteri (correct me if I’m wrong!). It looked beautiful under the foldscope!

It is distinguished by its branching pattern and delicate tips, both of which are very clear up close as well.
Here is some scouring pad algae ( Endocladia muricata ):

I was surprised to see how spiny it was up close, but those spines would explain its slightly rough texture (at least compared to the slippery algae that otherwise inhabit the intertidal!)
Speaking of slippery algae, I love that the foldscope was able to not only survive the rocky intertidal field trip but also produce these beautiful views of the organisms. Truly versatile! Brainstorming about where I can take it next..

An up-close look at the rocky intertidal

Carrie Boyle

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