Building Artificial Corals and Real Friendships

Good Morning from San Salvador!

After four days of sunny skies, we woke to dark clouds and the promise of rain. It is still balmy and the rain shall not stop us from donning our wetsuits and going out to our "jobs." The students at Park School those in my host classrooms in Colorado and Massachutsetts have asked such amazing questions. I'll try to answer as many as I can; some of them stumped me and I had to consult others more knowledgeable than myself. Let me start with the easier ones!

When we go out in the water, we always pair up with us "buddy", someone who always stays close and keeps an eye on you. Diving and/or snorkling is not "dangerous" as long as you pay attention to the rules and be aware of your environment. We write underwater with a special slate (and a regular pencil). It is tricky carrying the bag of data collection materials because if you try to open it underwater, everything tries to float away. No, you can not (or should never) touch coral. It is very fragile and should be seen but not touched. Coral grows only in warm water; you won't find it when you go very deep. It needs algae to survive and that algae needs sunlight to grow. They have a symbiotic relationship, needing each other to live. We will not be moving any coral, although I have seen coral transplanted. My first grade class saw how this is done in the Diving the Coral Reef Reading Rainbow video. It is a delicate operation and not commonly done. Coral does not "move around" but it does open its tentacles to trap tiny nutrients in the water.

Mr. Sugarman's students asked if I expect to find anything of archeological significance. It would be great if that should happen (if I only knew where to start digging!), and my chances of finding something special are about the same as yours would be there in the states. One of the sites we've been diving at is in the same bay that Christopher Columbus was thought to have landed. They call it Monument Bay and it is an awesome feeling to look around and imagine how those explorers felt when they had their first glimpse of this tropical island, so different from where they came from (Ah-this must be India!)

Yesterday we spotted nine lionfish in the water, which is very troubling news here. Lionfish are beautiful (but deadly) fish that belong in the Pacific Ocean, where they blend and harmonize in that environment. Here they have made a sudden and unwelcome appearance. It is believed that they have come from a giant aquarium at the megasize Atlantis Resort in Nassau. The scientists believe that the eggs must have escaped into the ocean from there, dispersed and are rapidly multiplying. They sit and wait for anything smaller than themselves to eat. Since the indigenous fish don't recognize them as enemies, they are "sitting ducks" and are getting quickly wiped out by these predators that do not belong here. Divers are encouraged to kill or report any they see, as scientists are frantic to gain control of the problem. In the area that we saw the lionfish, we saw no juvenile fish to speak of. What a terrible situation. It is shocking how when one "small" thing like some eggs getting into the ocean can throw the whole ecological balance out of whack.

After we constructed our first mock coral head yesterday, we dated it and imprinted our thumbprints in the fresh cement. We will be making two more and sinking them on Thursday (tomorrow). It is a wonderful feeling to know that we have had a hand in creating a structure that will provide a haven for fish to live and multiply.

Thanks again for all your well wishes and great questions. I hope this adventure inspires you young scientists to keep learning and know that what you're learning can be applied to the world and such a positive way.