Monthly Archives: June 2022

2022

urchins upon urchins upon sea eggs

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Today, in contrast with yesterday, did start out with urchins! Bright and early in the morning we headed out to a patch reef in the MPA to collect data for our research question. Afterwards, we collected urchins for the urchin hunt, and gathered a whopping 52 urchins at the first patch reef, plus one West Indian Sea Egg that I named Harry. We had three slate pencil urchins and 49 E. virdis urchins. We went to another MPA and collected more data, and more urchins. This time around, we got 57! All of them were E. virdis. I also found another sea egg, which I named Sally. I have faith that the two of them will cross the atoll and find each other eventually šŸ™‚ Overall, it was a great morning for echinoderms (the species including urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers, etc), as we also came across multiple brittle stars and two sea cucumbers!

Harry the west indian sea egg
Sally the west indian sea egg, covered in sea grass

In both MPA patch reefs, I was on the lookout for brown algae. I saw a lot of the saucer leaf algae (turbinaria tricostata) and white scroll algae (padina jamaicensis). I also saw some really cool y-branching algae that had some vibrant blue branches, which I believe to be dictyota menstrualis. Also, I finally figured out what the brown algae clumps were that I couldn’t identify! I believe it to be padina gymnospora, a species related to the white scroll algae. This variety had been covering the reef patch in the MPA that we saw yesterday, so it was nice to figure that out.

dictyota menstrualis (the brown y-branches and the blue y-branches toward the center)

In the afternoon, we went on a “for fun” snorkel in the reef flats. We came across a reef that was mostly algae, but had some sparse coral and lots of fish varieties! We came across three lionfish, but none of them were caught, unfortunately. We did spear one earlier, bringing the current lionfish count to two. Also, fun fact lion fish catching is the only kind of fishing allowed in the conservation zone, since it is an invasive species!

There were also several giant lobsters, yellow jacks, damsel fish, parrot fish, and angel fish! One of the areas was like a fish highway, which was cool to see, in spite of the reef not really being a true coral reef anymore. As I mentioned, the reef area was mostly algal-dominated, and there was rotting sargassum covering a lot of the reef floor. As the sea weed rots, it releases nutrients in the water, which actually promotes more algal growth, rather than coral growth. The fact that there was healthy coral there at all was quite impressive.

But that was about it for today! Tomorrow, we will most likely be either going to the forereef or a non-MPA to do more research, and then we will be doing some sort of land activity. I will let you know tomorrow!

-Elena

a whole lotta brown algae
Sophia taking data from the quadrat
2022

Day 5: Snorkeling and hydrocortisone cream, two of my new favorite things

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Today we were able to snorkel three new regions, two of which we collected data documenting the density of live and dead coral on two of the patch reefs. However, I must say getting into the saltwater made me extremely aware of all the mosquito bites I continue to scratch despite a general knowledge to avoid doing so. But overall, things went far smoother and more quickly than yesterday. Collecting data was an expeditious process, as the currents were less intense and my snorkeling abilities are gradually improving. The first two patch reefs were inside of the marine protected area, yet illustrated the great variability between patches and within a single patch reef itself. Some areas were sandy, many were covered with the rubble remanence of dead stony corals, some were packed with soft corals, and others had some healthy decently sized colonies of stony corals. Like always, I enjoyed going to these new areas and viewing the immense complexities of these ecosystems. I did spot a few patches and fragments of A. cervicornis, which I was not expecting due to their current rarity as a result of disease and the fact that the conditions of the patch reef were not what is normally thought to be their ideal habitat. A small little glimmer of hope from a species I grow fonder of with each encounter. But not all things named ā€œcoralā€ make the list of favorites. Both of these reefs had tons of fire coral spread throughout. Despite the name, fire coral is not a true coral, but fitting for its name it has a very unpleasant sting when touched. I accidentally brushed up against these corals a few times throughout the morning, and I must say itā€™s not a desirable sensation.

