Our First Task - the Cover Type Survey

This morning we adventured out onto one of the most spectacular reefs yet at “Rocky Point.”
After a short trail through the sea grape and scrub (the typical island plant community), we emerged onto a gorgeous sandy beach sloping down from (guess what?) rocky ledges.

Question for all of you 4th grade geologists: What is the predominant rock type here in the Bahamas? Hint – think of what would have formed from millions of years of dead marine organisms?



Our task for today and tomorrow morning is to work in teams to survey the type of “cover” over the reef. There are 7 types of cover: hard corals (they build the reef generation by generation, centimeters at a time), soft corals (they wave in the currents), algae (marine plants), sponges (simple living organisms), rock, sand, and other (such as tunicates, tube worms, etc).

I snorkeled out to reef with my partner, Larry, (from Buffalo, NY). We took turns throwing the sampling grid and recording the numbers of types of cover on a waterproof slate. The sampling grid is a meter square frame made of plastic PVC pipe, and interwoven with twine to divide the square into 25 smaller squares. We are to record the type of cover under each intersection of twine – 25 tallies for each sample.

We are finding that algae growing over the former reef (the elkhorn corals were killed by disease in the late 1980’s) is by far the most common cover. But at this reef, most of our samples also included 3-5 hard corals, 3-6 soft corals, 1-3 sponges, 3- 5 rock, and occasional “other”s. Last night we had a crash review with a powerpoint slide show, so we are aces on categorizing the cover types!

The interplay of sunlight, the colors of the corals, the undulating movement of the surge, and the cool turquoise clarity of the Caribbean sea all make for a magical kingdom underwater. I SO wish that I could share a video, or at least lots of still photos of the wonders I am admiring down there, but our Internet connection at the research center is very limited and slow. I’m still trying to post pictures to the Blog. I would love to be able to post pictures of the new species as I see them each day – words cannot do them justice! Today our sightings included: a 5’ stingray, several crabs, a peacock flounder ( a flatfish that blends in perfectly with the sandy bottom), schools of many beautiful fish – including the gorgeous stoplight parrotfish, queen triggerfish, ocean surgeonfish, blue tang, yellow striped snapper, blue chromis, and lots more.

Question for you 3rd and 4th graders: what is the base of the food web for all of these marine organisms?
Hint: think – what can make its own food from solar energy?
Another Question: where is the barracuda in the food web?
Hint: think of its body shape, mouth shape, and teeth!

One great reason to be a teacher is that you never stop learning. I hope that you all get to experience this type of full body learning with all of your senses! When I return, I hope you will help me plan a community action project that will enable YOU to be out in the environment – learning, restoring, and caring deeply about a special place and its inhabitants. Every night after dinner we have “class” – so far a lecture with powerpoint slides. Our chief scientist, John Rollino, has been doing this project for 17 years, so he has seen lots of things happen. Our other “staffer” is Michelle Besson, who is training to be an archeologist, and who also loves to free dive and look at big fish.

Thanks for checking in, and remember to write me your comments and questions…. And don’t forget to sign your name!

The Teacher (& occasional mermaid), Ann Brown