Estuary Survival

The Rules of Life

The Players

Dungeness crab – Cancer magister

• 5mm across carapace – megalops

• 12mm across carapace – 1st instar

• 20mm across carapace - juvenile

Coho salmon – Oncorhynchus kisutch

• 35mm fork length – parr

• 50mm fork length – smolt

• 65mm fork length - juvenile

Predator/prey cards

•The Striped Bass represents a non-native fish.

•These fish appear on the predator/prey cards.

•Predator/prey cards describe a situation with consequences for crabs and salmon in the estuary depending on factors such as your size and location.

Estuary condition cards

• Estuary condition cards describe the tides and different factors that will impact life in the estuary.

• The habitats below the low tide line include only the open water channel and the eelgrass meadows.

• If you’re crab or salmon occupies a square that has any of a particular kind of habitat in it, you may claim that habitat. For example, if you have any bright green eelgrass in your square, you are protected by the eelgrass.

Estuary Survival gameboard

Estuary Survival gameboard

Low tide lines

Estuary Survival gameboard

Estuary zones

Estuary Survival gameboard

Habitat legend

Habitat and tide zones

• The estuary playing board is divided into three areas – low, mid, and upper estuary which are divided by lines across the board.

• The low tide line is marked in black.• The habitat zones cross over these areas.• To claim a habitat, at least 50% of your square must be

covered by this habitat.• Four habitat zones exist

– Eelgrass (bright green)– Open water (blue)– Mudflats (brown)– Salt marsh (dark green)

Your scorecard

• Investigator’s name

• Common name of the animal

• Genus and species

• Size and life stage

• Three questions

• Scoring box for each round

Tokens are worth 20 points each

35mm salmon smolt

50mm salmon smolt

65mm salmon smolt

5mm crab megalops

12mm crab larva

20mm crab larva

sample scoring for 3 rounds

Position Habitat Fate

C7 Eelgrass My crab survived an oil spill because he was in the mid-estuary.

C7 Eelgrass My crab survived because the eelgrass provided cover from cormorants.

C7 Eelgrass My crab grew one size class because the high tide brought food from the ocean.

Graphing survivorship

Survived round 1

8 crabs

5mm

5 crabs

12mm

6 salmon

35mm

3 salmon

65mm

Survived round 2

Survived round 3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

surviving individuals

round 1 round 2 round 3 round 4

rounds

Estuary survivorship

crab 5mm

crab 12mm

crab 20mm

salmon 35mm

salmon 50mm

salmon 65mm