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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
MSI Update – Final Update for Session 1, 2012
The interns had a fantastic final week of MSI’s first
session. On Tuesday morning the
group visited Rachel Parsons to learn about microbes. In the afternoon, part of the group went to Natural Arches
to collect algae, while the other part of the group went to Whalebone Bay to
complete the navigation dive requirement for PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
certification. When students
returned, they classified the algae they found at Natural Arches and made
herbariums. The interns completed
this task with assistance from Thea Popolizio,
an algae expert from the Bermuda Aquarium.
On Wednesday MSI traveled with Waterstart to Dockyard, where
the group visited the Nation Museum of Bermuda to learn about artifact
restoration for items recovered from the Warwick wreck. On Thursday, the group participated in
fish follows. The group spent time
at Watch Hill counting parrotfish and observing their behavior. The week culminated with an excellent
Friday dive at the Hermes wreck.
Check out this video clip of our interns exploring the Hermes.
Our interns did an amazing job during this first session we
wish them the best of luck with their future endeavors as marine explorers and
biologists.
Today Dr. Mara led us in testing the effects of ocean
acidity on artemia. In this case we used vinegar to alter the pH of seawater in
order to observe how it would affect their hatching. In the end we discovered
that significantly less artemia were able to hatch in the lower pH created by
the vinegar.
On the diving side of things, we had a great boat ride out
to hourglass reef while waves rocked the boat. There, some of us went on a deep
dive down to 60 feet where we saw many parrotfish, sergeant majors, and trumpet
fish. When we got to the outer reef we saw a HUGE lionfish: about 17 inches
long. After surfacing, Dready and Beth tried to go back down to spear it but alas!
They couldn’t find it. No lionfish sushi tonight!
Following a hearty breakfast we
took a bus ride all the way to the other side of the island to Dockyard, where
we hopped off and met up with Doug Ingles, an expert on the wreck of the Warwick.
From him, we learned that althoughthe Warwick
was first thought to be a British merchant ship, after the recent discovery of
many guns, canons and ammunitions during excavations this summer, Mr. Ingles’
team now believes the ship may have been a heavily armed privateer vessel in
its day. We then explored some examples of concretions and methods of
preserving weaponry, followed by a trip to the National Museum of Bermuda where
Elena Strong showed us the new items in the Shipwreck Island exhibit.
Afterwards we headed out to Cooper’s Island where some of us
did our Underwater Naturalist dive and others continued to experiment with underwater
photography. Here, the fish were brightly colored and abundant. This made struggling
against the powerful currents worth it. Thus concludes another fun day at BIOS.
For more BIOS fun, log on to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bios.explorer!
Our Navigation dive didn’t start
underwater but on the field, where we practiced our compass navigation through
completing different patterns. We then moved to the water where we used our
skills in a more realistic situation. This was a fun way to learn the essential
skill of underwater navigation.
Photography!
Our photography dive was exciting because it
was a challenge to carryout our first dive using an unfamiliar skillset. On the
dive we took photos of aquatic life whilst keeping in mind the factors of both color
and light loss and absorption as we dove deeper. Although it was difficult to capture
moving sea life, the dive was more than worthwhile.
O.S.F. Lionfish &
Shark Presentation
Although most of us were aware of the
presence of sharks and lionfish, Corey Eddy from the O.S.F. further educated us
on the features, diets and impacts of these fish. The presentation inspired us to contribute to attempts at
lionfish eradication in Bermuda. Many of us were also surprised to learn about
the various species of sharks that swim in these waters!
Our interns have been very busy gathering data! On Wednesday the team dove in Harrington Sound, where they measured the sizes and populations of conch. On Thursday, the team did a fish count in the Bermuda mangroves at Hungry Bay with Dr. Robbie from the Bermuda Aquarium. When the interns finished collecting data, they shared it with Dr. Robbie, who plans to use it with his research. On Friday, the team measured the coverage of sea urchins at Concrete Beach off the shore of the Biostation. Friday afternoon, the interns relaxed at a celebratory barbeque.
