Photo of the Week

“Everything is poured onto the conveyor belt to be sorted.”

Photo: Carol Schnaiter

Next everything goes into the “wet” lab. It is called a wet lab because this area has water available and it is where the organisms are poured out on to a long conveyor belt, sorted, and washed. First, everything is sorted by species. Then everything is counted, measured, weighed, and sometimes the gender and maturity are calculated. All of this is recorded into computers. Some of the species are very tiny and others are large, but everything is counted. Many of them look alike so the scientists need to be careful when sorting everything. The scientists on the Oregon II know many of the names of what they catch, but they also use books, charts, and the computer to look up information to make sure." - Carol Schnaiter