I started working in the lab today by learning about the daily checks I will perform. My research is looking at how juvenile coral are influenced by light, temperature, and feeding. I will check these parameters each morning and change the water in the tank on Tuesdays and Fridays. The coral sit in static tanks (the water only circulates with a small pump, rather than the water constantly flowing in and out of the tank) and therefore the algae builds up requiring constant cleaning. We also have to consider the salinity of the water and how the lamps increase the temperature slowly throughout the day. Over the semester I will be looking at the coral under the microscope too see how much they have grown or changed.
This image is taken inside of the Coral Recruitment Lab of the low light, low temperature tanks. The juvenile coral was collected over the summer while the adult coral spawned and placed on the brown tiles in each corner.
The afternoon was spent snorkeling in whalebone bay, which is just a short walk along the railway trail. We were in the water for almost two hours, identifying and exploring the patch reefs right off of the shore. We were very lucky to see 25+ baby squids and were even stalked by a few barracuda!
The afternoon was spent snorkeling in whalebone bay, which is just a short walk along the railway trail. We were in the water for almost two hours, identifying and exploring the patch reefs right off of the shore. We were very lucky to see 25+ baby squids and were even stalked by a few barracuda!
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