 

Later in the afternoon, there was an optional snorkeling activity. Although a nap sounded exceptionally enticing today, thereā€™s not enough time on this trip to see everything and be completely rested, and thatā€™s perfectly fine with me. We traveled to a shallow lagoon-like area, with lots of seagrasses, fish, anemones, and some corals. It would seem that the stony corals have taken a bit of a downturn in this region of the atoll due to a variety of factors, but there were still some colonies trying their best. I was able to take a cool photo of the polyps of Porites, where you can see the almost fluffy appearance the tentacles create.

We wrapped up the night with some fascinating lectures on the logistical aspects of protecting Gloverā€™s atoll, the marine protected area, and Belizean water overall. As of now, I am definingly ready to go to bed, after a healthy application of hydrocortisone to my multitude of bug bites.

 

2022

Day 5: Sea Eggs, Sea Stars, and Spines Oh My!!

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After waking up with even more sand fly and mosquito bites on my legs, we went out to go to carry out some more TFB shenanigans. Continuing data collection for yesterday’s research question, we went out to two Marine Protected Areas to measure the dead vs alive coral found. It was beautiful as always (even though there was a significant amount of dead coral covered in macro-algae and disease…), and we collected sooo many urchin – 108 total between the two areas! There were also a ton of different echinoderms in the second MPA: lots and lots of Brittle Sea Stars, a Sea Biscuit, and a West Indian Sea Egg. Other people also saw some tunicates (aka Sea Squirts aka one of my taxon identifications) that were a blue-ish color!! I was also able to identify three different red algae throughout the day: Jania spp., Galaxuara spp., and lastly Amphiora fragilissima. It’s been really fun trying to see where they might show up and how they might vary depending on their location.

We then had some free time after lunch to work on our field notebooks until 4pm when we went out on an optional snorkel to explore the nearby reef crest. We snorkeled by the area that is after the absorption of the wave energy and got to see what happens with an exchange of the cold ocean water into the warm water of the Caye and a creation of drastic fluctuating temperature differences. Here, it was very much a macro-algae dominated area (tons of sargassum, Mermaid’s Fan, Amphiora fragilissima, white scroll brown algae, Mermaid’s Cup) and much of the coral was dead.

Amphiora fragillisima
White Scroll Brown Algae

However, Dr. Correa was explaining that the groups of coral coral that were alive must be pretty resilient and are the coral that researchers are looking into to understand as to why/how they are able to survive these extremes. They can then take this information and apply it to other coral (genetically evolve them, etc.) to try to make them more resilient to drastic temperature changes and hopefully save more corals from climate change.

For the rest of the night after dinner we were lucky enough to have two guest speakers: one from the Belize Fisheries Department and one from the Belizean Coast Guard. They informed us on their roles within Belizean waters and within Glover’s atoll, especially with illegal fishing, enforcement of marine laws, and protecting the reefs. They all play such an important role in preserving the reefs and educating fishermen as to how they can continue their livelihood but in a sustainable way. Hopefully so both parties can coexist with a positive outcome and many sustainable habits that will help these waters stay as healthy for as long as they can.

– Sophia

2022, Uncategorized

Baby Fishies!

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Today we collected data on our study of urchins and live vs. dead coral cover on two reefs inside the marine protection area! It was really interesting to see how the two areas differed from one another. The first one had really abundant brown algae and was extremely topographically diverse with large structures built up overtime by chorals. In contrast the other reef was very shallow and flat, with not very many sizable live corals and lots of scattered dead coral rubble scattered around.

Overall, surveying live and dead coral was much easier today as there was less current, and we also were much better at using our tools. Also, we had gotten much better at collecting sea urchins, collecting 108 in total!

One really interesting behavior I saw on the second reef was what I believe were long-fin damselfish with schools of tiny little baby fish all hanging out in the same area. It looked like the parent fish were corralling the babies and even transporting them in their mouths! It very much reminded me of when my dad bread cichlids in our living room Ā and the parents similarly raised a little school of babies.

