Anne Fong, a junior at George Washington High School in San Francisco, headed back to school this week. But she begins this school year with a very different perspective about the San Francisco bay, her studies, and the future.

Anne was one of ten San Francisco high school interns to participate in SF-BEEP's pilot two-week program. As part of the program, interns spent their days at the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association’s classroom that sits on San Francisco’s Chrissy Field waterfront, and also at Aquarium of the Bay next to PIER 39. This was the first education program to be held by The Bay Institute at the aquarium since the two organizations became affiliated. 

The program gives high school interns the opportunity to work hands-on with marine biologists to learn more about the environmental sciences.

“SF-BEEP offers students a unique opportunity to participate in activities that are commonly not possible in a traditional classroom setting,” said Patti Vance, SF-BEEP manager. “Hands-on activities such as plankton tows, sand crab monitoring and water quality testing also offer a glimpse into careers associated with environmental sciences. This is particularly helpful for students who are trying to figure out the next steps to take in their academic lives.

While her peers were spending the last two weeks of their summer break at the mall or the beach, Anne and her fellow interns were at the waterfront monitoring sand crabs, taking water samples from the Bay, and peering into microscopes.

Interns conduct scientific research using advanced equipment to monitor water samples from the bay and identify and analyze plankton specimens. Plankton provides 50 to 60% of the earth’s oxygen and are key indicators of environmental and aquatic health.

Last Friday, at Aquarium of the Bay, Anne and her fellow interns presented their research findings from the past two weeks to a room full of marine biologists, family and friends.

The research assignments helped the interns learn, first-hand, the affects of humans on the ecosystem.

“These last two weeks gave the students a deeper appreciation and understanding of the estuary,” said Vance. “What’s more, they have the desire to convert this knowledge into action. To have a positive impact on their environment. The program will support these efforts during the coming school year.”

“I’ve always been aware of litter and pollution,” said Anne. “But I didn’t know much on the micro level. This program has really changed my perspective about the importance of plankton to the ecosystem, and the whole food chain.”

“I see the entire planet is suffering from human hands, because humans aren’t very prudent about how they use their trash. As for the ocean, it’s shocking to see how agricultural waste and toxins from industry affect the ecosystem.”

When asked about her key learnings from the past two weeks, Anne says, “Don’t overfish and don’t drive around so much. Don’t leave our lights on, be sure you throw your trash in cans, recycle, and compost more.”

The hands-on research helped open the students’ eyes to potential career fields. Crystal Sanders, a member of the The Bay Institute staff and SF-BEEP program instructor, sees the program as a way to inspire the next generation of marine biologists.

“The most common response I get whenever I tell people I am a marine biologist is, ‘I always wanted to do that when I was growing up,’” said Sanders. “It is my hope that if these students have any desire to become marine biologists that this program has give them some knowledge, inspiration, and motivation to turns their dreams into their reality.”

When asked about her plans for the future, Anne says she’d like to do something in the sciences.

“I’d like a job somewhere in the science field, biology, marine biology, botany,” said Anne. “Or perhaps the environmental sciences. I’m concerned about the planet’s future, so I’d like to do something to help that.”

Following is the article that Anne wrote about her experience.

This summer, I participated in a two week program, the San Francisco Bay Estuary Education Program (SF-BEEP), located at the Farallones Visitor Center. There were a total of ten enthusiastic high school students and six friendly faculty members from the Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary. During these two weeks, we explored the undersea world of microscopic sea organisms called plankton using a microscope.

On the first day, we learned the basics such as identification of plankton, and then we did crab fishing. The crab fishing was really cool. We put bait cages stuffed with squid and threw them into the water. Four minutes later, we pulled them up to see if we caught anything. The process is really fun, but the hard part is keeping the crabs hooked onto the cages. If lucky, the crab would stay on throughout the entire haul up, but sometimes, the crab would let go. After crab fishing, we tried to catch plankton by dragging a special net up and down the pier. The net would filter out the water and catch the plankton. We then put drops of water on a slide and look at it under a microscope. What I saw was fascinating. Numerous of plankton were swimming around, each with their own unique style of locomotion, trying to swim away from the light underneath. It was quite amazing. Everyday would end like this. We spent the rest of the week identifying our catch and working on a final presentation project. The last day, we took a behind-the-scenes tour of Aquarium of the Bay.

We learned that every summer, there are cold water upwelling. Nutrient-rich cold water, driven by wind, would rise from the bottom of the ocean and replace the warm nutrient-depleted waters on the surface. During the upwelling, the plankton has lots to eat, and start of multiply rapidly. The fishes, that eat plankton, now have lots of plankton to eat, and start to grow in numbers. And the sharks and whales and birds come and feed on the plankton and the fish. These coastal upwelling are important to the ocean’s ecosystem. The Gulf of the Farallones is called “the restaurant of the sea”. Some sea animals such as the Sooty Albatross (a type of bird) will travel from Australia just to get food. If a bird is willing to fly all the way from half-way around the world just to feed, these upwelling must be extremely vital. There’s a problem however. Global warming warms up the ocean. Planktons, which thrive in cold water, are unable to survive. Without plankton, this causes a major ecosystem collapse. With no plankton, we have no fish. With no fish, we have no sea lions and sharks. And without those sharks and sea lions, our bay is pretty much dead. The other thing is, as the water warms up, the upwelling happen farther and farther away from the coast.  Sea lions and sea birds must travel farther for their food. This makes them vulnerable to predators. But in the big picture, the organism that is affected the most is plankton. Plankton is extremely vital because not only are they are stationed at the bottom of the food chain, they also provide 60% of all the oxygen we breathe. That means if they are omitted, then the effect will travel up the food chain and eventually affect humans. 

Before I had this program, I was unaware of the picture from a micro level. I had no idea that plankton was so important. Like most people, I overlooked the vitality of plankton and focused more on the big picture (the whales, sharks, etc). This program really changed my perspective on how I see the ocean. We should focus more on saving these little guys, because in the end, it all comes down to plankton.

This program has opened up more career options for me. In the past, I wanted to do something in the medical field. But after this, I figured I could also do something in the science field. But I haven’t figured out exactly where in the science field. 

Bay area residents should be concerned about the bay’s health. What affects the bay, will eventually affect us too. The first organisms to appear after the Big Bang appeared in the ocean; therefore, the ocean must be kept a sustaining habitat. We should pay more attention to what’s happening to our planet because this planet will eventually be handed down to our children, and their children, and their children. The last thing we should give to the children we love and care so deeply for, is a polluted planet. 

A few simple steps can be taken to slow the global warming process. These steps include taking public transportation more often, walking more, and taking the car out less. If your destination is less than twenty blocks away, it’s more prudent to walk than to waste gasoline on a three minute car ride. The second step is to throw trash into the appropriate waste bin. One of the biggest problems is that people are careless about where they throw their trash. We need to be careful about where we throw it. It should be common sense and yet people are still careless about it. The third step is to buy locally grown food. They can be found at farmer’s markets. And most of the food is organic. When buying fish, be sure the fish is from a sustainable source. Sustainable means the capacity to endure. In other words, even though the fish is being fished, that certain breed remains productive and doesn’t “run out”. The final step is to let family know how they can help save the environment and the ocean. They can visit Aquarium of the Bay near PIER 39 and the Farallones Visitor Center in Crissy Field to learn more about what the ocean means to San Francisco. Remember, when it comes to the ocean, every plankton counts.