Homeward Bound

Well, it's my last day on this awesome adventure. We weren't able to do transects on the coral reef because the sea is too rough today... a storm is blowing in. So instead we went spelunking in an underwater cave. We saw stalagtites and stalagmites and bats and shrimp and translucent fish. It was really cool.

I'm sad to leave but I also can't wait to come home and share more stories with you.

Thanks to everyone who commented on this blog and thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible: especially Bruce, the Hartleys, the Pleunes, Wells Fargo, and Mom.

See you all soon!

Global Climate Change and Coral Reefs

I found out two new ways that global warming can cause bleaching on the reefs.

I already knew about increased ocean temperatures and ocean acidification being a problem (see my very first post down below), but it turns out that sedimentation is also to blame and drought and storms in Africa can impact coral reefs when dust storms blow dirt all the way over here.

Sounds pretty far fetched until I learned that most of the soil on San Salvador actually got here from just that method. Global climate change and deforestation in Africa is accelerating the dust storms which could be one of the impacts on the reefs. This just goes to show how complex climate change can really be.

Another impact could be changing patterns of ocean circulation which would make coral reproduction different. Research "thermohaline circulation" or "ocean conveyor belt" for more info.

I also really appreciated the comment about polar ice caps and ocean pH. Whoever wrote that was really thinking!

The ocean is basic and polar ice caps and glaciers are both neutral or slightly acidic, so the melting of that water into the ocean would also cause ocean acidification. So that could be a double whammy for the ocean.
Keep those good deep questions coming!!

How can we ensure that our samples are random?

If you haven’t read “How the research works” down below, do it, then come back up and read this.

I got a question about how we make sure to take random samples. That’s a bit of a toughie. It’s important to take random samples because that is how we get an accurate average. It’s pretty hard to not just swim over to the prettiest looking spot and drop the point intercept frame there. But of course, “pretty” isn’t very random.

Our lead scientist, John Rollino encouraged us all to come up with our own method of making sure we drop the frame randomly. I’ve been closing my eyes and just swimming a few strokes and then dropping the frame. Can you guys think of any other good methods for dropping the frame randomly?

Shea says no to conch

Well, with most of the votes tallied a clear majority of you thought I should forgo the conch. The current vote is 50- just say no 24-slurp it up. I appreciated some of the thoughtful comments about how one person can make a difference. I also liked the comments that tried to weigh out the relative good and bad by eating the conch. Either angle leads me personally toward not eating conch. When I weighed it out avoiding conch is no huge loss for me (I'm not even sure I would like it anyway), one minor win for this threatened species (sure it's only one organism, but what if everyone on earth just said the same thing... soon it would be bye bye conch, an ultimate example of "Tragedy of the Commons" where each individual does what is best for themselves without looking at the bigger picture.

I had a traditional Bahamian meal yesterday that I imagine was just as good if not better: pidgeon peas and rice, spicy fish fritters and guava cake. Today I'm going to try to get the grounds person at the research center to wield his machete and get me a fresh coconut from one of the trees on the campus.

In general, I'm already having an amazing experience and don't need to spoil myself any further. So, because of your votes and my own reasoning, I happily forfeit the conch experience.

How the Research Works

We're measuring density of coral, which has been declining over the last 20 or so years. We do this with two different methods. The picture is of me taking point-intercept data. Basically you randomly drop a grid in different places on the reef and then you count and record what's under the ribbons: hard coral, soft coral, algae, sponge, sand, or rock.

If you do this over and over you can get good measurements for coverages. If you do it year after year you can see if the coral coverage is going down.

We also use transects. These are specific lines that we swim and count the various coral and look for bleaching. I'll tell you more about this tomorrow after I actually do it.

pH in the Bahamas: What’s up with this data?

Note: all of the following data was taken before I puked in the ocean this morning. (Who knew you could get seasick without being in a boat?) Since my puke is fairly acidic it’s possible that I single-handedly wiped out a few coral, but John Rollino, the key scientist here reminded me that the ocean is quite large and that my little regurgitated H+ ions probably have about a mile between each one right now. Other nice people on the crew also kindly reassured me that I was not the first person to puke in the ocean.

So, regardless of any contributions from my bodily fluids, what is going on with the pH here in the Bahamas?

Here is data from one of the sites where scientists (such as yours truly and pukey) have been both tracking the coral populations and measuring pH.

Chemistry students: your assignment is to draw some conclusions from this data. Look for trends, graph it, do whatever helps you to visualize the situation and then write to me about it a few sentences in the comment section below.

P.S. if you make a graph it may be helpful to the scientists down here (and it may expand your understanding and skills). If you know how to make one on excel, do it and email it to me at shea@cityacademyslc.org

The data at this coral reef was taken 3x/year:

Date pH Date pH Date pH
Feb-95 8.2 Jul-95 8.2 Nov-95 8.4
Feb-96 8.2 Jul-96 8.0 Nov-96 8.2
Feb-97 8.3 Jul-97 8.2 Nov-97 8.1
Feb-98 8.3 Jul-98 8.3 Nov-98 8.4
Feb-99 Jul-99 8.2 Nov-99 8.2
Feb-00 8.2 Jul-00 8.3 Nov-00 8.1
Feb-04 8.3 Jul-01 8.1 Nov-02 8.3
Feb-02 8.3 Jul-02 8.1 Nov-02 8.2
Feb-04 8.3 Jul-04 8.2 Nov-04 8.1
Feb-04 8.2 Jul-04 8.1 Nov.04 8.23
Feb-05 8.04 Jul-05 8.03

Should I eat Conch?

Hey foods class and any other budding culinary ethicists. Here’s my first food dilemma of the week: Eat the conch or don’t eat the conch.

Conch is the first local food/delicacy I’ve heard about here. Generally the food at the research center has been of the canned or boxed American kind so I was sort of excited to try something new. You may have heard of a conch shell: they’re the big spirally ones with a peeled back lip. Conch the food lives in conch the shell and is a mollusk, kind of like clams. The local traditional preparation is a sort of salad that has marinated vegetables and conch. Sounds good to me.

Problem is conch has been overharvested and there are not a lot left now. It’s on the red (avoid) list from the Monterey Bay aquarium who thinks that if we lay off the conch for a while they could come back and regain a healthier population. But they may never be available for mass consumption or mass harvest. So let’s take a vote: Should I eat the Conch? Put your vote in the comment section.