Fun on the Forereef

Things on the backreef have been in full swing the past week, and now the focus is on the forereef! For the first run, I was once again directing while free diving... which was an adventure in itself. 

Placing algae segments on high points of
bommies on the forereef

It was absolutely beautiful both days that we were on the forereef, and we took full advantage of the sunshine on the boat between deploying and collecting algae! The parrotfish, actually most of the fish, on the forereef are HUGE and super active! 

This morning, I was able to dive, and I think it was successful! We are looking at how/if feeding rates change near and away from structure. Unfortunately, there isn't much "structure" since the cyclone hit Moorea last year, but we have made it work! As of this afternoon, the weather has turned for the worst, with high winds and high seas. Here, they call it a "maramu" when the winds from the south get really bad, making it almost impossible to get back into the bay with a boat once you've left it! The wind is pretty incredible to experience, but hopefully it passes, so we can continue our work!

Around the World, and Beyond

Lunch stop half way "around the world"

Where do I even begin? Saturday, we went "around the world". Well, we just went around the whole island by boat, and collected algae from each of six LTER sites that have been monitored for the past five years. It was a gorgeous day, and was awesome to see different parts of the island from the water! We took turns collecting from the back reef, the reef crest, and the fringing reef at each site. For lunch, we stopped at a shallow back reef, where the water was so insanely clear! It was a long day, but was so nice to explore other reefs on the island.

This view never gets old...

I am still waiting for the corals to spawn... the new moon is tomorrow, so it's looking like they will not spawn this month, but we will see!
As far as herbivory goes, my assays have been going really well! The wind has finally calmed down this week, and has made it much easier to go out and do things by myself. The past few transects have been in a part of the reef, where apparently all of the exciting creatures like to hang out! Some of the group have suggested that I am the "mega fauna whisperer". I don't know about that, but I do know that I have seen some amazing things!!

Sunday was just the beginning... as I swam to set out a new transect, I could hear an odd grinding sound and saw a cloud of sediments in the pavement between some coral bommies. I thought at first that it was just a bunch of goat fish stirring up the rubble, but was soon completely breathless as I found myself watching a round sting ray as it was feeding!!! That explained the grinding, and it seemed to be not the least bit concerned with my presence, as it continued to dig in the rubble while I watched in awe! Later, I saw two huge sea turtles, which I had yet to see in Moorea, and are rare on the back reef! I also saw huge triton trigger fish, snappers, and hundreds of needlefish. I didn't think things could get any better, but I was so wrong!

School of convict tangs from my camera left out to capture grazing

Yesterday was probably the best day EVER! Again, I encountered the triton triggers and black tips, and thought I had seen all that there was to see on the back reef. As I was finishing collecting my algal setups, I looked up to see two dark shadows coming toward me. They were too large to be reef sharks, and too dark in color to be round sting rays. As they came closer, my eyes focused through the suspended particles, and I froze... not with fear, but in utter amazement! Swooping in right in front of my face were two of the biggest eagle rays I have ever seen!! I didn't even know they could get that big! The largest one had about a four foot wingspan, and a body like a tank! They were so beautiful, and I was blown away by how gracefully they glided through the water. I never would have expected to see eagle rays in the back reef, let alone so close, and so huge!! It was incredible to watch them, and they came so close! I wish I had had my camera, but it is something I will never forget. Today, I ran into another turtle, and must have really spooked it because I swear I had no idea turtles were capable of such speeds! I see at least three black tip reef sharks every day, and they have now become no more threatening (possibly even less threatening) than the reef fish. I can't believe I still have almost two more weeks!

