Tag Archives: mpa

2022

I got really scared by an eel (Day 5)

Leave a comment

Hi all, it’s Faith with Day 5 updates from the 2022 Belize trip!!!

DISCLAIMER: I just wrote this whole blog, and then the draft didn’t save, so here is an abridged version of what got deleted since we wake up at 6am and its almost 11 and I’m really tired 🙂

Today we woke up and continued collecting data to answer our research question. We did two snorkels on MPA reefs ( we called them MPA reefs 1 and 2, boring I know). These reefs had more cover than the non-mpa protected areas; however, they also had a lot of algae growth. Because these reefs were deeper and the tide was calmer, it was easier to measure the % live and dead coral. We also were way more successful at catching urchins. We caught about 113 total with the majority being E. viridis. However, we also saw 3 pencil slate urchins E. tribuloides, a west indian sea egg Tripneustes ventricosus (We had a bond. He latched onto me with his tube feet and held on for dear life, so I named him Fuzzy), and a super special live Clypeaster rosaceus sea biscuit. (We usually find them dead so we got very excited).  Lastly, but not least the Marine sea offcicers found some brittle stars for me since I can’t ever find them. We saw a common spiny brittle star Ophicoma echinata and a O. cinera, a banded brittle star. They were both found under rocks and coral. We only found one Diadema antillarium today and he was under some coral. We did see a nice eel on this reef (pictured below) he didn’t scare me. I decided to call him Floyd.

After the boat drove us back, we watched 3 presentations on crustaceans, green algae, and climate change’s effects on coral. Then we enjoyed some relaxation before out next dive.

Our final dive of the day was at the seagrass beds and barrier reef behind our dorms. I noticed big differences between the two areas even though they were right next to each other! The seagrass beds were extremely warmer with ample algae and a greenish water color. Meanwhile, the barrier reef was freezing cold with a pretty aqua color. It had dead coral piled up the the surface,  but sea urchins and other small creatures made their homes in the rubble. I didn’t see any echinoderms in the seagrass beds, but we saw a an eel, a stingray, 3 lionfish, 3 lobster, a white anemone, spaghetti worms (which are very fun to mess with), and a pufferfish. The pufferish and eel scared the living daylight out of me because I found them by being directly above them (which made them very upset). The eel snapped at me, but the pufferfish just stayed in place. It was scary… I named the scary eel Jade, and he has no picture.

We came back to watch 2 presentations: 1 by the coast guard and 1 by the island manager. I learned lots of interesting facts about how they keep the island “human-free.” But the most interesting fact to tell all of you is that I’m too short to join the Belizean coast guard. You have to be 5’3″ to apply as a girl and 5’5″ to apply as a guy!!!

Till tomorrow!

QOTD: “It’s commiting crabicide!” … “Did you just say crab-i-cide?”

“What does TBF mean?” (TBF, aka Tropical Field Biologists, aka what we have been called since our first meeting in March)

Banded Brittle Star O. cinera
Live Sea Biscuit Clypeaster rosaceus
The puffer that scared me terribly. I was chasing after a stingray, and next thing you know I’m in a pufferfish’s personal space
Floyd, the nice eel
2022

Day 4: A Field Aquarium

1 Comment

Starting a new experiment today, the group came up with the research question “What is the correlation between the percentage of live coral and the sea urchin prevalence? How does this change in a protected versus unprotected zone?” We will be collecting data for this experiment over the next couple days, starting with today. After coming up with the experiment layout, we had some extra time before lunch so we went to the shallower sea grass area on the North side of the island to try to collect as many organisms as we could find into buckets. We were able to find conch, mantis shrimp, a lobster, a Diadima antillarum (a venomous urchin), corallomorphs, anemone, and even some Crustose Corralline red algae! One cool fact that I learned today is that spiny lobsters don’t have claws, unlike the ones that we see in the US. It was like our own little aquarium (which releases the animals back into the ocean of course).

After lunch, we went out on the boat to begin collecting our data. We first went to a patch we went to wasn’t a Marine Protected Area and was pretty shallow. Here, there was a lot of coral rubble and diseased coral, and it was pretty difficult to keep still with the current. To estimate the number of sea urchins in the area, we were all given 10 minutes to collect as many as we could. I was able to find a couple, but they were both underneath rocks that I couldn’t break. We ended up finding 20 different urchins! Also Dr. Correa picked up some Galaxuara spp. (a red algae) that was actually all over the sea floor. We then moved onto a MPA and got to snorkel around, just to explore. There was a huge difference in the landscape (obviously there were topography factors involved in the difference but still) with an abundance of health coral, super diverse grouping of fish and coral, and it was absolutely stunning. Here, I was even able to identify Jania spp. (a red algae) which was actually everywhere throughout the reef. I also was able to identify  Fire Coral, Sergeant Fish, Dusky Damsel Fish, French Angel Fish (maybe one of my favorites now), White Scroll Algae, Boulder Star Coral, and Whitestar Sheet Coral. AND Dr. Solomon was able to spear a Lion Fish so we will be making that into some delicious Lion Fish ceviche tomorrow or so!!

