Tag Archives: Caribbean Reef Squid

2022

We ate what??

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There was a lot to do today, since it was our last day!

We started out by going to a non-MPA to collect our last data set for our research question from three days ago. We used the transects and quadrats for the last time, which was very bitter sweet. The reef was very sparse, with very few live corals. There was a decent amount of brown algae, mainly the saucer leaf algae, covering the rubble. We saw some Caribbean reef squid though! There were six or seven of them, and they were all in a row in the seagrass bed that surrounded the reef. Doing what, I don’t know.

Afterwards, we went to a reef in the MPA, which they call “The Aquarium.” There were tons of fish, including parrot fish, angel fish, damsel fish, and others that I couldn’t identify. There was also a lot of brown algae! Yay! It was mainly saucer leaf algae and funnelweed, intermixed with some white scroll algae and y-branching algae. I saw a really cool blue variety of the y-branching algae, which I believe to have been dictyota menstrualis. It was right in the middle of a patch of saucer leaf algae.

dictyota humifusa with saucer leaf algae
squids in a row! (to the right)

After lunch, we compiled and analyzed our data, and presented it to the professors. You can read about it below! The poster doesn’t include in the discussion that there may have also been a difference in the non-MPA sited due to environmental factors that we couldn’t take into account, such as differences in the amount of fishing in each area.

We enjoyed some presentations from our fellow classmates, and then had a lovely dinner, which included friend conch! It was actually quite tasty. But it wasn’t until after dinner that the real fun began! We performed dissections on the three lionfish that were caught by Prof Solomon this week, and added our data to the list of lionfish data from the previous years of the BIOS 319 trip. Once we were done, Prof Solomon filleted the lionfish, and put them into a mixture of lime juice, tomato, and onions to create a ceviche. It turned out quite delicious! I would definitely recommend eating lionfish! Although I think I still smell like fish.

their names, from top to bottom: Main Course, Appetizer, and Snack

Anyways, today was the last day on the reef! It’s amazing that the time passed so quickly! Tomorrow we will be taking a boat back to the mainland, and starting the land portion of the class. See you all then!

-Elena

Prof Solomon fileting the lionfish
Performing the dissection on Main Course
Sophia and I

 

2017, Uncategorized

Day 5: Human Impact (05/20/2017)

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This morning, my class and I explored one of Glover’s backreefs, noting densities of Christmas tree worms (Genus Spirobranchus).

A beige Christmas tree worm on a hard coral

While my own data collection was less than fruitful, the outing marked a major victory for me as a tropical field biologist. I encountered interesting echinoderms like a donkey dung sea cucumber (Holothuria Mexicana) in a sea grass bed and a West Indian sea egg (Tripneustes ventricosus) partially covered with algae. Both were neither in motion nor interacting with other animals. My most memorable sighting was a Caribbean reef squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) swimming by.

I swam after the squid for a while, trying to get a better look. The animal was iridescent and translucent, a visual schema difficult to describe with an ordinary color pallet. There is something about the ocean that compels organisms to take on the most astounding colors and sheens; it’s simply breathtaking.

This same day, my classmate Isaac gave a presentation about the expansiveness and damaging ecological impact marine debris can have. My class also spent the afternoon collecting and measuring the debris accumulation from some of the shores of Middle Caye, which lies adjacent to a protected marine area. In my ordinary life back home, I contribute little to resolve this issue. Like most Americans, my status quo involves unbridled consumerism. An ordinary shopping trip involves buying excessively packaged goods from an energy-inefficient grocery store and taking them home in a disposable plastic bag. It is both interesting and unacceptable that such an irresponsible course of action is deemed ordinary in American society.

Despite how ingrained reckless consumerist behavior is, conservation and preservation of ocean creatures is non-negotiable.

Every living thing deserves a chance to not only survive but to thrive. Waste accumulation in our oceans, the direct result of human negligence, strips many living things of their chance for survival. For the long-term wellbeing of all living things, from reef squids to the human race, communities need to make thoughtful decisions regarding their own waste production and disposal.

Literally, the fate of the world depends on it.