Facing Fears

This week has been exhausting! Who knew swimming to the reef crest and back five times a day carrying three bags of coral rubble could take so much energy!? It's all been worth it though, because we are getting data!! :) Each herbivory assay seems have one obstacle or another.... One morning, I was out on the reef at 7am, starting to put out my algae segments. Thankfully, the wind was minimal, and so I felt relatively comfortable being out there by myself. I almost had everything out, and was planning on setting out a new transect for an afternoon run of the experiment while I waited to collect them again. I was at the reef crest when a surge came and knocked me into a coral bommie. I banged my knee pretty good, but it didn't hurt too bad, and didn't seem to be bleeding much, so I didn't worry. Between the reef crest and boat however, I had very close encounters with four black tips, which I thought was an unusually high number of sightings over such a short period. When I got back to the boat, I realized that my knee was actually bleeding quite a lot. I'm pretty sure none of them would attack, but to avoid attracting any more than I already had, I decided to stay out of the water until it scabbed over before collecting.

The next day, instead of doing a run on the back reef, we decided to check out the layout of the forereef, so that I could decide on how many set-ups I would need, how far apart to put them, and how long to leave them out. Normally, the forereef requires diving, since it is about 30-50 feet deep. However, for some reason we were unsure if I was cleared to dive yet, and so it was decided that two people would dive, and I would snorkel and observe from the surface. Can you say shark bait?? Basically we're talking the open ocean, and me floating/flailing vulnerably at the surface. I was terrified, but told myself that I had better suck it up because I didn't have a choice. If there were any giant barracudas, lemon sharks, or tiger sharks around, I didn't see them. I forced myself not to look around, and only to focus on the divers below. I made sure to stay directly above the diver making the largest bubbles, in the ridiculous hopes that being surrounded by a cluster of bubbles would somehow make me look larger and scarier. Sometimes I could see myself in the large bubbles, and was afraid that in the next bubble, I would not be alone in the reflection. Anyway, it was the longest half hour of my life, but I survived!
The past couple of days have been really windy, making boating (particularly for a beginner) a bit difficult. Yesterday, I tried to go out at 7am again, somehow managed to anchor before getting blown onto shallow coral bommies, and sat for about 20 minutes contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to be out there by myself in such conditions. I went back and forth telling myself to stop being such a baby, but the uncomfortable feeling in my gut eventually overpowered my stubborn will not to give up, and I went back defeated. However, it was not to be an unproductive day, as one of the grad students graciously volunteered to come out with me. We did two full runs! This morning I watched some corals for spawning, but nothing yet. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Still the Storms Come

The storm approaching...

I have officially done two full runs of my experiment, and it's been exhausting! The weather all week was perfect and calm, but today, just as I was setting things up, a storm rolled in. It was amazing to watch it approach, and know that I would still be out in the water by the time it hit. It turned out to look a lot scarier than it actually was, but did manage to produce enough of a current to make things challenging for me. I lost several of my set ups throughout the course of the morning, and had an exceptionally difficult time finding the ones that I had set out the reduced visibility in such turbid conditions. We left the dock at seven, and when I came back to the boat at about eleven, I had probably swallowed about a liter of seawater. I decided that although things did not go as well as planned, that the day was not over. I had been having a difficult timing finding the algae that I have been using for the herbivory assays, and as I was almost out, was hoping that today would be different. After spending the afternoon searching, with no luck finding algae (although I have been finding Fungia corals that I'll watch for spawning around the new moon next week), I was getting a bit worried that I'd have to expand my search beyond the north shore. Around four, Anya suggested that we check once more on the fringe reef closest to the station, which is the only place that we had found any before. We thought we had found it all, but it was worth another try. Well, despite all of my frustration from this morning, we found it... a ton if it!! Who knew I could get soo excited over algae!? So, it looks like the experiment will continue after all! ... and hopefully the ocean will calm down for the next few days :).

sooo excited we finally found algae!

Acanthophora spicifera up close

Trial and Error

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.

Moorea: Round Two

Back again... and I couldn't be more excited! Yesterday, I was reunited with chocolate croissants, baguettes, brie, Rotui mango juice, and two of the sweetest dogs ever! Now, I am ready for what will be a busy, but awesome four weeks of field work!  The goal of my REU project is to quantify fish herbivory on various parts of the reef in the hopes that this data can be used to help relate coral cover and algal cover in those areas. Other than that, I'll be helping out with other experiments that will be running as a part of the Moorea Long-Term Ecological Research Project (M-LTER).