– Sophia

Eucidaris tribuloides
Crustose Coraline Algae!
Possibly another variety of Crustose Coraline aglage!
Diadema anitllarum
Carribean Spiny Lobster
2022

Reef Day 3: Lionfish = Speared

Leave a comment

We started today with an experiment! We spent time forming a question, hypothesis, and methodology regarding percent coral coverage (live v. dead) and sea urchin abundance in MPA and non-MPA patch reefs. In the time we had before lunch and before we went out onto the boats, we did a taxa collecting activity, where we waded in shallow water and collected tons of organisms and specimens.

Once back in the wet lab, we organized them all into tubs and presented our “expert” taxon group. One cool find of note was a Diadema annularis sea urchin (DO NOT TOUCH).

After lunch, we headed out on a boat (!!) to perform our experiment (at least getting it started). We went to West Reef (non-MPA) with our transects and quadrats. After collecting data on corals, we had a timed urchin-collection period. I found three!

We went to a second patch reef (MPA) to explore just for fun for the sake of curiosity. Such an amazing experience! I spotted a cyan-colored (WOW!!) corallimorph and a white encrusting zoanthid (oooooo)! I finally added some variation in my spotting of my taxa.

The highlight of the day was Dr. Solomon SPEARING a lionfish and capturing it! (This is a good thing because lionfish are an invasive species in the Caribbean)

This was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I know that my reef buddy Liliana (who has a passion for one day eating a lionfish) was beyond thrilled!

This experiment will be continued over at least the next day to collect more data on different patch reefs, and then I will have another picture of a poster to attach in my blog.

Here comes another night of much-needed sleep, with a slightly higher chance of having lionfish for breakfast tomorrow 🙂

– McKenna

2017, Uncategorized

Day 4: Full Circle (05/19/2017)

Leave a comment

I lie on my back on the hammock, swaying gently side-to-side in the breeze. My eyelids float down after a busy morning and afternoon. I witness deep oranges and rusty reds shifting, bursting, and intertwining on the backs of my eyelids, luminescent projections of the intense tropical sunlight. Needless to say, these entrancing visions were enough to lull me to sleep.

This morning I felt quite different – energized and adventurous. Soon after breakfast, my classmates and I measured the sizes of the urchins we caught yesterday at the Marine Protected Area (MPA). We then snorkeled at a non-MPA and carefully collected urchins there. Interestingly, the urchins tended to be larger and more numerous at the MPA. However, the non-MPA was home to the largest urchin we found, a long spine sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) that measured 5.8 cm in diameter.

With its mounds of different corals, the reef visited today was teeming with a plethora of diverse colorful creatures. Some notable sightings included a green sea urchin (Lytechinus variegatus), spiny brittle stars (Ophiocoma paucigranulata), and numerous ctenophores. The green sea urchin was about 4 inches in diameter and found on the seafloor. The spiny brittle stars, found under rubble, had central disks of about an inch in diameter and arms about 3 inches long. The brittle stars would try to move back under the rubble when exposed. None of the echinoderms were visibly interacting with other organisms. Today’s most spectacular sighting was a spotted trunkfish (Lactophyrus bicaudalis); its dynamic black and white speckles contrasted with the mellow blue backdrop of the ocean.

After spending the afternoon discussing my class’ data collected and observations noted, I was exhausted. We had an hour until dinner, so I lied on my back on the hammock.

Uncategorized

Quadrats and Transects, Day 11

Leave a comment

Today we woke bright and early and headed out to a patch reef in the lagoon on a boat. We laid out transects with partners and used quadrats to gather data on the live stony coral cover on a reef located in Glover’s Marine Protected Area. We also did another experiment and gathered as many sea urchins as we could in 25 minutes. We repeated all of our experiments on other patch reef that was outside of the MPA.

So today I did see some new corals. I saw an Acropora cervicornis!!! It was very beautiful and I was thrilled when I saw it. I also noticed that some of this coral was infected with white band disease. There was a patch of recently dead white skeleton on a branch and also old dead skeleton that had been overgrown with turf algae. I also saw a Montastraea cavernosa today, which does in fact look like a mat of zoanthids but I could tell the difference between the two.

That’s all for today. Tomorrow we are learning about reef zonation and heading to the reef crest. Hopefully I will not get seasick.

Acropora cervicornis
Acropora cervicornis. Notice the larger, white apical polyp on the ends of the branches.
Uncategorized

Day 11

1 Comment

I think that I am starting to get a much better grasp of how to maneuver on the reef. While I don’t think that I will every really be able to get over my sensitive ears. Depth does still hurt quite a bit. Anyway, I found today’s activities much easier than yesterday’s.

We had two projects to do today. First, we did a similar transect method as we did yesterday to estimate total coral cover on patch reefs inside and outside of the Marine Protected Area of Glover’s Reef. The second task was to collect as many urchin species as we could in 25 minutes for species ID, abundance, and diameter of test.

This has been one of my favorite days on the reef so far. The diversity that we saw was at the perfect depth for both quadrat measuring and for personal observation. I keep seeing so many examples of my taxonomic group, an encouraging sign. Today I saw a couple more examples of sea whips. I also noticed a lot of different sea plumes. I don’t know what exact species they are, but I believe that my taxonomic sheet has them.

Tomorrow we go to the fore reef, a more densely packed area. I hope to see even more soft coral and hard coral. These are encouraging to see because of their high contributions to reef framework growth. However, I’m sure that we will see lower levels of cover and diversity in the non-protected area. All will be revealed in the data tomorrow.