As for algae, the second reef had loads of green bubble weed (dictyosphaeria cavernosa) which is a hollow crisp light green mass with a bubbly surface. I realized that I had actually been seeing pieces of this before with a broken or incomplete bubble, but I didn’t realize it until now when I saw some with a complete bubble!

2022

A productive morning

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As the days progress, the number of coffee mugs present at breakfast continues to increase. Today was Sunday, reef day 4, and it was packed full of activities. Breakfast was good as always, and I was among the people with a mug this morning, although it was tea, not coffee (not too much of a instant coffee fan). But! The mangos were back! We love the mangos! At breakfast, we were warned to take Dramamine to prepare for the boat rides if we get motion sick, so I took one asap, and I assume it worked because I didnā€™t end up feeding the fishes.

We took a boat out to a patch reef within the marine protected area at 8:00 AM, and it was gorgeous. I literally cannot describe the color of blue that the water is, but itā€™s breathtaking. Ā At the reef, we continued our survey from yesterday, using a transect tape and a quadrat to measure live coral cover vs dead coral cover, and also collected and measured urchins again. I donā€™t understand how these people spot these urchins so easily, I only found one today and I couldnā€™t even get it off the rock it was attached to. Ā We also caught another lion fish today!(We saw 5 throughout the day, but only that one was caught). This was definitely the best reef site weā€™ve surveyed so far. It was so lush with fish and large coral colonies, you could definitely tell the difference between it and the non-protected reef. Ā  Once we were done at that site, we moved on to another patch reef within the MPA, but it was significantly more shallow than the previous one, which made everything harder as wind and waves tried to push us over. That shallower reef was covered to a great degree in coral rubble, with only small sections of live coral. At both locations though, there was an immense amount of brown algae coverage/outbreak. It seemed like it was on everything. The second reef also was generally smaller, with a steep sloping drop of about 20 feet around the edges of the reef.

Todayā€™s lectures were about green algae, crustaceans, and my lecture on coral reefs and climate change. They were moved up to 1:00pm (right after lunch) to make room for some guest speakers from the Belize Fisheries Service. As a speech kid, I felt like my presentation came through as impassioned, which Iā€™d say is a success, and I think my delivery was on time with room for questions so thatā€™s good too! All before 2pm!

after the presentations, we had free time with the option to partake in an optional free snorkel. While this trip is exhausting, when else will I have these opportunities to go snorkeling and see awesome creatures? So I went! During the free snorkel, I found 2 more species of mollusk that I had yet to see: an amber pen shell and a horse conch! (Still no picture, my camera is still broken sorry yā€™all!) I also came across a bunch more milk conchs and queen conchs in that area as well.

after that I took a quick shower, went to dinner, and then it was time for the guest speaker! As well as the fisheries guy, Raphael, one of the posted Belize Coast Guard men also talked to us about their goings on. The Glovers Reef Atoll is a world heritage site by the way!

overall, a productive day! I feel satisfied by it! Hopefully tomorrow we can go out to the fore reef, and maybe at some point we can actually get to do the night snorkel. Weā€™ll see! Iā€™ll update you on that tomorrow! See you then!

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Day 5: Fabulous Data Collection!

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The first thing we did after breakfast today was get our snorkel gear, quadrats, and transect tapes and pile into the boat again. We went to two more patch reefs, both of which were located in the Marine Protected Area (MPA). The data collection today went MUCH BETTER (some combination of better weather, deeper water, and more practice).

We got back just in time for lunch, which was barbecue chicken and macaroni and cheese (a little taste of home!) After lunch, we learned about green algae, crustaceans, and the effects of climate change on the reefs. After dinner, we had guest lectures from the Belize Fisheries Department and the Belize National Coast Guard (they do important work to ensure that Gloverā€™s Reef Atoll stays beautiful and sustainable).

