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Urchin Day + Snorkel Fun

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Hi everyone! I saw so many urchins today!! Before I get into those, I’ll give a quick rundown of the day’s activities. Today consisted mainly of two projects: determining the percent coverage of live coral on the reef and collecting sea urchins. This morning we took a boat out to a patch reef in the lagoon and used transects and quadrats to count the number of live coral, recently dead coral, and macroalgae among other things to determine the health of the coral reef. Since sea urchins both help the coral by consuming the algae that live on them and harm the coral by boring into them, we also did a timed sea urchin collection to see how many urchins we could all catch and returned to the island to identify and measure them. In the afternoon, we repeated the morning’s activities outside of the lagoon.

Slate pencil urchins (Eucidaris tribuloides)
Slate pencil urchins (Eucidaris tribuloides)

Now on to the sea urchins!! In the lagoon alone, we collected over a hundred Echinometra viridis (a small brown/red urchin with spines that have a pale ring close to the body). We also found quite a few Eucidaris tribuloides (commonly known as slate pencil urchins, reddish brown body with blunt spines) and some Tripneustes ventricosus (an urchin with a black/dark purple body and short white spines) hiding in the coral crevices in the lagoon.

A long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum)
A long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum)

In the afternnon, we also collected some Diadema antillarum (a long-spined sea urchin whose spines easily penetrate skin) among the coral and a few Meoma ventricosa, both the live and dead versions (a flattened globe urchin with a reddish body and a five petal design on its back) buried in the sand along with the other species. It was interesting to me that we found the long-spined urchins and red heart urchins mainly outside of the lagoon, while inside we mainly were able to find the viridis species.

Several reef urchins (Echinometra viridis)
Several reef urchins (Echinometra viridis)

In other words, it was a very exciting day for me! I absolutely loved getting to find, hold, and work with the urchins more today. 🙂 I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings and what echinoderms I’ll spot tomorrow. Thanks for reading everybody!

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Searchin’ for Urchins

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Today we continued with our quadrat theme to look at stony corals inside Glover’s Reef Atoll. For our first boating expedition, we ventured to a marine protected area (MPA) to study the health of coral reefs. Our day was entirely dedicated to data collection, but I still found a huge amount of herbivorous fish hiding among the corals. The dusky damselfish (Stegastes fuscus) is definitely the most common, but all three species of damselfish mentioned in my last blog are very easy to find on the patch reefs. I also found several ocean surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus). Like all surgeonfish, this species has a scalpel-like spine on their tail used for slashing predators that’s fairly easy to see in the water.

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Initial phase stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride).

I also managed to find a red and brown stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) in what is known as its initial phase. Parrotfish are unique in that they can change their sex; initial phase parrotfish are either females or primary males. However, the large, conspicuously colored parrotfish are actually supermales, or females that later became males. Guess even fish can be transgender.

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West Indian sea egg (urchin).

We also spent a good portion of the day collecting sea urchins to assess reef health. You can find urchins in all the nooks and crannies of a reef, but it turns out getting them out is the hard part. We managed to collect a fair number (sustaining only minor injuries) before measuring them and sorting them by species.

Each day on the reef, we learn about a different taxonomic group, adding them to our arsenal. It’s incredible how each presentation adds yet another dimension to my next visit to the reef. Two days ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what Acropora cervicornis was, but now I’m able to spot it (both alive and dead) out on the reef.

And finally, we ended it all by laying on the dock under the stars. The ocean and sky merge together here, forming an infinite black canvas littered with pinpricks of light. Forgive me for the romance, but I might’ve even seen a shooting star. Isn’t it pretty to think so?

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“Bow to your master, crabs!”

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On today’s agenda were a number of data generation events out in the lagoon. We collected data with transect and quadrat to estimate the percent cover of live coral on patch reefs. Holding the equipment and using it to measure the site was no simple task, as waves became choppier as the day went on. We also did a timed collection of sea urchins on the same patches. We used tongs of course to ensure that no one (besides Randy and Anna) was pricked by one of these nasty creatures. We measured the diameter of each one and then returned them from whence they came.

Later at night we brought a light out to the dock to see if we could attract some small fish and, in turn, attract their larger predators like sharks and barracudas. No luck tonight, but after giving up on the docks I was able to capture a land crab on the way to my room!

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Animal fervor swept over me when I lifted this sucker from the ground. He was definitely feisty, but a number of his larger friends were no challenge at all to catch. Perhaps it was my spurred confidence from the first tango, or perhaps the other one’s were just sluggish. Either way it was a fun way to end the night and simultaneously freak out some of the more squeamish TFB’s.