Today, the interns collected and identified different species of algae from the dock at BIOS. Then, the interns learned about bathymetry and created bathymetric maps using clay to represent underwater terrains. Finally, the interns created small ROVs and practiced driving them in fresh water tanks.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
MSI Week 2 Update
On Monday, the interns
searched through Sargassum seaweed to find and identify as many different
organisms living within the seaweed as they could. The interns found various worms, crabs, Sargassum shrimp – Leander
tenuicornis, Sargassum fish – Histrio
histrio, and a baby nudibrach or
Sargassum Slug – Scyllaea pelagica. Check out the video below of some of
the little critters the interns observed through their microscopes:
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Sargassum Fish Sargassum Shrimp
Additionally, on Monday
afternoon the interns traveled to the ship scar of the Mari Boeing to practice
measuring coral recruits. The
interns laid down 30-meter transect tapes, placed quadrats next to the tape at
randomly predetermined intervals, then measured the size of the coral recruits
using vernier calipers.
During the day on Tuesday,
the interns participated in a DAN course that taught them how to provide oxygen to people suffering from decompression illness. Then, the interns snorkeled in the
mangroves near BIOS and identified the different fish species living
there. Tuesday night, the interns
participated in a special night dive at the wreck of the Dredger. The interns saw many examples of
nocturnal activity and had lots to say about it:
In their own words:
Jeral - While
diving at the dredger I spotted a soapfish. This was my first time seeing one in the wild.
Rawleigh - Le Night Dive at
the Dredger wreck held a feeling of excitement for me. The real revelation to me was the
multitude of new wildlife that I had never seen before that emerged that night
in the dim and murky water around the stricken ship. Among the new creatures to
me was the Arrow crab, a Fire worm and a pair of Octopodes.
James
- Last night’s dive was amazing. The wreck was bigger than I expected, with
masses of coral growing off it. We
saw many different fish, from coneys to some octopi.
Kori - We traveled far into
the depths of the Dredger searcher for all sorts of creatures lurking through
the night. The creatures that approached me had different figures; Hogfish,
Octopi, Doctorfish, Ocean Surgeon, Honeycombed Trunkfish, Arrow Crabs,
Fireworms, Snappers, Goatfish, Breams, and LOADS of coral.
Joshua - Many of us didn’t
know what was going to be down there. It was amazing how many types of fish inhabited this massive
ship. We saw a few coneys, triggerfish, groupers, and even some octopi mating.
It was an exciting experience.
Megan - Its huge
frame loomed in the darkness, and seemed even more eerie as we began our dive
while the sun was going down. 60ft being the deepest I had ever dived, I was
slightly nervous, however, within minutes I had forgotten my fear and was
totally immersed (haha << get it .. immersed..) in my surroundings.
Eric - The valiant MSI team took a plunge into the dark depths
where dwells The Dredger. As the
interns descended, colonies ofMontastrea
cavernosabattled for their existence. A lone grunt erupted from a cloud of detritus. Many floating creatures were ensnared
by the traps of painted tunicates, which coated the surfaces of the
wreck. Anemones became
active, stretching their tentacles ever farther to consume nearby
creatures. The team was
taken by surprise when oddly misshapen hogfish swam through the skeleton of the
ship. Like the slaves of
Circe, these fish are twisted to look like swine. Had we stayed until
more monsters of the night awoke, who knows that would have been the fate of
the MSI team?
On
Thursday we concluded our ocean acidification experiment! We had six groups
count the number of brine shrimp that had hatched in one milliliter of both
regular salt water and an acidic salt water and vinegar mix. Upon adding the totals,
we saw that the lower pH negatively affects the hatching of brine shrimp.
As Week 3 drew to a close, the students
continued to work at their scuba skills, and on Friday many were able to
achieve Scuba Diver, Open Water, and Advanced Open Water certifications!
Continuing with their exploration of the Sargasso Sea, the
MSI interns concluded the week by studying fish and seagrass beds. On Wednesday
the dive team practiced using
Stationary Point Counts by identifying as many different
fish species as possible within a 7.5 meter radius cylinder at 5 minute
intervals.
