The Joker in the Salt Marsh

The Great Marsh, Massachusetts
For C & J.

On a recent sampling trip in the Great Marsh I brought along a new assistant, The Joker. He was done shooting his latest film and needed a break from his general villainy.

The Joker investigates the mud between the stems.

Like some new interns, The Joker was easily distracted. Here he mounts a steed, a horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) molt, and wields a mighty blade of grass.

Come on, Joker! Quit horseshoe-crabbing around and let’s get to work.

The Joker couldn’t avoid villainy entirely as he tried to recruit a horde of coffee-bean snails (Melampus bidentatus) to join his evil gang of gastropods.

He got one recruit. And it totally went to his head. 

As one of the more fashionable villains, he fell in love with a blushing pickleweed (Salicornia europa) that matched his hair and jacket. 

The Joker came across a ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa)… 

and decided he needed more mussel for his next bank heist. 

 

The Joker learned the different marsh grasses. Here he’s showing a flowering shoot of marsh hay (Spartina patens) that it’s not the only grass in the marsh. 

After he learned his grasses, we finally got to work. Here The Joker is estimating the percent cover of grass in the marsh. Looks like about 100%, don’t you think, Joker?

After a while, I was able to trust him to record data. He was a little slow and a lot messy, but that’s field work sometimes.

As we left the marsh through the woods, The Joker asked for a snack. I said no. 

But we did have a well-deserved swim in the river.