Between lunch and dinner, we had some free time where we could work on our field notebooks, take a nap, or go on an optional snorkeling excursion. Because I regretted my choice yesterday to abstain from snorkeling the second patch reef, I made sure I wouldnā€™t miss out on another opportunity to snorkel! We snorkeled just on the inside of the reef crest, and we saw tons of anemones and fishes, but unfortunately no sponges šŸ™‚

Sponges seen in the MPA Today:

  • Brown Variable Sponge
  • Orange Icing Sponge
  • Red Boring Sponge
  • Scattered Pore Rope Sponge
  • Erect Rope Sponge
  • Branching Vase Sponge
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Reef Day 4: More Data Collection

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Our class began the day bright and early snorkeling out on the farther reef patches again, continuing to collect data for our ongoing research project. We visited two different patch reefs within the marine protected area, and took measurements on the area in which there was dead and live corals, as well as collecting sea urchins to identify and return to the reef. Here is a picture of what taking those measurements look like in the field!

While in these reefs we were able to see more variety of the biodiversity reefs have to offer, but unfortunately, I did not see any more jellyfish today either. But, I was able to see some examples of the challenges facing coral reefs we have learned about from our lectures on coral death ad disease. Today I was able to spot some different types of diseased and dead coral out out on the reef. In this picture you can see some dead coral overgrown with algae.

Tonight we had a guest lecture from an officer with the Belize Fisheries Department who told us all about the kinds of conservation and protection efforts being made to help ensure that fishing is practiced sustainably Glover’s reef is actually a World Heritage Site, and Belize has extremely strict regulations in order to help protect this unique ecosystem for our future, and hearing about the conservation efforts taking place was great to contextualize our experiences with the reef.

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Fire and Burns

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Hey guys! It’s Michiel again : )

We started this morning with breakfast (big surprise) before going out to collect more data for the research question we started on yesterday. The first reef we went to was in the Marine Protected Area, and it was deeper than the reef we went to yesterday. It also had a lot of sea grass, algae, and dead coral. Ava and I laid out our transects and quadrats and counted a lot of coral all over the reef. While we were doing this, Ava took a picture of me counting squares in my quadrat, and I’m sharing it here (once again, thank you Ava)! After collecting this data, we were sent out to collect sea urchins. I found a lot in coral crevices, but these were really difficult to pull off of the coral. However, that did not deter me from trying. I ended up getting two sea urchins, but as I tried to get another one, the crevice my hand was in had fire coral. Thankfully, only my pinky brushed up against it, but I definitely had a burning sensation there for about an hour. It was worth it, though, because we ended up collecting 52 sea urchins! Additionally, I believe I saw a male Bluelip Parrotfish (Cryptotomus roseus), and I definitely saw more Ocean Surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus) and Blue Chromis (Chromis cyanea). Scott also took a video with a damselfish in it that kept making its signature popping sound to show aggression. Damselfish are aggressive toward other fish that come near their algal gardens because they don’t want those fish to eat the algae they’ve worked so hard to cultivate.

Chromis cyanea

After this, we went to another reef in the Marine Protected Area. This reef was much shallower than the other one; it was about as shallow as the reef we went to yesterday. We did manage to collect our data better in this reef than the one from yesterday, though, because the waves were not nearly as strong as yesterday’s. However, Ava and I were very scared we would touch some fire sponge because it was absolutely all over the reef and we were swimming only inches above it. After collecting our data, we were out on the hunt for sea urchins once again. I collected two sea urchins again, but I learned my mistake from last time and only tried to collect them from beneath coral rubble instead of from inside coral crevices. In total, we collected 56 sea urchins from this area!

On our way back to the island, I noticed that I got a sunburn on my hands, so I’m really excited for the tan I’m about to get that starts at my fingers and ends at my wrists. On the island, we had lunch and were given the option to participate in an optional snorkel activity. I opted out of the activity because I was so drained from this morning, but I spent the afternoon working on my field notebook, messaging some friends, and reading my book. I’m very glad I chose to rest.

