Hi everyone! It’s day 4 on the reef and what a day it’s been! We started the morning by compiling and analyzing the results of our fish-follow project. Our conclusion: all parrotfish species preferred the outskirts of reefs, ate algae, and most terminal stage males were not eating. We created a poster with our findings and presented it to Dr. Solomon and Dr. Evans on the dock…with a minor interruption. My hat flew off my head while presenting and I had to jump in the water and grab it. I was dripping wet for the rest of the presentation, but at least I didn’t lose the hat.
We also explored the mangroves in the morning and caught some interesting critters including crabs, snails, and small fish. It turned out though that we weren’t the only ones hunting in the mangroves. I swung my net at what I thought was a crab and came up with a box jellyfish! Box jellys follow noise and movement to track prey and are incredibly venomous when they sting. I was really lucky to come out unscathed.
After lunch (sandwiches), we explored the rest of the island, including the “coral graveyard.” This is an area of beach where dead coral of many different species are piled high. We observed several small invertebrates living in the area, including snails and sea urchins. I was surprised to find a lot of trash on the beaches and trails we visited. I am looking forward to our beach clean-up day later this week.
We ended the day by setting up lights off the dock to see what nocturnal species we could attract. We somehow ended up catching fish, shrimp, glass eels, and, get ready for it, a small squid with our nets! We found a bucket for Angie (the squid) and got to observe her ink and hunt. I am looking forward to seeing what else we can find tomorrow and snorkeling again from off the boat. That’s all for now! – Elise