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