Recapping a Week of Wonders

It's a beautiful day, the water is the calmest it's been all week, and I'm thinking about the incredible past week I've had! I was humbled by the power of the winds that the storms here bring in, and was amazed at how much it can rain in a ten-minute downpour!

The calm after the storm

Another graduate student here from UCSB and I went out on a boat to collect some corals for her project, and the faulty motor left us stranded in the middle of the channel! Of course this was the boat with no pull start, and no paddle. We were just about ready to jump in the water and swim the boat back, when another boat was in sight, and we took full advantage of the universal distress signal! Although they spoke no English whatsoever, Emily spoke enough French to explain the situation. Thankfully, they knew where we had come from, and towed us back. I guess it always works out somehow!

Tiare Tahiti flower

The P. damicornis adults produced lots of larvae, and kept us busy sampling, and setting up cultures for them to settle and metamorphose into juveniles! It's so cool to see them change completely from tiny free swimming larvae to little corals with polyps, and the beginnings of a solid coral skeleton! All in all, it's been a successful trip, and we are coming back with as much as we could sample! 

Acropora coral bed

A few days ago, Maggie and I went to Temae, which is a protected reef, that fringes the biggest beach I have yet to see here! The water was absolutely beautiful, and the reef itself was mind-blowing! I think it could be considered a climax reef ecosystem... huge coral heads with a large diversity throughout, tons of colorful and active fishes, and the most sea urchins (multiple species) I have ever seen in one place! Above the water, beyond the reef, we could see Tahiti in the distance. I was so happy that we had time to go, and without focusing on collecting corals or fish poop, we were able to fully explore and appreciate the complexity and the beauty of the network of reef life!

Temae reef

I couldn't think of a better way to end our trip than our final adventure.... I had heard a lot about a site where sharks and rays have been fed for many years, and so are abundant! Seeing as rays have always particularly amazed me out of all marine life, I was dying to go!! However, it's a pretty long boat ride, and we aren't exactly allowed to take the station boats so far on our own. Luckily, I am not very good at containing enthusiasm, and so one of the station employees offered to take us! I cannot even explain how insanely excited I was! The boat ride there was beautiful; cameras simply cannot do justice to the color of the water here! We arrived at the site, which is close to the the Motus of Moorea (which are small islands off the coast), and before we could even anchor, I could see a fleet of rays stealthily gliding toward the boat! They were HUGE!!!!! and beautiful and amazing and awesome and.... I was SO EXCITED!!!!

They came right up to the boat, eager to check out any treats that we might have brought. We could feel their uniquely rubbery skin, as they thoroughly searched our hands. It was so surreal, that for a moment, I was speechless! We looked beyond the rays, and could see the outlines of several black tips, lingering in hopes of getting free food too! I could not even wait to get in the water! I jumped in, and was immediately greeted by five or six massive gray sting rays, who scanned me for food. We didn't feel it was right to feed them and had not brought anything. It turned out to be better that way, because the rays weren't so aggressive, and we could observe them more as they act and interact with each other and the other marine life around them naturally. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had in the water!

The sharks were large for black tips (3-4 ft), and it was amazing to watch them swim so close to you, and scan you with their white eyes. They really are beautiful, and it was so cool to be there, and to not be afraid. The rays continued to swim around us, hassle each other, and bury themselves in the sand!  can't even explain what a unique and unbelievable experience it was, I could have stayed there for hours, and I will never forget it!

So, we're are pretty much packed, and fly out tonight at 12:30 am. It's been such an incredible trip, and I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity. I have learned so so much, from this place, our research, and from the other people here at the research station! For now, I will enjoy the rest of my last day in this awesome place. Tomorrow, it's back to school, and I look forward to the adventures that lie ahead!