New Coastal and Marine Institute Lab supports research on compromised marine habitat

Tokyo has the Pacific, San Francisco hugs the bay that shares its name and Paris nestles against the banks of the Seine.

It’s no coincidence that some of the largest and most vibrant urban areas are built along the water.

Since the first civilizations, communities have thrived where water provides easy access to trade, an ample source of food and scenic recreation spots.

But while water is conducive to urbanization, urbanization is detrimental to marine health. Pollution, overfishing and other human factors threaten the waters supporting these metropolises.

Biology professor Brian Hentschel’s research helps
restore the Tijuana Estuary for juvenile marine
invertebrate survival.

For years, world-class marine labs have studied the open ocean and pristine coastal areas with little to moderate development. Few researchers focused on the specialized conditions of urban coastal regions – until now.

In 2005, the SDSU Coastal and Marine Institute (CMI) Lab opened in Point Loma, on land previously owned by the Naval Training Center. Built in partnership with the US Geological Survey, the project was financed by the SDSU Research Foundation.

“The SDSU Coastal and Marine Institute Laboratory is unique because it is probably the only marine lab built in a heavily urbanized area,” said Todd Anderson, SDSU biology professor and the lab’s new director. “It gives us the opportunity not only to do coastal research, but to focus on urban pollutants and other factors that result from development.”

Every minute, more than 200 gallons of San Diego Bay water flow into the facility, where it is filtered and pumped back cleaner than before. This steady stream of seawater gives researchers ample opportunity to tackle the region’s toughest environmental concerns and create a national hub for urban coastal research.

“There are a lot of issues now concerning coastal pollution, coastal habitat, wetlands, coastal watersheds, recreational safety,” said Richard Gersberg, the CMI’s previous director. “It makes sense that SDSU’s lab should focus research efforts not on the deep sea ocean, but on the coastal fringe, which will become more altered with human impacts and global climate change.”

A little TLC

Along that coastal fringe lies the Tijuana Estuary, where human and marine life converge with mixed results.

“It’s a heavily impacted urban estuary,” said SDSU biology professor Brian Hentschel, who heads a research project funded by California Sea Grant. “It’s surrounded on all sides by houses, shopping centers and parking lots. Every time it rains, there are big sewage overflows and mudslides.”

Hentschel looks at the estuary’s juvenile marine invertebrates – worms, lobsters, clams, shrimps and other creatures between the larval and adult stage of life. They tend to be the first to return to a damaged habitat because they are adapted to colonize vacant space.

In his work, Hentschel looks at the factors determining the rate of juvenile growth. He has found that these relatively young sea creatures grow faster and are less likely to be wiped out by predators when current speeds in tidal creeks are faster. Since the estuary is an active restoration project managed by several government agencies, Hentschel can turn his findings into specific recommendations on how to shape new creek beds.

Built in 2005 and financed by the SDSU Research
Foundation, the CMI lab has the space and specialized
equipment to support urban coastal research.

“One of the things my students and I do is raise hundreds of thousands of larvae, creating culture jars and manipulating sources of food, light and pollution, Hentschel said. “Raising live microscopic animals and keeping them alive really depends on good supplies of seawater, as well as facilities that control light and temperature conditions.”

In the CMI Lab, with its 9,000 square feet of indoor space, sea tables, temperature-controlled chambers, 12,000 square-foot boatyard and capacity to pump in thousands of gallons of seawater, Hentschel, Anderson and biology colleagues Matt Edwards, Kevin Hovel and Bob Zeller can perform sophisticated research and take on projects they couldn’t have done before.

“Many of us are hoping to soon be able to perform large mesocosm experiments,” Hentschel said. “We could set up large 5,000-gallon tanks and actually recreate a decent-sized chunk of habitat to observe an entire community of small marine organisms.”

Returning the favor

Many marine communities call the San Diego Bay eel grass beds home.

“Eel grass is a nursery for fish,” said David Merk, director of environmental services for the Port of San Diego. “It’s a place where small fry go and hide from larger prey; it’s where eggs are laid, hatched and protected. The more eel grass we have in the San Diego Bay, the greater are the bay’s resources.”

CMI researchers help the Port of San
Diego expand San Diego Bay eel
grass beds, which provide crucial
protection for small marine life.

The Port is charged with protecting and enhancing the bay. In 2006, its Department of Environmental Services began diverting $5 million of its $100 million annual leasehold revenue into an Environmental Fund. That money finances projects not mandated by the port’s charter. In the first year, it funded approximately 30 projects, several of which were collaborations between port personnel and CMI researchers.

“We knew there needed to be work done on eel grass bed enhancement and we knew SDSU was the local academic institution doing the most in that particular area, so we went directly to them,” Merk said.

At the CMI Lab, researchers are working to understand what causes eel grass beds to suffer or thrive and also how they expand. Their research may help the port protect and expand existing beds and potentially grow new ones.

The CMI partnership with the Port of San Diego is just one of many, including the United States Geological Society, with which they share their facility, and the San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department, which has a neighboring facility.

Anderson and other CMI faculty hope to capitalize on these partnerships to increase educational opportunities, including internships, for graduate, undergraduate and K-12 students as well as the public.

“Research is an important part of the education of graduate and undergraduate students,” Anderson said. “Communicating these results to K-12 students and the public provides a nexus for understanding marine science and its approach to applied problems. It’s fundamentally important to have the support of the university, school districts and the public to provide for the long-term health of urbanized coastal areas, such as San Diego Bay.”

Related information

• SDSU Coastal and Marine Institute Lab
• SDSU Biology Department
• Tijuana Estuary
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Port of San Diego

Credits

• Story by Lauren Coartney
• Story edited by Coleen L. Geraghty
• Graphics by Lori Padelford
• Photos by Tom Farrington