Bahamian Reef Survey with Mr. Klug

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2010-04-27T06:18:00.001-07:00

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Boiler Bay Oregon

2009-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here's where I tide pool. A little different than the Bahamas.

Thursday

2009-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Good morning.

In my last blog I mentioned something called “rigosity.” which means nooks and crannies. Well the word is “rugosity.” The principal investigator is from one of the burrows of New York and without his translator we sometimes mishear the words.
This morning we were unable to collect data again. The weather has been good but there has been quite a north easterly wind which is unusual so the water is rough and the swells can pick you up and drop you right on top of the reef which is not good for the reef. Oh yeah and probably not very good for us. Instead, we went to the lighthouse, which is an amazing structure built about 1830. I will go into more details about the lighthouse at home because it was just a stop on our way to some limestone caves that we explored. The ocean, somehow, feeds the caves so the water is saline. We did see some very small bats, probably a sponge and there is said to be blind shrimp but we didn’t see those. To wait out hurricanes, the locals used these caves. I can’t imagine how that experience felt but I sure could see how well it would work.
All over the island there are these dogs that are pretty much related to each other. They are call “potcakes” because the locals used to feed them the caked together rice at the bottom of the pot of cooked rice called potcakes. I believe I have found Jack’s new brother. They are amazing dogs and look a lot like Jack and each other. This one potcake dog at the lighthouse followed us to the cave. When we go out of the cave, the dog had run off with one of the teacher’s left shoe and his socks. I guess the random shoe up at the lighthouse should have been a hint but Rick got his shoe and socks back undamaged and the dog seemed semi-apologetic.
This afternoon we did some rugosity studies but I was unable to attend since I was doing the videoconference with 3rd period. But in the evening we did a 9pm tide pool just outside the research station. We saw octopuses, sea cucumbers, urchins, brittle stars and different species of crabs.
There are a lot of abandoned homes and yesterday we were prohibited from snorkeling an area since a bullhead shark decided to do a swim-by just as we were getting in the water. The researchers do a good job of keeping us amateurs safe.
See you next week.
Mr. Klug (tons)

Wednesday-for all classes

2009-02-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.
After Monday’s data gathering snorkel, we took the equipment back to the lab and planned on fixing the equipment. Tuesday was really windy so we did some prep work. We used marine grout and wire mesh and built artificial coral heads to adhere to the reef, hoping organisms would attach to them and grow. We had to put grooves in the grout so that corals would like the fake reef material. They like something called “rigosity.” which basically means nooks and crannies. We used the sand as our mold and poured the grout in. I will try and attach a photo of this when I blog about us going out and placing them. They harden very quickly so we have already been able to remove them from the sand and have prepared to anchor them.
The equipment and the lab are simple. This is a research station and they don’t even have a decent wet lab. There is a reason for the lab materials and study materials to be so simple; it is unnecessary to have expensive materials here, because the salt water just wreaks havoc on it.
The urchins I have seen on San Salvador are different than in Oregon. These are black with very long spines. The Nassau lagoon had urchins with spines similar to the urchins found in the Pacific Northwest but the were a pale green color. Besides the lionfish infestation, we have seen very little fish but barracuda, stingrays and parrotfish are on that list.
Today we toured the island. It has some interesting old buildings that were built during their early colonization days. We found a great place to snorkel and a local woman named Leah guided me out where hawk’s bill sea turtles feed. I am disappointed to tell you we didn’t see any although we had a barracuda stalker the whole time. It is an odd fish, long, mean looking and lots of teeth. It would look away/turn away every time we would look at it. This became a fun game but it never left our side.
The islands in the Bahamas are not typical islands like Hawaii or even the Caribbean islands. They are fairly barren of native food. That leads me to your task: You are to research the Bahamas online. 1. How did these islands come to be? 2. How old are the islands? 3. What were the native people like? The people living here are not native. How and why are they here? 4. Why were these islands part of England even though they are closer to the United States? 5. How do the Bahamian people make their living?
To get credit for this, you must answer all 5 questions including putting your initials at the end of your answers. I will read and edit the blog tonight at 4:00pm your time, that is the latest you can comment.
I do not know how the whole phone/video conference will go. Obviously the call did not work on Wednesday, as there are 2 teachers whose internet use shut down the system. I am still going to try for the video conference Thursday and I will definitely going to try and call on Friday morning.
Have great day! I will!
Mr. Klug (plus infinity)
ps The blogging is spotty so this blog should be read by all Marine Biology classes

Blog Tuesday Period 3

2009-02-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

Good morning. It is Monday night right now and you won’t be reading this until Tuesday so let me give you some highlights. Since I rubbed it in before I left, you’ll be happy to know you would hate it here. It’s sunny, warm, the water is clear, the sand is soft but there is little to no cell phone service. Yes, that does mean it is heaven for me. I already have a nice tan starting and we have been in the water snorkeling 3 times since I arrived on San Salvador Saturday.
Maybe this is karma, our truck has broken down twice, but one of the researchers brought her parents and her dad Bob is a lifesaver. Both times he has gotten us back on the road. Today’s snorkel was meant to teach us about the different kinds of organisms the head researcher needs us to identify and collect data on for his work. Most of what we will be doing is literally a reef survey; counting cover types, bleaching percentages and species counts. Oh yeah and getting a tan in the process. I’ll be sure to wear yellow when I get back so you can all enjoy my bronzing.
The first night I was in the Bahamas, I was in Nassau and went down to a lagoon and chatted with a local man. As we were talking, 2 needlefish swam by, sea urchins crawled up the wall and an eagle ray toured the lagoon. The man told me to look over the edge and there were two lionfish. One was about the size of a basketball and the other was softball sized. He said there were at least eight in the lagoon. As we were snorkeling today, we saw four or five just around this old pier. I have been informed that their numbers are increasing very quickly in the Bahamas.
That leads me to your task today: You are to research lionfish online. 1. What is the lionfish’s scientific name? 2. What do lionfish eat? 3. What eats lionfish? 4. Are lionfish native to the Bahamas? Is so, why are their numbers increasing so quickly? If not, how did they get here?
To get credit for this, you must add a comment to my blog by answering all 4 questions including putting your initials at the end of your answers. I will read and edit the blog tonight at 4:00pm your time, that is the latest you can comment.
Have great day! I will!
Mr. Klug (12)

I have been published.

2009-02-05T07:04:00.001-08:00

Our local newspaper in Newberg, The Newberg Graphic, had a nice article on my soon to be participation in the Bahamian Reef Survey Expedition. The picture doesn't appear in the archived article so I scanned the article to show the picture. The picture was taken by my student Haley Hunsinger.

Here is the link:

http://newberggraphic.com/ArcStoryPage.asp?Database=Story&StoryID=3772

Or
Go to
newberggraphic.com
go into the news archives under site links
click "current archives"
type in my last name "klug"
It will be the 1st article.

Soon

2009-01-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

3 weeks left until the expedition. Who's counting?

Lucky one

2009-01-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

I am one of the lucky ones that received the new educational material for the expedition to the Bahamas. I am not much of a writer so it should be interesting.

Intro

2009-01-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I am a high school science teacher from Newberg, Oregon and in 24 days I will be in the Bahamas helping study a coral reef. Does it get any better than that?