At the end of the break, we had dinner, were given presentations on the Belize Fisheries Department and the Belize Coast Guard. Overall, today began with lots of work and ended with a well-deserved break. I’m excited to go out onto the reef again tomorrow to collect more data and see more fish!

See y’all next time!

2022, Uncategorized

Lionfish: 4 TFBs: 1

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Another early morning and right onto the boat! We went to two different marine protected areas. After laying out our transects and quadrats and collecting our data on live versus dead coral we did another sea urchin hunt. The first area I was only able to find one dead urchin skeleton, but as a class we got 52 sea urchins and a sea egg named Harry. The second site I had a little better luck, I managed to find one sea urchin, but with it was a bonus brittle star! I also found 2 crabs while searching for urchins but I couldn’t see any of them aside from colors before they scrambled away. Best guess is that they’re either green porcelain crabs, or emerald crab/green clinging crab. I didn’t see any lobsters, but Ruth, one of our water safety officers, found a ton and took some photos on my camera (her photography is miles better than mine!) that I’ll add here after I figure out how the camera works. We also caught another lionfish on this trip out, it’s in the freezer now waiting to be eaten. Everyone is saying we’re going to make ceviche at the end of the week with the fish, I’ve never had it before so hopefully it’s good!

Our post lecture snorkel took us to a reef just a little off of the island, this reef had lots of fish and even a stingray and reef squid! We also saw 4 lionfish around the reef but since they were small they were hard to catch and we didn’t manage to get any of them. Hopefully we’ll have better luck tomorrow. This reef was much more bleached and dead then the other patches we’ve visited, and there was a lot of algae on the sea floor decaying and suffocating the coral with their decomposition. Despite that the living parts of the reef were amazing and the fish were huge! I can’t wait for tomorrow, I’m really hoping conditions are good enough for us to visit the fore reef.

2022

Fire Coral – What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger (Reef Day 4)

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Today is the day that my hand, neck, and snorkel mask tans are so defined that they are becoming obvious. We started the day fast and strong TFB-style by hopping into a boat to collect more data for our coral/urchin experiment in two different MPA patch reefs.

The first MPA reef we went to had the best conditions for data collection by far for me and Liliana. The depth (5-6 ft) was perfect, the current was light, and the non-outrageous amount of sea fans helped tremendously with the quadrats. However, I did encounter a challenge at this location. When I was floating and writing on my clipboard, I drifted into a !!*FIRE CORAL*!! It brushed against my elbows and forearms and caused a burning sting. It wasn’t unbearable and went away after 30 minutes, but I have learned to always be on the watch for these vengeful creatures.

^ This is the culprit coral šŸ™

The second MPA location was a little more shallow, so this made data collection harder, but the urchin collection led to so many cool finds. One of which was a new taxa discovery! When turning river pieces of coral rubble in search of urchins, I found a red beaded anemone! I was so excited to find a new anemone, and I got a picture of it (the urchin next to it was shortly collected).

I also got to hold a West Indian sea egg! This hedgehog of the sea was named Sally, and she was very adorable and spiny.

Later in the day, we went on a swim just for fun on the lagoon side of the reef crest. This was anemone haven! I saw so many Giant Caribbean anemones; sadly, some of them were bleached. On a happier note, I also got a new taxa sighting here! Encrusted on the side of a mound coral, I found a mat zoanthid colony! The tiny polyps (<1cm) were blue/green and curled up into domes when disturbed. Yay zoanthids!

After dinner, we listened to two guest lectures from the Belize Fisheries Department and Belize Coast Guard. I have so much respect for all that is being done to protect and conserve the ocean and its resources.

Today was extremely productive to the point where I am struggling to finish writing this blog. I look forward to going to bed and having my recurring dream (only started a few days ago for some reason) of going snorkeling and turning into a mermaid. Maybe my dream behind-the-scenes is super inspired by mermaid Ruth!

– McKenna