Lindsay's Reef

The morning was spent at Lindsay’s reef. This time is was to collect data along the transect lines. These lines have been in place since the early 1990’s and given researchers valuable information about the health of the reels. They now know that there was a major coral die-off during the late 1980’s and that the recovery is still unsure. They have had a major die-off of urchins that eat algae and so as a result, they speculate that this has given rise to an increase in algae forms.

As we prepared to enter the water, John and his team swam out to the study area to locate the transect posts. Once that was done we worked in our respective groups of four and joined them. Our group worked on the A and C transect lines. We also collected temperature and water samples. We tested the turbidity of the water with a Secchi disk and then inspected the lines for signs of bleaching. We found only one knobby finger coral that had any signs of bleaching, about 20%. The hardest part of this job is keeping yourself from the reef. It is a chore to NOT touch the reef and at the same time to keep from injurying your neighbor. I was so concerned about not damaging the reef that it made it difficult to maneuver around. The water was still a bit chilly, so we were only able to stay out for a couple of hours at that. The surge was also hard to work with, but it was still a great time and the sun was shining!