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Day 11: Little Jelly Blob

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Today was another activity filled day of snorkel work using our quadrants to evaluate density of corals in two different areas as well as finding sea urchins as a proxy of coral density. While not directly related to each other, differing ratios of coral to algae ratio can affect urchin diversity and abundance. One cool thing to know about sea urchins is that they feed primarily on algae that compete with corals. In a way, the urchins keep the algae from taking over the coral spaces. The data obtained from this project could give us a clue as to how these reefs are doing, given their tragic demise these recent years.

During our search, I encountered 2 little jelly blobs that were virtually transparent in the water. The only way to see them was to see how the light was bent differently due to passing through a jelly medium. These guys were about the size of a golf ball and looked quite fragile. I wonder if they were the ctenophores I am looking for. Ctenophores are also known as comb jellies referencing their comb like cilia hairs that they use to swim through the waters. Comb jellies actually aren’t jellyfish in the true sense. Genetically, their more related to sponges than to true jellyfish. They also have a fundamentally different body structure than jellyfish, having a lobed appearance and no stinging tentacles.

I couldn’t see if these little jelly blobs were actually ctenophores. This makes me wonder about the frustration of professionals who study these jellies.

Other than those two jellies, I went back this evening to snap some photos of those upside down jellies from a few days ago. Based on the images, I can say with confidence that they are Cassiopea frondosa. A similar upside down jellyfish, C. xamachana, has leaf-like projections sticking from its tentacles, which picture doesn’t show.

 

 

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Day 11: Just keep snorkeling

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Today we went out on the boat to patch reefs. We were looking at the stony coral coverage in the marine protection area versus outside of it. Also we caught, identified, and measured sea urchins in each area.

In the morning, we were in the marine protection area. I didn’t see very much stony coral, but I was able to recognize it. I also had a hard time collecting sea urchins. In the timed 25 minutes we had I found probably a dozen but all so far in crevices I couldn’t get any of them out. I did see another barracuda and some parrot fish. Honestly I’ve seen so much I can’t hardly list it all out. Except for my taxonomic groups. I didn’t manage to see any anemones, zoanthids or corallimorphs. Other people did though and said they were able to recognize them.

In the afternoon we went out to a patch reef outside of the marine protection area, where the water was a bit choppier. My partner and I saw more stony corals. We also saw a lot of fire coral, so we had to be careful not to bump into it. I did manage to collect a single sea urchin at this site. I also tried shifting more rocks around in hopes of finding anemones, zoanthids, and corallimorphs. I didn’t see any again, but I did see a few brittle stars and a very pretty colored sea slug. I will continue to turn over rocks in hopes of finding my taxa. Today was probably my favorite day I’ve had so far. I really remember the reason I love the water so much when I am staring at beautiful reef with waves washing over my back.

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Transects + First Echinoderm Spotting + Fossilized Coral

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Hello everyone! Today was an exciting but tiring first full day at Glover’s Reef. We began the morning with a snorkeling scavenger hunt on the patch reefs nearby, looking for behaviors like antagonistic interactions as well as different kinds of organisms, followed by a transect activity on land to determine the abundance of crab holes in the area. After lunch, we went out to the reef for our second transect activity focusing on the abundance and density of different species of green algae.

Utilizing transects underwater
Utilizing transects underwater in a green algae project

While we were in the water, I got the chance to hold my first echinoderm (!!!!), a sea urchin. It was about the size of my palm, had a reddish brown body and pale cream colored spines that got slightly darker closer to its body, and was found among the seagrass beds by the dock. It was a West Indian Sea Egg (Tripneustes ventricosus). It felt kind of weird when I was holding it, with the mouth suctioning at my hand and the spines poking me ever so slightly, but it was really cool as well.

First echinoderm identification! A West Indian Sea Egg, (Tripneustes ventricosus)
First echinoderm identification! A West Indian Sea Egg, (Tripneustes ventricosus)

Later on, we visited an area covered with fossilized coral. It was fascinating to examine the (almost) perfectly preserved pieces and try to identify them. I learned a lot about the different kinds of polyps and ridges that a coral can have and I’m looking forward to going back out to the reefs to look for the live versions of all the corals we saw. That’s all for today everybody! Thanks for reading! 🙂

Pieces of fossilized coral
Pieces of fossilized coral
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Patch reef

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This morning we all improved our skills clearing our mask and snorkel without surfacing while on a reef scavenger hunt. There were many annelids around but you have to be looking for them because of their small size, and sometimes they were under corals or in crevices. I saw the same star horseshoe worms, but also a light orange-ish christmas tree worm and a brown and white social feather duster. They are beautiful little creatures. I also spotted some fire coral around the patch reef. Aside from the annelids and hydrozoans I saw corals, sponges, sea fans, fish, urchins, barracuda, and a nurse shark today.

