Hi Blog,

Today started with a class discussion at 8 AM to plan out our project for the day, which was to compare reef health (coral species richness, fish species richness, presence of algal overgrowth, coral bleaching) between MPAs (marine protected areas) and non-MPAs. In order to do this, our class split into seven groups, and each surveyed different sites at four locations (two non-MPAs, two MPAs) using quadrats. We laid down the quadrats and took pictures of them at three sites per location. Since I’m unable to duck dive, Lily took on the role of placing and retrieving the quadrats while I was in charge of documentation with the underwater digital camera.

I started to get nauseous again despite trying Dr. Solomon’s magic seasickness drops. Nevertheless, I persevered and finished collecting the data needed for our project. We surveyed in the ocean from 9 AM to 12 PM. No surgeonfish seen during this snorkel though, which was quite a bummer.

While we were returning, though, Noelle spotted a dolphin in the water! Although I wasn’t feeling the best, seeing the dolphin immediately brightened up my day — it was so close to the boat!!

After this, we had lunch, which was noodles and soy sauce. Then we met back at the wet lab to analyze our pictures from the survey and create/present a poster based on our findings. Our results suggested a trend toward higher species richness and fish abundance in MPAs, which aligned with our hypothesis that MPAs would have higher biodiversity and better reef health. I must say, I am quite proud of our poster title: MPAyyyee where my corals at? I think our creative freedom really shined through on this one.

As a bonus, one of the staff members caught a bonefish and kindly showed it to us — and even let us touch it! Instead of being scaly as I had expected, it was rather smooth and slimy, which was a surprising texture. We released it back into the water, but I have hope that one of us TFBs will be able to catch it with bare hands before we leave. Will it happen? Find out tomorrow!

With love,