MSI Independent Projects

MSI Independent Projects

In the last three days of their internship, the interns completed an independent project where they studied a fish that was of particular interest to them. They had four dives to conduct their research and then discussed their findings on Friday in a short presentation. This project required them to design their own experiments, data sheets, and determine which tools they would need. 

Four-eye Butterflyfish

For Michelle’s project, she was observing what Four-eye Butterflyfish ate. She completed her project by following the Four-eye Butterflyfish and recording what they ate and how many bits of food they took per minute.

Ryan, JD, and Tyler were studying the territory size of the Yellowtail Damselfish. They did this by placing a small weight in what was believed to be the center of the fish’s territory. They then attempted to chase the fish away and measured how far the fish would go with a string attached to a float. The Yellowtail Damselfish never leave their territory so it was assumed that the distance the fish went was the length of the territory.

Jonas was studying the number of piscivores, or fish eating fish, seen per minute. He did this using two methods, baited cameras and roving diver. His research found that the roving diver resulted in a greater number and diversity of piscivore sightings than the baited camera.

Trumpet Fish