What is the point?

Lettuce Coral With a White Grunt: Look closely to see the tiny polyps

Juvenile French Grunts and Queen Angelfish

Hidden Doctorfish

    The coral reef project spanned 4 years, 13 Earthwatch teams, 242 patch reefs, and 144,279 fish. This project has real implications for the conservation of the coral reef ecosystem in the Bahamas. In its simplest form, coral is an upside down jellyfish in a limestone skeleton. It has a symbiotic relationship with the algae that grows on it. The zooxanthellae provide oxygen and nutrients through photosynthesis. The coral only gets 20% of its nutrients from plankton that it catches with its tentacles.

Lunch cove on the last day

    Coral is sensitive to stresses that affect both animal and plant. Increased sea-surface temperatures lead to coral bleaching. The algae dies and then the coral cannot survive. In some parts of the world, the ocean currents make the water too cold for coral to grow. The west coasts of Africa and South America are too cold. The coral reefs surrounding the Phillippines have the most diversity on the planet.
   Our lead scientist Alastair Harborne spent the last 4 years testing his hypothesis that the presence of mangrove creeks has a high correlation to the diversity of the patch reefs.. He found that the biomass is 2667% stronger on the patch reefs that are closer to the mangrove creeks. These reefs are hotspots for juvenile grunts. I always knew that I was in for a counting challenge when we anchored close to the mangroves.

Mangrove Creek

   The mangrove creeks provide protection for the juvenile fish. Tiny fish move from the seagrass to the mangrove creeks to grow. As a fish, the bigger you are, the fewer things can eat you. Juvenile rainbow parrotfish are one of the species that use the mangroves as a nursery. When the fish graduate to the the patch reefs, they feast on the algae. This grazing keeps the algae from overpowering the coral. Too much seaweed is not healthy. It starts the slippery slope to slime. Parrotfish, urchins, and surgeon fish nibble away at the algae. Damselfish garden territories to cultivate their preferred algae.
   This research project answers the questions: Which mangroves are the most important? Which should be conserved? The best conservation maintains a delicate balance between protecting the ecosystem and supporting the local fishing community.

Goodbye to the Bahamas

Final sunrise over the dorms

Moray Eels and A Bull Shark

A Spotted Moray Eel harasses a huge White Margate.

    Don't be scared. I didn't know that there was a bull shark that cruised by the last reef. I was half way back to the boat. The shark was about 7 feet long. While I would have loved to see it, I would have been really nervous. 

     The Moray Eel provided the excitement for the day. I kept seeing some movement in the cracks of this rock. Two huge White Margates turned and flipped around under the coral. I tried to float overhead and watch for the Margates to show themselves. They were both about two and a half feet long. All of a sudden the moray poked its head out. It swayed back and forth opening and closing its mouth. The eel must have been five feet long. 

     Every reef brought new challenges and excitement. I ended the day playing closely contested Bananagrams games with my new friends. Tomorrow is the last day. I will miss being here but am looking forward to seeing
friends and family at home.

Stoplight Parrotfish is saying Hi. 

I estimated 1500 French Grunts on this reef.

A Gray Angelfish is looking right at me. Notice the blue lips.

Fish Party Under the Rocks

A Graysby Grouper is tucked underneath the rock. There are three white dots on its back.

Lettuce Coral and White Grunt

Porkfish with lots of Lane Snappers

Colorful Coral

Juvenile Blue Tang: It is crazy that this fish changes into a bright blue by the time it is an adult.

Gray Angelfish: This guy cruised around and around the reef. It was bigger than your dinner plate.

Chimney Coral and a tiny Sharpnose Pufferfish 

White Margate Madness

Sandbar in the middle of the sound

Field Trip

Where in the world am I? It was great to go see some sights around Eleuthera Island. We surveyed one reef in the morning. I am still amazed every time I get in the water. You would think by this time that everything would look the same. Each reef has different texture and colors. The variety of fish changes each time. We got to see a group of yellow rays on Reef Debbie. Two rays even had a little fight in the sand. The following video has the action.

Bicolor Damselfish with colorful coral

Close up of a Blue-Striped Grunt

Gray Angelfish and Doctorfish

Redband Parrotfish: This one was hard to identify!

Queen Angelfish, Gray Angelfish, White Margate, Lionfish and Blue Tang

Friendly Lizard: These lizards run across the paths and hide in the bushes.

   In the afternoon, Matt drove us around Rock Sound to see some local sights. Matt is a graduate student working on his master's degree. He assists Alistair with this EarthWatch project. He took us the some shops and then down into these caves. The Banyan tree roots were fascinating. The roots hang from the ceiling. We saw some bats tucked into the darker alcoves. Empty spider webbing covered the wall. I made sure that I didn't get too close to the walls. The Banyan trees were even more awe-inspiring above ground.
   We ended our adventure by swimming in the Ocean Hole. It is a perfectly round hole surrounded by rock. They know that it is at least 700 feet deep. There is a series of caves that connects the hole to the ocean. The water was extra salty because of increased evaporation.

Caves with Banyan roots, bats, and bat-eating spiders. Luckily I didn't see any spiders. Eek!

The Banyan Tree roots grow down and twist around each other.

Huge Banyan Tree: This tree inspired James Cameron to write the movie Avatar.

This Banyan Tree kept going and going. We could stand inside it.

