It's amazing how even the simplest of experiments can be soo complicated! I attached algae segments to weighted clothespins to be placed in five microhabitats within three different zones along a transect extending from the reef crest through the back reef. Monday evening, a grad student from CSUN helped me to deploy a pilot experiment. Everything was going great, the sun was getting ready to set, and I was about to head back to the boat when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had absolutely no idea that it was possible for an eel to get four feet long, and to be almost the width of my thigh. Well, it is. Eventually, when I am setting things out by myself, I really hope that we do not meet again.
The next morning, we spent 45 minutes snorkeling around what we thought was the transect, and eventually gave up. The set-ups were very inconspicuous, which is great for the experiment, but not so great for us. We started over, this time marking the transect every few meters with flagging tape, and placing the algae in the vicinity of markers. By the evening, when we went back out to collect, we had a much better idea of how to go about setting things up, and successfully located all but one. Our pilot experiments have given us some interesting preliminary data, but finally I think I am ready to put out the first full run tomorrow morning.
 |
searching for target algae
Acanthophora spicifera in
the eerie bay waters |
The weather has been absolutely beautiful all week... mild wind, calm seas, and clear skies! I have basically spent the majority of every day in the water, and am now cleared to take out the boats and set things up by myself. Every day (and with each run-in with a black tip reef shark), I get more comfortable doing things on my own, less surprised by the assortment of creatures in the back reef, and my boating skills get better every day. The CSUN group I am with is awesome! They have been really helpful, lots of fun, and more than happy to tell me all about the research that they are doing. I feel so insanely lucky to be back here, and have already learned so much! Hopefully over the next few days of my project, we start to see some patterns.
It's amazing how even the simplest of experiments can be soo complicated! I attached algae segments to weighted clothespins to be placed in five microhabitats within three different zones along a transect extending from the reef crest through the back reef. Monday evening, a grad student from CSUN helped me to deploy a pilot experiment. Everything was going great, the sun was getting ready to set, and I was about to head back to the boat when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had absolutely no idea that it was possible for an eel to get four feet long, and to be almost the width of my thigh. Well, it is. Eventually, when I am setting things out by myself, I really hope that we do not meet again.
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