This afternoon we practiced using a transect and quadrants to survey things on the reef or ocean floor. It’s tricky but I’m getting the hang of it. We also got the chance to walk to a part of the island covered with thousands of fragments of old, fossilized corals. This was really helpful in practicing identifying them based on their corallites and overall shape. I am ready for what tomorrow has to bring!

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Sophia Streeter

5/26

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Day 10: Quadrats and Transects

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We started off this morning with a refreshing snorkel session at 8:30am. This time we brought out more gear, specifically a clipboard with waterproof paper to take notes of what we saw. There was a general feeling among all of us that the waterproof paper had to be some sort of black magic, but it worked so we stopped questioning it. Holding the clipboard and trying to take photos and write notes while avoiding being pushed into the coral by the currents took a long time to get used to, and I definitely haven’t mastered it.

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Gathering data in sea grass beds

To make everything more confusing, we added more gear after lunch. We performed a short experiment to practice using transect tapes and quadrats. The question that we were trying to answer was whether Halimeda or Penicillus species had a higher abundance and density in the sea grass off of the pier at Middle Caye. We worked in 6 groups to run transects across the beds of sea grass and counted the number of individuals of each species in quadrats along the transects.

In the end, we found 153 Halimeda individuals and only 1 Penicillus individual in the 216 square feet that we measured. We noticed that even slight differences in the composition of the sea grass bed, such as the density or length of the grass, changed the likelihood of algae being found in the plot. To quantify these differences we would have to run another experiment that focused on the different zones in the sea grass bed. Our experiment was limited because of the small area that we covered and difficulty that we had counting the individuals. Even though we were in water that was 8 feet deep at most, it might have been easier to run the experiment using SCUBA so we wouldn’t have to keep surfacing, which made counting confusing when we had to see under blades of grass.

Halimeda and Penicillus are interesting green algae because they are calcareous. Halimeda incorporates calcium carbonate into its thallus in flat chips, whereas Penicillus has calcium carbonate in the brush-like filaments at the top of the algae. The different forms of calcium carbonate lead to different types of sand. Halimeda creates large, flat grains of sand. The sand from Penicillus is finer and muddier.

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Day 9: The Reef!

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View of Glovers Reef from observation tower on Middle Caye
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Patch reef in Glovers Reef

Today we traveled from the zoo to Glovers Reef. Glovers Reef is one of three atolls in Belize. It consists of four islands – Southwest Caye, Middle Caye, Long Caye, and Northeast Caye. We got to the island around 3:45pm and were able to snorkel for an hour before we had dinner. To our surprise, the water was like bathwater, especially right by the pier. It almost wasn’t refreshing, but being in the water was amazing.

Most of the sea floor that we saw was covered in sea grass. There weren’t any trees in the sea, but someone found a Penicillus capitatus, which is a species of green algae that looks like a paint brush. A little farther out, the sea grass gave way to a few patch reefs. The reefs had more sediment than I was expecting, but the diversity on the reefs was still greater than almost all reefs I have visited. The first species that I noticed were Gregonian sea fans, that were purple and rose gracefully from the mounds of coral.

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Halimeda sp.

The sedimentation on the patch reefs made them a good habitat for green algae. The highest concentrations of green algae that I found were along the edge of the patch reef. There were multiple species of Halimeda, but I wasn’t able to identify the exact species. There was a lot of Caulerpa cupressoides, which was smaller than I was expecting but still very recognizable. I also saw a species that could be Anadyomene stellata, but I need to look at the morphology of the algae more closely.

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to having more time in the water and learning about more reef species.

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Day 10

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Today was our first complete day on the reef. I can’t really put into words how lovely it is here. Sure I have sand on just about every surface of my body, but I am thoroughly enjoying my time here. The day was centered on two tools: the transect and quadrat.

First, we tried to quantify the percent cover of crab holes on the paths around the station (using the quadrats/transect on land). Honestly, my group did not get that much data (only one half of a square was covered over our entire transect).

This was then scaled up for our afternoon activity, transects searching for two geneses of green algae (Halimeda and Penicillus). We were trying to answer a similar question to the percent crab hole cover. We wanted to know if Halimeda or Penicillus would be more abundant in the sea grass bed.

Again, my groups struggled to find anything on our transect, with it being placed in some of the thickest grass. Either way, our data showed a significantly higher amount of Halimeda over Penicillus.

On the reef I continued to see Gorgonian sea fans, as well as whips and rods. I think that the future challenge that I will face is distinguishing between soft corals that are branching, yellow/brown, with them all being of similar morphology. Tomorrow on the more distant reef, I hope to see more.