Ocean Hole: This hole is at least 700 feet deep. It connects to the ocean through caves. There were lots of big fish swimming around.

Dreaming of Juvenile Grunts

Blue-Striped Grunt and Beaugregory Damselfish

   I think that I finally know the difference between the Juvenile Tomtates, French, and White Grunts. The Juvenile Princess Parrotfish gave me some trouble on Reef Catherine because they are also black and white striped. The differences between the baby fish are so subtle.

Juvenile Striped Parrotfish are eating the zooxanthellae algae off the coral.

   I had a great time talking with the first, third, and fifth graders today. They had some really good questions. There were several questions about my favorite fish and what was the most exciting part of the trip. I loved the question about what is my least favorite fish. The lionfish makes me the most nervous. They float in the nooks and crannies of the coral. Many fish were hiding deep in the coral today. It was hard to tell what they were. I am getting better at duck diving and peeking under the ledges. 

Blue-Striped Grunt and Sharpnose Pufferfish

Massive Starlet Coral and Finger Coral

   I saw some new varities of coral today. The ivory bush coral looks so intricate up close. There were sea anemones with purple tips on each tentacle. Gigantic sponges dotted the landscape on the last reef of the day. They looked like big green ice cream cones. Coral was growing inside and around the rocks with the sponges. This was the perfect hiding place for the baby fish.

   Tomorrow afternoon is time off from the fish surveys. We get to see some fun places around the island. I will take lots of photos!

Ivory Bush Coral

Top View of Gigantic Sponge and Coral

Side View

Juvenile Striped Parrotfish are enjoying the inside of the sponge.

Juvenile Gray Angelfish is surrounded by Sea Anemone, Sponges, and Coral varieties.

Juvenile French Grunts are getting too close to the Lionfish. Watch out!

First Grade Questions

How does coral get its color?

Coral gets its color from the billions of colorful zooxanthellae algae that they host. The zooxanthellae provide the coral with energy and nutrients through photosynthesis. This means that coral needs sunlight and will only grow in shallow clear water.











How does the coral get there?

Purple Staghorn Coral

    The coral starts when a tiny polyp attached itself to a rock and then divided into thousands of other polyps. They attach to each other to create a single organism. The coral grows at a very slow rate.  Staghorn coral grows only three inches a year.

Is some of the coral soft in the water?

    Some types of coral are considered soft coral. The fans that you see in the photo are soft coral. Soft coral looks like underwater plants, bending and swaying with the ocean currents. I have not touched any of the coral. There are some varieties that sting. The Fire Coral has stinging tentacles. I want to stay away from it!

Mustard Hill Coral - Clubbed Finger Coral - Massive Starlet Coral

Is the seaweed there edible?

I don't know! I haven't tried any.



How tall can seaweed grow?

Fans, Finger Coral, Staghorn Coral

The seaweed here is small. It is not like the huge kelp beds that we see in California. I have seen more sea grasses. The sand is covered with the sea grass. The coral reefs produce tons of the white sand that allows the grass to grow. Mollusks like conchs and clams, crustaceans, and grazing fish survive off the sea grass.


What determines the color of the water when looking down from an airplane?

The depth of the water gives it color. The turquoise water is shallow. Rock Sound is completely turquoise. The blue gets darker as it gets deeper.

How does the water get its depth?

Ocean currents change the depth of the sea floor over time. The coral reefs also produce tons of sand to fill in the ocean floor.

What is a sponge and what does it look like? Is sponge a coral?

Sponges are the simplest organism. They are not coral, but they attach to rocks just like coral does. I don't think that I have seen any sponges yet. I will look for one today. I have been too busy counting fish.

How many fish have you seen and what is your favorite?

Hundreds and hundreds is the easiest answer. I estimated about 450 grunts on Reef Casey. There were plenty of other fish as well. I don't have a favorite fish. There are so many beautiful ones. It was really exciting to see the hawksbill sea turtle yesterday.

Reef Casey

    Morning run, rough water, Reef Bambi, lunch, Reef Bob, Reef Casey, sea turtle, boat trouble, unreliable Wifi, Skype with 2nd and 4th grade, data entry, and soon bed. Phew! I am tired just looking back at today. The three reefs that we surveyed were filled with so many varieties of fish. We are going in alphabetical order for the reef names. It was exciting to find which patch would be my reef. Watch the video to see.

Hawksbill sea turtle

   The first thing that I noticed was a large hawksbill sea turtle. This turtle is critically endangered so we were lucky to see one. It was tucked into the reef. It camouflaged so well that it startled me as I drifted over it. The reef had hundreds of Grunts in five different varieties. There was one enormous mutton snapper hiding in the center of the reef. It would look at me with its red eye. I kept waiting and waiting, but it never ventured out. Twelve people circling a reef would make any fish take cover.

Stoplight Parrotfish eat algae off the coral reef. An adult can produce one ton of sand a year.

Sharpnose Pufferfish

French Grunts, Lionfish, and a two foot long Mutton Snapper in hiding

Yellow Ray

Doctorfish

Handy dandy waterproof notebook with my pencil attached. The HDS students were curious about how I keep track of the fish. My notes might read F 100x2 which means 100 French grunts that are 2 inches long.

Juvenile Queen Angelfish, Bicolor Damselfish, Juvenile Princess Parrotfish