On Thursday, the interns traveled to Bailey's Bay to study
seagrass beds. While snorkeling,
the interns laid down 20-meter transect lines, then laid down random quadrats
along the lines to find the density of the seagrass in half-meter square
areas. They also measured the
lengths of the sea grasses blades, shoot density, calcareous algae and
organisms within their studied area.
As an added bonus, the interns got to do an extra snorkel just outside
of Whale Bone Bay, where they were able to freely explore the reef and sea
life.
Today, the interns traveled to Bailey’s Bay Flatts. In
teams of two, they laid down 30-meter transects counting different fish using
the belt transect method. They
also practiced roving diver observation by counting as many fish as they could
within a 10-minute time limit.
The interns concluded each day in the computer lab where
they diligently recorded the data they collected into spreadsheets, and
practiced different methods of organizing, sorting, and graphing the data. In addition to this hard work, the interns had two fun opportunities to test their knowledge of corals, fish, sea
grasses, and plankton by playing Coral and Fish Jeopardy. On Wednesday, Rawleigh won Coral
Jeopardy, and today Eric won Fish Jeopardy.
In their own words
Rawleigh and Kori (in unison): “For SCIENCE!”
Finally, please enjoy this short clip of a rare Splendid Flat
Worm that we observed on the reef at Bailey’s Bay Flats this morning.
As
we jump into Week 3 of Waterstart, the students are delving deeper into the
world of marine science. Mara has set up an ocean acidification experiment
right in Clark Lab to explore the effects of pH on the hatching of brine shrimp.
Today the students made their hypotheses and as the week continues, we look
forward to results.
New
students took their first breaths underwater today, while our returning
students began to advance their skills on a navigation adventure dive! Lucky
for us, they have also become expert crewmembers!
MSI - Meet the Summer 2012 Marine Science Interns:
James Biggs Eric Witte
Rawleigh Tucker Daniel Maguire
Jeral Jackman Joshua Stephens
Kori Jackman Megan Thresh
Our interns arrived with a great
enthusiasm to learn about animal life in the Sargasso Sea. On Monday, they began “Expedition
Sargasso” by practicing the point intercept method of data collection. This method involves laying down
30-meter transect tape along the reef and carefully recording the different
corals they find at each meter as they make their way along the tape. They went
to the dive site Arches along the South shore of Bermuda to collect their first
set of data.
On the way back to BIOS, the
interns participated in a plankton tow.
This involves trawling for plankton using a large wind-sock shaped
filter, then observing the collected plankton in a lab. Through microscopes, the interns were
able to identify a plethora of different organisms, including shrimp, arrow
worms, copepods, krill, and a vast array of fish eggs.
Today, our interns continued their
scientific investigation by collecting data using the belt and video transect
methods at North Rock, the largest coral reef in Bermuda. In addition to collecting data, the interns practiced underwater videography by filming along the path of their
transect lines. The interns were
able to take the data from the two days of research diving to create bar graphs
for both sites showing the distribution of coral colonies per meter squared for
the top 5 most common corals in Bermuda. The
students also practiced coral identification and are looking forward to playing
Coral Jeopardy tomorrow.
In their own words:
Daniel: Today I learned about different types of coral, and
the frequency with which we find those corals along the North Rock… I also saw
trumpet fish.
Today
we plunged into the science of Gyres with models on the dock.We looked at how plastic trash
accumulated in whirlpools in our buckets with motor-powered currents and
discussed how this might relate to the large gyre known as the Sargasso Sea.
Heading
out on the boat, some of the divers tackled their confined water skills while
others investigated underwater digital photography and navigation!
Today
we began our second week of Waterstart! With thirteen new students, the
experience levels this week range from beginner divers to advanced open water
divers.
To
get things started, we went on a fun “Tune-Up” dive with our more experienced
students at Cooper’s Island. After JP helped them refresh their skills, we
stopped at the Pelinaion Wreck for some amazing snorkeling!
